07/20/2025
While the addage that a good dog is a tired dog may be true, there are some significant caveats to that.
Physical exercise is important for dogs -they are 4-legged predators after all. Most of us are pretty good about providing that for them. We walk, hike, run, bike, horseback ride etc. Dogs will adjust to the exercise they get and become in shape and fit for what is common and familiar for them. Unfortunately what is often lacking is mental exercise- something that is almost as important if not more so than a physical outlet for the dog.
Exercise that just allows the dog to run mindlessly can create a disconnect in your relationship, give the dog a high of adrenaline and endorphins - making it difficult for them to come back down from that high, and over time they will become patterned to responding to that high excitement exercise. Mixing up how you exercise and what you do can make a huge difference. Also, adding impulse control games or mental exercise to your physical work can give you the double benefit of a mentally and physically tired dog.
I hike a lot and my two youngest BCs LOVE to run, which makes it easy to just let them rip and run their brains out. Over time that makes them even more amped up and they begin to overly anticipate our outings. Today, since I was hiking a narrow, rocky canyon trail, and since Zest is battling a nagging paw injury, I asked them to walk with me or behind me the entire hike. Walking is hard as they're used to rushing and running. They also had to think about maintaining the criteria for staying with me or staying behind me and actually think about what they were doing. On a 7 mile hike that normally would not phase either one of them, I came home with two dogs that were completely fried. Not only did they use whole different sets of muscle groups walking as opposed to running - not to mention doing so on a technical and rocky trail, it also made them think about their footing and my verbal cues the entire time they were out there. The result was a great balance of both mental and physical exercise all accomplished at the same time and doing something we all love.
For the fetch loving dogs, tossing a ball is mindless for them. They don't have to think about what they're doing except for reflexively chase that ball. The adrenaline and endorphin spike can lead to a pretty crazed dog over time. Use the lure of the ball to ask for waits, stays, work on recalls (calling them away from the ball before releasing them to it), and increasingly more difficult tasks using the chase for the toy as a reward.
Yes a tired dog is satisfying but a tired dog who has had both a mental and physical work out will be all the better for it!
The aftermath of our hike today.....😴💜
