08/18/2026
Good Article
Have We Really Reached the Point Where Dogs Don’t Need Exercise?
There seems to be a growing trend in the dog world suggesting that perhaps we’ve got it all wrong about exercise.
That dogs don’t need long walks. That physical exercise is overrated. That enrichment, training, sniffing, scatter feeding and mental stimulation can replace the need to get out there and physically move.
And I think we need to be very careful.
Because in our attempts to become more enlightened about dogs’ emotional and behavioural needs, I worry that we are in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Dogs still need exercise.
As long as I have owned dogs, exercising them has been one of my greatest sources of joy. Walking, hiking, exploring, watching them run, sniff, play and simply be dogs. It has been good for them, good for me and an enormous part of the relationship I have built with every dog I have owned.
And now, as a professional dog trainer and behaviour specialist helping people across the globe with behavioural challenges, one of the most common contributing factors I see is remarkably simple:
The dog isn’t getting enough appropriate physical exercise.
Not because the owner is lazy.
Not because they don’t love their dog.
Not because they’re negligent or a “bad owner.”
Life is busy.
People work long hours. They have children, families and commitments. Winter brings dark mornings and dark evenings. Summer brings extreme heat. Some people live in areas where safe off-lead exercise is difficult. Others have dogs with reactivity, poor recall or other behavioural challenges that make exercising them more complicated.
There are a hundred perfectly understandable reasons why exercise can become difficult.
But an explanation for something doesn’t necessarily change the dog’s need for it.
The Five Es
I talk extensively about what I call the Five Es:
Education.
Enrichment.
Exercise.
Entertainment.
Emotional Stability.
They’re all important.
And notice that exercise has its own category.
Enrichment isn’t exercise.
Education isn’t exercise.
Training isn’t exercise.
Giving your dog a stuffed Kong isn’t exercise.
Sniffing for treats in the garden isn’t the equivalent of being able to stretch their legs and physically move their body.
All of those things have enormous value, but they fulfil different needs.
Sometimes I think we’ve started treating these things as interchangeable when actually they should complement one another.
What Would the Ideal Look Like?
If we were talking about best practice, I would love to see the average healthy dog getting somewhere in the region of an hour to an hour and a half of appropriate physical exercise each day.
Ideally, where appropriate, some of that would involve freedom of movement.
Running.
Trotting.
Exploring.
Sniffing.
Playing.
Moving over different terrain.
Interacting appropriately with other dogs if they enjoy doing so.
Being able to choose where they go, what they investigate and how quickly they move.
In other words, opportunities to move and behave like a dog.
Obviously, that picture has to be adjusted for the individual.
A young Border Collie and an elderly Pug aren’t going to have identical requirements. Breed, age, health, physical condition, temperament and lifestyle all matter. Exercise needs to be appropriate to the dog standing in front of you.
And no, relentlessly throwing a ball for an hour isn’t necessarily healthy exercise either.
Exercise doesn’t simply mean exhausting your dog.
It means giving their body an appropriate outlet for what it was designed to do.
But What If I Can’t Do That?
This is where I think the conversation needs to become practical rather than judgemental.
Because telling somebody, “You should walk your dog for 90 minutes every day,” doesn’t magically give them another 90 minutes.
We have to help people think laterally.
If your lifestyle means you cannot provide the textbook ideal every single day, ask yourself:
How can I tick that box differently?
Perhaps it’s a dog walker.
Perhaps it’s secure field hire.
Perhaps it’s two shorter walks rather than one long one.
Perhaps it’s meeting somebody whose dog yours enjoys and arranging regular walks together.
Perhaps it’s incorporating exercise into training.
Perhaps it’s getting in the car and travelling somewhere once or twice a week where your dog can have more freedom.
There are solutions.
But first we have to acknowledge that the need exists.
Freedom Starts With Training
One of the biggest barriers I see to people adequately exercising their dogs is actually a training problem:
They can’t let the dog off the lead because they don’t have a reliable recall.
And I completely understand why.
If your dog disappears over the horizon, chases livestock, runs towards roads or charges up to unfamiliar dogs, letting them off lead isn’t responsible.
But rather than accepting a lifetime of restriction, make recall training a priority.
Work on:
* Name response games
* Collar grabs
* Restrained recalls
* Conditioning a strong recall cue
* Reinforcing voluntary check-ins
* Teaching your dog that coming back to you doesn’t always mean the fun ends
And while you’re working on it, use a long line appropriately or find secure spaces where your dog can experience greater freedom safely.
A recall isn’t simply a useful obedience exercise.
A good recall can dramatically improve a dog’s quality of life.
Find Safe Spaces
Public spaces aren’t always easy.
You’re at the mercy of other people’s dogs, other people’s decisions and occasionally other people’s lack of control. And however well trained our own dogs are, they’re animals — mistakes can happen.
So find environments where you can safely give your dog opportunities to move.
Secure fields have become enormously popular for good reason. They can be invaluable for reactive dogs, dogs in training and owners who simply want to allow their dog some freedom without constantly looking over their shoulder.
A secure space can transform what exercise looks like for a dog who otherwise spends their entire life attached to a lead.
Exercise Doesn’t Cause Every Behaviour Problem — But Lack of It Doesn’t Help
This distinction matters.
I’m not suggesting that every reactive, anxious, destructive, frustrated or hyperactive dog simply needs “a longer walk.”
Behaviour is far more complicated than that.
But when I’m looking at a behavioural problem, I want to know whether the dog’s fundamental needs are being met before I start trying to modify their behaviour.
Because asking a dog to demonstrate emotional regulation when their physical needs are chronically unmet is stacking the deck against them.
Sometimes the dog doesn’t need another protocol.
Sometimes they don’t need another enrichment toy.
Sometimes they don’t need another training exercise.
Sometimes they need to get out of the house and move.
We Made a Commitment
This might be the uncomfortable part.
When we choose to own a dog, we make a commitment to meeting the needs of another species.
Not just when it’s sunny.
Not just when we have spare time.
Not just when it’s convenient.
That’s part of the reality of dog ownership.
That doesn’t mean beating ourselves up when life occasionally gets in the way. It doesn’t mean that missing a walk makes somebody a terrible owner.
It means recognising the difference between occasionally being unable to meet a need and redefining the need because it has become inconvenient to meet.
Those are two very different things.
And that’s where I think some of the current conversation around exercise is becoming problematic.
Rather than helping owners find realistic ways to meet their dogs’ physical needs, we’re sometimes telling them those needs don’t really exist.
I don’t think that’s progress.
Don’t Replace. Complement.
Give your dog enrichment.
Train them.
Educate them.
Play with them.
Give them opportunities to problem-solve.
Teach them how to settle.
Build emotional stability.
Let them sniff.
Give them choices.
And…
Exercise them.
These things aren’t competing philosophies.
They’re pieces of the same puzzle.
The goal isn’t to create an exhausted dog.
It isn’t to create an overstimulated adrenaline ju**ie who needs three hours of running every day just to function.
The goal is a dog whose physical, emotional and behavioural needs are being appropriately met.
So perhaps instead of asking:
“Does my dog really need exercise?”
We should be asking:
“What does appropriate exercise look like for the dog in front of me — and how can I realistically provide it?”
Because sometimes the answer to improving our dogs’ behaviour isn’t found in another training technique.
Sometimes it’s waiting outside the front door.
Pick up the lead. Get outside. And go enjoy your dog.
