length of walks???

[Corgi_Princess]

Hi. Panda is a day away from 9 weeks. She has been thriving in her new home. I take her for a walk whenever she looks like she is going to need to go to the bathroom. So far the walks are short, 5 minutes at a time, but multiple ones per day. How long should the walk be for maximum fitness and health??? Thanks!!

[Checkers]

At her age I would think no more than 5-10 minutes just yet. In a few more weeks maybe take that up to 15 min. Anything after 6 months I would think 30 minutes would be great. After a year of age my rule is if I can walk it then I know he can. The other day we were out for probably an hour and went about 4 miles plus a couple of dips in the creek. He was still full of energy when we got back! This is just my opinion though... each dog is a little different so if he/she seems to be getting tired then it is, of course, time to wrap up the walk.

-Cheryl

[tandemgal]

Sound advice Cheryl. I am glad Panda is doing so well!

[Corgis'R4me]

*~* Midnight & Sunshine have been getting 3 walks a day...lately.
Usually, they get 2 walks a day.

Their first walk is right after I take them with me to drop~off Kyle & Sara at school.
FIRST WALK: around 7:30AM...for 30 minutes

SECOND WALK: around 3:00PM (while I am waiting for Sara to get off of the buss at Kyle's school)....for about 20 minutes.
* Sara has decided to take the buss to the Junior High BECAUSE all of her friends do it ! *

THIRD WALK: around 8:00PM...for as long as Midnight & Sunshine want to go.
(This walk is usually pretty long ! Sometimes, we go for 40-45 minutes.)

*~* Nikki

[Michael Romanos]

Yea, at nine weeks to 14 weeks, Five minute walks for toileting is plenty - and the number of times you do this in a day is hourly if you want. The main exercise moments for pups of this age range is play time.

[SlimJ87D]

A work out a lot, and my little boy Apollo and I run a quarter mile. He is months, is that ok?

[Michael Romanos]

You left out the age of Apollo - five months old, I believe. I wouldn't regulate runs of a quarter of a mile for my five month old. But playing in a park and on the beach and running and racing about for a length of time would probably equate to your practice. There are no advantages to be gained in running a five month old dog for certain distances. Corgis of any age are not the kind of dogs to go running with on lengthy jogs or while the handler is riding a bike. Taylor is often off-lead and he'll run if he wants to - but it is not regulated. I don't deliiberately run him as such for aglity training but we do sprints and we do hill work and we fast walk/power walk for at least an hour a day, and off-lead he can run if he wants to or race ahead of me or get behind and do a catch up.

[Checkers]

On the other hand... a quarter of a mile is not that long really. We have started walking our dogs two miles minimum every morning and today my husband took Checkers for a jog that was approximately equivilant to a quarter of a mile and he was still rarin to go afterwards. Now... we also do our walks alongside a river so when he gets hot or thirsty he can just go down for a little dunk hehe. For a five month old though... I'm not sure. I think a walk that distance would be terrific, but maybe would hold off on jogging him for another couple of months until his joints have had a little more time to fuse. That's just being extra cautious though.. best thing would be to call and ask the vet what they think.

-Cheryl

[Michael Romanos]

Running a Corgi of any reasonable age for 440 yards is not anything too bad - but I just can't see the point of it. Given it is a Corgi's outing, their
first preference is to use their nose and go where their nose takes them. They are not going to be able to achieve this if they are compelled to just run. Secondly, Corgis best enjoy going at their own pace - it can't always be achieved with walking either but at least it is possible to be on a loose leash and given the opportunity to dictate the speed. Off-lead, Corgis will use their noses frequently which means stops and starts. That's what they like best - moving,, stopping to take in a scent, starting off again etc.

My Taylor has been in three Relay for Life events - walking or running as part of a 24 hour relay team with the proceeds going towards Cancer research. So the first time when he was just over one year old, he ran for 20 minutes and walked fast for 10 minutes to compete our half hour leg of the relay. The second year he ran a lap and walked a lap and so on until the 30 minutes was up. And this year he fast walked for nearly two hours and ran the last two laps. That was for charity and Taylor was sponsored over the three races for $1,100. Even TV got interested in his relay exploits. By the way, on the same day as the two hour relay leg, Taylor and I also went on a Corgi walk I had organised - no rest for the wicked.

So Corgis can do endurance stuff but I guess there needs to be a grand plan and a one-off kind of thing.

[corgimom]

Both of my past puppy instructors taught us that our dogs, while on a leash, should be walking at our left side. They have said that the dog should be focused on us and not the ground. While we want to make outings enjoyable for our dogs, or let them "nose" around every now and then, it should not be the focus of the walk, nor should our dogs be in charge of the walk by constantly stopping and then walking.


If the dogs pulls ahead, I was taught, to stop, take 2 steps backwards and slowly lead the dog back to my side and start again. As I am sure some of you would say, this could possibly go on for a good deal of the walk

Whether this advice is right, I don't know, but with Cody's past instructors that is what they were teaching.

I hate to see dogs that are forced to run at their owners side while they ride a bicycle. The dog has no say in letting their owners know they are tired and I don't understand why people think this is okay.

[Checkers]

I hate to see dogs that are forced to run at their owners side while they ride a bicycle. The dog has no say in letting their owners know they are tired and I don't understand why people think this is okay.

Though I mostly agree with you on all the rest of your post Linda I have to disagree with you on this one point. When I had Dalmatians... a dog BRED to run alongside a coach all day long, the ONLY way to sufficiently exercise them to meet their needs was to run them along a bike. They LOVED every minute of it and were normally begging for more, even after longer runs! Now... I keep a very close eye on them to make sure they are trotting along happy and stop to give them water and quick rest breaks... but it was in no way cruel. In fact, given my inability to jog at the time it was a neccessity. I would never dream of doing this same thing with a corgi though because that is not what they are bred for. Also... dogs can give you signals just as well on a bike as they can during a walk if they are getting over tired.

As for a proper walk.... apparently there are many believes. My theory is that when traveling in a pack, the alpha dog will lead and the others will follow. I don't care about what side so much (being on the left side is more of an obiediance skill, which is why most trainers tend to stick with that), but I do require my pup to move along with me at whatever pace I set, and he has to be beside or behind me... never in front. This helps to establish me as the pack leader... not him. If he is leading, and stopping and starting whenever he feels like then I have just set myself up as his follower.... not a good place for us to start. But... that's my opinion, and what works for me. Who knows... I may be wrong... and I may change my opinion again in a few more years. It's all about learning as we go.

[corgimom]

Thanks for your thoughts; and you are obviously a person who pays attention to the needs of your dog if they become tired. But unlike humans who can say "hey, stop, I am tired" a dog, has no ability to say that. Sure, they can stop and lay down, especially when walking on a leash, but I have yet to see a dog stop and lay down when tired, when someone is pulling them alongside a bike. On several occasions, especially hot days, I have seen dogs being run alongside a bike and they look like they are ready to drop.

And yes, as many dog trainers as there are around, there is just as many different opinions in regards to training a pup to walk also.