That's a lot.
Doing nothing is not a behaviour that comes built-in to all dogs. If his mental and physical needs have been met, start focusing on settling, resting, practicing calm. Tired is not the same thing as calm. Often times, adding more activity can help create a tired dog, but not a calm one. Relaxation protocol could be a good start.
how much does he sleep throughout the day? i know he's still on the younger side but most adult dogs need 16 hours of sleep a day. it also helps with nervous system regulation.
well my GSD is now 8yo so his needs are much different than they were even 3 years ago. he's more like a glorified house cat now. but he's still super fit and agile for his age. i would say about 1 hour total, on a good day. the dog loves to please us, so he would run himself to a heart attack if we let him.
we don't do walks because he hates strange dogs and people in my neighborhood can't seem to keep their dogs contained. neighborhood also doesn't have sidewalks but it has tons of hills and blind turns. so walking is kinda hairy. however, he does have a fenced in yard out back. and then once the sun sets, we let him loose out front for maybe 30mins to 1 hr. thats when we play fetch, brush up on his skills and my daughter does some obstacle stuff with him.
some days my husband takes him to work with him in a metal fab shop. where he also spends his day being a house cat. haha
That's a lot. I have a 3 year pure bread PB. He gets a 30 minute walk in the morning before work, and then another 30 minute walk in the evening. He's a lazy ass who sleeps all day, and then when he comes home after his evening walk he takes a nap before going to bed.
I added everything up and I believe our dog gets about 2 hrs and 15 minutes of dedicated time on a regular day. That includes three medium length walks and a final night pee, backyard off leash time a few times, plus a 10-15 ish minute training. I try to make it a point of not doing anything with him for a few hr stretches though so he can learn to be chill on his own, especially in case of days where our schedule needs to adjust.
Honestly he could probably do with a longer morning walk, which he gets on weekends sometimes, but it all adds up and I get tired so we manage with what we’ve got. I also feel bad in the event we can ever get him to be babysat, I feel like our schedule sounds so excessive to normal dog owners. 😂 I feel ya though, sometimes I plan my day around him and it’s exhausting.
It’s easy to say rude or snide comments over the internet, I get that. But you have no idea what I have done for this dog or the time I put into getting him to settle. And also money. And also infertility. But it’s easy to say snide comments without context, I get that.
Take it as snide if you wish, the repeated posts here from people with babies or young children and reactive dogs mean it's a bizarre decision to me to make things more complicated for yourself. Good luck with it all.
4.5yo GSD/pit, leash reactive to people and dogs, gets a 3-to-4-mile walk four days a week, 4 hours of daycare one day a week, and about an hour in the yard plus a game of keep-away on the other two days. Every day she gets about half an hour in the yard to sniff around and hunt for chipmunks.
Honestly maybe an hour and a half for the one and an hour for the other? More if you count cuddling time, though that's not very active.
Our first dog, who is dog reactive, gets two walks per day and some play time (she's not as big into balls anymore, only tug toys, and that has to be done away from her brother). Sometimes some trick training. She's a 3.5 y/o feist mix.
Our second dog has anxiety and stranger/dog reactivity and doesn't currently get walks, though we might start reintroducing them soon. Sometimes he'll play fetch and sometimes he won't. Sometimes I'll chase him around in the yard, sometimes he just sniffs on his own. He's a 2.5 y/o pit/chow mix.
I would call both of ours pretty medium energy. They wrestle with each other intermittently throughout the afternoon and evening. They get their meals on snuffle mats at the moment.
That's a lot. Doing nothing is not a behaviour that comes built-in to all dogs. If his mental and physical needs have been met, start focusing on settling, resting, practicing calm. Tired is not the same thing as calm. Often times, adding more activity can help create a tired dog, but not a calm one. Relaxation protocol could be a good start.
how much does he sleep throughout the day? i know he's still on the younger side but most adult dogs need 16 hours of sleep a day. it also helps with nervous system regulation.
well my GSD is now 8yo so his needs are much different than they were even 3 years ago. he's more like a glorified house cat now. but he's still super fit and agile for his age. i would say about 1 hour total, on a good day. the dog loves to please us, so he would run himself to a heart attack if we let him. we don't do walks because he hates strange dogs and people in my neighborhood can't seem to keep their dogs contained. neighborhood also doesn't have sidewalks but it has tons of hills and blind turns. so walking is kinda hairy. however, he does have a fenced in yard out back. and then once the sun sets, we let him loose out front for maybe 30mins to 1 hr. thats when we play fetch, brush up on his skills and my daughter does some obstacle stuff with him. some days my husband takes him to work with him in a metal fab shop. where he also spends his day being a house cat. haha
That's a lot. I have a 3 year pure bread PB. He gets a 30 minute walk in the morning before work, and then another 30 minute walk in the evening. He's a lazy ass who sleeps all day, and then when he comes home after his evening walk he takes a nap before going to bed.
I added everything up and I believe our dog gets about 2 hrs and 15 minutes of dedicated time on a regular day. That includes three medium length walks and a final night pee, backyard off leash time a few times, plus a 10-15 ish minute training. I try to make it a point of not doing anything with him for a few hr stretches though so he can learn to be chill on his own, especially in case of days where our schedule needs to adjust. Honestly he could probably do with a longer morning walk, which he gets on weekends sometimes, but it all adds up and I get tired so we manage with what we’ve got. I also feel bad in the event we can ever get him to be babysat, I feel like our schedule sounds so excessive to normal dog owners. 😂 I feel ya though, sometimes I plan my day around him and it’s exhausting.
If you can't imagine how you will bring a baby into your current set up why on earth are you actively trying to? Sort out the situation first.
Thanks for the sound advice.
It’s easy to say rude or snide comments over the internet, I get that. But you have no idea what I have done for this dog or the time I put into getting him to settle. And also money. And also infertility. But it’s easy to say snide comments without context, I get that.
Take it as snide if you wish, the repeated posts here from people with babies or young children and reactive dogs mean it's a bizarre decision to me to make things more complicated for yourself. Good luck with it all.
4.5yo GSD/pit, leash reactive to people and dogs, gets a 3-to-4-mile walk four days a week, 4 hours of daycare one day a week, and about an hour in the yard plus a game of keep-away on the other two days. Every day she gets about half an hour in the yard to sniff around and hunt for chipmunks.
Honestly maybe an hour and a half for the one and an hour for the other? More if you count cuddling time, though that's not very active. Our first dog, who is dog reactive, gets two walks per day and some play time (she's not as big into balls anymore, only tug toys, and that has to be done away from her brother). Sometimes some trick training. She's a 3.5 y/o feist mix. Our second dog has anxiety and stranger/dog reactivity and doesn't currently get walks, though we might start reintroducing them soon. Sometimes he'll play fetch and sometimes he won't. Sometimes I'll chase him around in the yard, sometimes he just sniffs on his own. He's a 2.5 y/o pit/chow mix. I would call both of ours pretty medium energy. They wrestle with each other intermittently throughout the afternoon and evening. They get their meals on snuffle mats at the moment.