How much daily exercise does your GSD have in a day? What does this consist of? What mental training/stimulation do you do a day? How long for?
Varies for both in terms of duration. Activities vary eg swimming, tracking, searching, sendaways, biking, retrieves, protection work, heelwork, speaks, stays, jumping, farting about.
It does vary, but they usually get 3 or 4 walks a day which incorporates stimulation/training. The first is a 40 min mad dash around the fields with the working collies first thing in the morning. I then take my lot again mid morning for another 40 mins or so. This usually consists of fun training (stays, retrieves, heelwork) as well as some ball chasing time followed by a mooch on the hillside - sniffing all the smells from the night before (and lots of sticking heads down rabbit holes ) In the afternoon I take the two younger GSDs and my BC to the woods or the beach. Flame is too arthritic to partake in the afternoon walks now :-( We are usually out for two to two and a half hours, as I walk while my son is in nursery. Again, it might consist of just walking, or some fun training and ball chasing/retrieve time. I then take them for a last walk at around 8pm-ish. This is just a walk up the hill track in the dark with a big torch for around half an hour or so. This is the week routine. At the weekend, we can do all sorts, but the dogs are usually always involved in whatever I am doing. I also try to lay tracks 2-3 times a week for the two younger GSDs and Zak is going to start attending formal obedience club in a month's time, which is one night a week. When he is old enough we will also start to train for either WT or just agility. Yogi used to do WT training on a Saturday afternoon and agility on a Wednesday night, but we gave those up last year.
Raz - 5 minutes lead training in morning. 30 mins stroking at night. Daisy - between 2 and 3 hours walk as a rule - although today was shorter as weather was so awful. Can get to 4 hours in summer if I take paints or a book. ;-) Training is ongoing. Every walk really. I ask for actions if she wants her ball thrown, and because I don`t drive we do at least 3o mins a day lead work.
The most difficult time I found was when Zeph was a pup, lots of energy but you have to be careful not to over do it, so mental stimulation at this time is deffo needed. He did have a leg injury when very young though so this made it harder as vets gave us differing advice. As an adult, Zephyr is very undemanding, we love long walks, he will go for hours, but he'll also go for hours without one and quite happily chill on the sofa
Cain is a GSDx but very shephardy in his behaviour. He tends to only get one walk a day (would get more if it wasn't such a stressful nightmare to walk ) but that one walk is usually around 1 and 1/2 hours. He can get longer on weekends, often ramble around Richmond Park for a few hours. On top I usually try to do some training with him every day. He gets a food stuffed toy while I'm out (Kong, treaty ball, buster cube, Kong Genius etc) so mental stimulation. We can do around 30 mins clicked training. Or I might do scent/find it games with treats and toys around the house, or Nina Ottoson puzzles. He's also learning how to stack baby rings and use a shape shorter. Extra exercise includes agility class once a week, swimming in the river in summer or the occasional trip to the htdrotheraphy pool, a bit of cycling but he wears out quickly! We tried jogging for a bit but I'm too unfit. I also have a home agility set in the garden which we like to do in summer. Sometimes I give him food to keep him quiet, like gnawing a good marrowbone wears him out, and the odd sheep head or cow foot keeps him quiet! Usually the combo of one good walk, an IQ toy/bone chew time and 30 mins clicker training keeps him happy. Lately, for personal reasons, I haven't had much time to train him. He's still getting his walks but without the mental stimulation, he's being a pain in the backside
