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  #1  
Old July 31st, 2014, 01:50 PM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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2 hours exercise not enough for my dog?

Hi again Pets.ca,

Duke is a 5 year old Lab with too much energy i think. He gets walked once in the early morning at 6 and one time at abot 5pm. Each walk is 1 hour long but lately Duke is getting up at 4 Am and making noises. so lately I have been getting up to see if he needs to pee or something. But i think he wants me to take him for a walk but 4 am is too early.

Does any advice come to mind? Thanks!
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  #2  
Old July 31st, 2014, 07:05 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Lab are retrievers and also love the water , people buy their labs water toys and throw it into a lake ,or ocean and let their dog retrieve the toy until the owner arm fall off or the dog can no longer run. Walking your dog is not enough exercise . I had a Standard Poodle and waking him did nothing for him he had to run for a least a hour retrieving a tennis ball , my arm was starting to fall off after a hour my dog could had last longer . I did not say a pond b/c a lot of ponds where I live are not clean enough to have a dog swim in.
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Old August 1st, 2014, 07:22 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Hah, soon as I read the title I thought, bet it's a Lab.

First, is his getting up at 4 am all of a sudden? And does he pee? And is that the reason you think he needs more exercise? If he is all of a sudden needing to pee at 4 am where he didn't before then I suspect there might a health issue going on. Urinary tract infection is my first thought, get a first thing in the morning sample and have your Vet test it.

Other reasons for him to all of a sudden be awake at 4 might be a change in your neighours' schedule. Somebody nearby is going to work then, he hears it and it wakes him up. Somebody else's dog is barking then. Of course he can hear things you can't.


Are his walks on leash? On leash walks do little for exercise. My boy, a Lab, gets off leash every day. By age three he was more settled and no longer needed an hour off leash am and pm but maybe your boy is field bred and even higher energy than mine.

Exercise alone is not enough, in fact it might act backwards in that the more exercise you give them the fitter they get and the more they can handle. Give him some head work too, make him think. Try enrolling in a class for obedience or rally or agility. Teach him new things, a trick class would be fun. You went through school just like all of us, you know how thinking can sometimes be more tiring than physical work.

How long is Duke alone during the day? Is he crated for long hours? Maybe he's lonely, bored and understimulated. If he is alone for hours could a dog walker take him out mid day? Could he go to doggy day care one or two days a week?
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Old August 1st, 2014, 11:25 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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Thanks for the suggestion Barkingdog but if 2 hours a day isn't enough, dont know how much more exercise I can give Duke as I also have to sleep and work and clean the house and do other responsibilities. Maybe on the weekend there might be more time but not during the week.

Thanks for the advice Lomgblades. The 4Am wake ups have been happening slowly over the past few months but Duke almost never pees or does number 2 at that time. I don't think anything is wrong with Duke and I have been watching food water and energy levels and all seems fine. It makes very good sense what you are suggesting about noises or another dog waking up Duke. But what can we do about this. Yes his walks are on leash and I could take him off the leash and make him run harder as he likes to fetch for sure and this will make him more tired. really good idea on this one thanks. During the day duke is alone but not in a crate and I don't have the money for a babysitter but maybe a neibot that he likes could take him out once a week.

Training tricks also sound like fun and I will search on this forum for training tricks. If anyone has good links already that would be so nice to post.

Thanks for the advice kind people. I will psot an update soon.
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  #5  
Old August 2nd, 2014, 09:29 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Quote:
It makes very good sense what you are suggesting about noises or another dog waking up Duke. But what can we do about this.
When I am sure it's not medical and the dog is being reactive to outside noise I either laugh at him or ignore him.

This morning I wished he'd make a little more noise than he does. We found tire tracks in our driveway and cigarette butts that indicate someone pulled in last night, right up to our house, and smoked there. And the darn dog never made a peep. Kind of creepy. The driveway is about 70 feet long and the tracks pull up to right in front of the garage. Gravel driveway too, makes noise.
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  #6  
Old August 2nd, 2014, 10:02 AM
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marko marko is offline
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Would ear plugs work?
Scary stuff Longblades, first thing that comes to mind is it possible the dog knew the person smoking?
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Old August 5th, 2014, 11:37 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Soulnate, did you make a post about it being hard to ignore Duke when he's whining and then retract it? I got an email notification on such a post but it said it was from Marko and now it's not there at all. At any rate, I do have an idea for that.

