Exercising a Labradoodle is a must as it is usually a dog with good amounts of energy and a mind that needs to be challenged to be satisfied. But what is a Labradoodle exercise needs generally like?
A normal healthy adult Labradoodle requires around 1 hour of exercise each day. If you have a less demanding labradoodle 45 minutes might be enough. Or you might have an extremely active one, where up to 1.5 hours of exercise a day is needed.
But just letting your dog run around for 1.5 hours a day isn’t the best way to stimulate it.
Most people are good at giving their dogs physical challenges, but they often forget a very important thing in the progress.
How Often Should You Walk a Labradoodle?
Energetic and playful, a Labradoodle does require a fair amount of walks and exercise every day.
Labradoodles need at least two hours of exercise each day to burn off the excess energy these dogs are known for having, and you can split up the two hours into two or three separate walks.
If you have to regularly leave your Labradoodle home alone for a period of time because of work commitments, always aim to schedule the first walk before you set off for work. This could well mean you have to rise from your sleep an hour earlier, but it will be worth it in the long run, as your Doodle is more likely to sleep and rest while you’re out, rather than taking his boredom out on your furniture.
No One Rule Fits All
Not all Labradoodles will need the same amount of exercise. Several factors will determine the time needed to walk a Doodle. If you and your Labradoodle live in an apartment, for instance, the lack of space and no regular access to the outdoors would mean three walks a day would be necessary.
If you’re lucky and live in a property with a lot of lands, such as a smallholding or even a farm, then walkies are probably not even essential as they will constantly be on the go with all the space available to them.
Having a backyard or a small garden is great, especially for your Doodles’ toileting needs, but taking any dog for a walk is more than just about relieving themselves. Dogs need exercise to help support cardiovascular fitness, stronger muscles, bones, and decreased stress and overall well-being.
Routine
Like any dog, Labradoodles like routine. For this reason, it’s a good idea to try and take your Doodle for a walk around the same time each day. Try and fit it in with your own schedule, and you shouldn’t have any problem.
As mentioned earlier, if you do have to go out in the morning, take him before you leave. Try to get a brisk walk in in the afternoon when you arrive home from work, and a simple toilet trip on the night before bed should be enough to keep your Labradoodle happy and content.
The Thirty Minute Rule
Please make sure you don’t take your Labradoodle for a walk right before or after they eat. When you arrive back home from taking your dog for a walk, leave it thirty minutes before you feed him.
If you decide to feed your dog before they go out for their exercise, it’s best not to take them until at least an hour has passed. Exercising your Labradoodle before or straight after eating a meal could cause your dog to bloat.
Mix it Up
Taking your Labradoodle to the same place every day for his walks will soon become boring for both you and your pooch. Try to vary the walks once or twice a week. If you are restricted to only a few places, try to take a different route to break up the monotony.
Remember to take a ball, a favorite stick, or even a frisbee. The more variety you introduce into your dog’s exercise routine, the happier he will be. It’s great your Labradoodle goes for long walks to exercise his muscles, but remember, he also needs to exercise his mind, so mix it up a little.
The Often Overlooked Exercise
As the old saying goes, “a dog is man’s best friend”. But is the opposite also the case?
When humans first started breeding dogs they were used for work every day.
They could be anything from guard dogs to hunting or tracking dogs.
But no matter what they did there was one thing they had in common, dogs had a purpose with their lives, and they
A dogs’ life these days is something quite different than what they were not that long ago.
Most dogs no longer have the tasks that they used to, and what this means is that the typical working dogs no longer have their instincts and behavior stimulated naturally.
These days the vast majority are regular family dogs where all they have to do each day is eat and sleep.
This doesn’t really stimulate a dogs’ natural instincts.
Of course, a lot of dog owners do a good job of stimulating their dogs physically, but mental training is often overlooked.
Many dog owners have the mistaken idea that as long as a dog gets its food, sleep, and physical exercise, they will get a happy and satisfied dog.
Mental Stimulation
But dogs are intelligent animals. A Labradoodle is one of the smartest dogs, and they have a need for mental stimulation that is equal to their need for physical exercise.
Without the adequate amount of mental training, you will most likely never succeed in getting a happy and satisfied dog, but will most likely end up with serious behavior problems.
Let me show you an example of why lack of mental stimulation could be a big problem.
If you frequently take your dog for long walks or hiking adventures, the dog will get its physical demands met pretty easily, and quite well.
But if you fail to challenge its mind, your labradoodle will end up feeling bored.
And I’m sure most dog owners can agree that a physically fit dog that is bored can prove to be a nightmare.
Instead of being able to eat a pillow when you’re not looking, it might be able to eat your entire couch instead.
Try to compare it to the needs of a human.
We all need a certain amount of physical exercise to keep going, but most certainly we also need to be stimulated mentally.
We do that by either reading a book, watching a movie, solving a puzzle or just by surrounding ourselves with other humans.
What would happen if somebody told you to just go for a walk instead of watching a good movie?
Or to go hiking instead of having a nice dinner with great food and wine?
I’m pretty sure not a lot of people would think of that as an excellent alternative.
We need socialization and mental stimulation before we would call ourselves truly happy.
And that is the same thing when it comes to our dogs.
How To Train And Stimulate Your Dog
But what is the best way to train your dog both physically and mentally?
It really isn’t that difficult, and will most likely be just as healthy and fun for you as for your Labradoodle!
And it is really easy to combine mental training with physical training, and here is how you can do that.
Vary your dogs’ walks
A good routine would be to walk your dog 30 minutes each morning, and 20 minutes of a more intense walk in the afternoon.
Try mixing up the afternoon walk with different fetch games, or some hide-and-seek.
By changing up your dogs’ daily walks you make sure that your Labradoodle gets the possibility to experience new smells and impressions.
This also gives the added element of surprise where the dog doesn’t already know if you’re going to go left or right as it would if it was the same old route every day.
All these things help stimulate your labradoodle both physically and mentally.
Hurried walks
Try bringing your dog to a busy area like the local supermarket or the parking lot of the nearest mall.
Try spending 10-15 minutes there before returning back home.
During this time your dog will receive plenty of new impressions from smelling, hearing, and seeing lots of new and interesting things.
This is an exceptional way to train your dogs’ mind.
There might also be a pet store of some kind in your area where you could bring your dog.
Just make sure your dog doesn’t start checking out the “buffet” of treats!
Bring your dog with you
If you have to go for a short drive to fill up your car on gas or going to buy that winning lottery ticket, why not bring your dog?
For a human, a 10-minute drive might seem boring and something you just have to get done with, but for a dog, this is a way to experience a world of new sounds and smells.
Try taking your dog out of the car and onto the parking lot, and allow it to go number one somewhere around there.
This also allows your labradoodle to leave a few interesting new smells for the next dog that might feel like stopping by.
Labradoodle Exercise Needs
So even though a Labradoodle has reasonably high exercise needs, following the advice above should give you some tips on how you can do it.
And at the same time, I can almost guarantee that you will also end up as a healthier and happier person.
Just like your Labradoodle.
If you’re looking for more ideas for mental training, check out the Brain Training For Dogs program by Adrienne Farricelli.
The program has a pretty unique way of looking at dog training, and especially the mental part.
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