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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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  #4  
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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