Laughing works for me when my boy alert barks. Maybe Duke is alert whining. What I do is laugh and point at my boy, "Ho, ho, ho, you big silly. That's not something to bark at."

This really works for me and now I can usually get away with just telling him he's being silly. I think it works as a mild chastisement. And I think it works as reassurance that I've got the situation covered, after all, if there was something to be concerned about would Mum be laughing? Nope. Worth a try?

ETA: Changed my dog from laughing to barking. He barks. I laugh.

Last edited by Longblades; August 5th, 2014 at 12:38 PM.
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  #8  
Old August 5th, 2014, 02:19 PM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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Hi Lomgblades yes I had trouble and frustrations posting the other day I thought it was just me but i guess not. To answer the questions, i don't like earplugs beacuse I need to hear kids in the house in case of anything. Yes it would be hard to ignore Duke while whining but your laughing idea can not hurt so I will try it. I will report if it works.

Thanks for the advice
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  #9  
Old August 11th, 2014, 10:44 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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So the the laughing does not work but maybe my laugh is to loud. Can you tell me more about how the laughing trick works Longblades?

Thanks
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Old August 11th, 2014, 02:22 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Think of the mean kid at school who would laugh in a demeaning and derogatory manner when another kid slipped and fell. I make mine sort of like that, like my dog is the butt of a joke. Dogs generally don't like to be laughed AT. They enjoy laughing WITH you so don't make it a funny, enjoyable laugh.

I distinctly remember our agility coach telling one owner to "don't you dare laugh at him when he does that." Her dog was barking in the ring, at her, and from the top of the A-frame. He was saucy and cute and we all felt like smiling and laughing but some judges take points off for too much barking and our coach said if she laughed in a friendly way her dog would take it as encouragement.

Who knew you needed acting lessons to train your dog?
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Old August 12th, 2014, 07:08 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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I am going to try again and yes i need acting lessons for this.

Thanks for all the advice
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  #12  
Old September 10th, 2014, 07:54 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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I forgot to report back but this laughing thing is not working with Duke or I am bad at it. But now his whining is later in the morning which is much better. Dogs are so strange sometimes i wish to get in their heads to know what they think.
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Old September 10th, 2014, 08:40 AM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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Here is what I have always done with my dogs and cats. I do not wake up and get them going right away. I have always kinda kept the animals quiet for a bit while I got ready, never fed them asap always an hour or even 2 hours later. I like to not want to rush on weekends so mornings are slow. Saying that I work from home so I can. Not sure how fast you have to rush out in the mornings. If the dogs are active first thing I find the they wake you up with expectations early. I do let puppies out for a pee for sure but just keep it low activity.
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Old September 10th, 2014, 09:07 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by soulnate View Post
I forgot to report back but this laughing thing is not working with Duke or I am bad at it. But now his whining is later in the morning which is much better. Dogs are so strange sometimes i wish to get in their heads to know what they think.
Well phooey.
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  #15  
Old September 11th, 2014, 10:01 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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You tried hard to help this situations and that is the most important. Thanks to you and many others for the advise.
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Old September 16th, 2014, 10:12 AM
rhynes rhynes is offline
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Haven't looked through all your postings but...

What do you feed your dog? Not to sound presumptuous but many dogs foods are like feeding junk food, high sugar, dog is bouncing off the walls. And what times of day are you feeding?

Labs are notorious for needing exercise, and I agree that on leash walks don't do much for exercise, have to get the heart rate up and burn it off - tho it's not always possible. An hour off leash running will do better for the dog than a couple of hours on leash walking.
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  #17  
Old September 16th, 2014, 08:37 PM
Mikeincalgary Mikeincalgary is offline
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Have you tried a Flirt pole. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flirt_pole

Just made one this weekend. 10 min use and two walks of 20 min and he is just as tired as when we go on a 10k run!
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Old September 17th, 2014, 06:05 AM
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marko marko is offline
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Awesome suggestion mikeincalgary - I've not seen that before!
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  #19  
Old September 17th, 2014, 05:11 PM
kittispeaks kittispeaks is offline
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I find mine are fairly worn out on their walks - more so when we make them "work" (so heeling, focusing on us, but also getting some sniffing around the neighborhood). If you're already doing this I think the other suggestions of mentally engaging him or using the flirt pole might be helpful.
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  #20  
Old September 19th, 2014, 05:28 AM
soulnate soulnate is offline
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I am going to try to order that pole to tire Duke out more this is a great suggestion. Also we have started playing in a dog park and it is making Duke more tired. Thank you for helping me so much
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