Things to consider when planning to walk your dog

When it comes to planning for taking your dog for a walk, are you worried about how often you should be taking your pup out? We are here to help.

No matter how old your dog is, how big their are, or even what breed of dog they are, they need to go out for a walk. Activity is important for their overall health and getting them out and active is beneficial to their well-being.

But just because we need to go for walks with our dog, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your small dog will need the same length of time as your bigger pup. And the same can be said for how often you are walking them.

According to USA Today, there are actually four things we need to consider when it comes to figuring out exactly how often we should be walking our dogs.

What do you need to consider when it comes to how often you walk your dog

So what are the four things we need to consider?

1. How old your dog is
2. What is your dog’s breed
3. How well your dog tolerates exercise
4. What is your schedule like

Every dog is different and what one dog needs may not match up with another dog. While a toy breed of dog will likely be a much calmer dog and need less activity for optimal health, a working dog or a sporting dog breed will obviously need more activity.

Puppies and dogs up to four years old will need more exercise than their older counterparts, so that means more walks for the younger dogs. But what about how long those walks should be? It seems that for dogs in good health, 20 to 30 minutes is optimal for them. And if a dog is in poorer health, they still need to get out and move around, so giving them at least a 10 minute walk is the way to go.

Of course, we recommend talking to your veterinarian to plan a routine that will work for your dog. Whether that means figuring out exactly how many walks they may need or even how long will be best for them.