deciding how much exercise our dogs need

Penny has just been out with us to the local shops for a short walk. We mostly stuck to the shade as it's a warm - but thankfully not hot - day. We even stretched our stiff middle-aged bodies to bend down and check how hot the pavement was for her paws. Not too hot, I'm pleased to say.

Now the question arises: how guilty should we feel that she probably won't get another, longer walk today? It's always a temptation to say, as long as she gets 'off the property' for some stimulation, that's enough. We often have to weigh her need for exercise against our need to lie around doing nothing in particular. Especially during the summer holidays!

Well, I've just read an informative article about dogs' exercise needs, on a Canadian site called Dog Blog. Some points that struck me were:

• having a large backyard is no reason to cop-out on walks, because most dogs won't exercise themselves - being a pack animal, they will wait for the leader to signal that it's time to go out hunting;


• running around chasing a ball in the backyard is not a sufficient cardio workout;


• the daily walk is a time for your dog to practise attending to you and reading your verbal or physical commands;


• if you have exercised your dog well, she should want to curl up and have a rest when you get home.

Hmm...that resting thing doesn't really seem to apply to Penny, even when we've been out for two hours...