Fulfilling Exercise Requirements And Mental Stimulation

[corvus]

This week has had me thinking about subtle signs of a dog that is not quite fulfilled. I noticed a few little patterns that may or may not be patterns. When my poking maniac has had more exercise than usual, he doesn't poke things nearly as much. When both dogs haven't spent as much time in the yard as usual, they are more unsettled. When they get their off leash exercise in a place not big enough for extensive play, the younger one takes longer to settle when he gets home and the older one seems to store up more playful energy he releases next time we take them out.

I'm not sure if those sorts of patterns are meaningful, but it got me thinking how you tell if your dog is unfulfilled in some way. Beyond the obvious things like they are bouncing off the walls or barking excessively or engaging in obsessive behaviour, what might be other clues that something is not quite ideal in their lives?

[Zug Zug]

Subtle signs?

Lies down, gets up for a drink, lies down again, gets up again for another drink, lies down again....

I don't know if you would call this subtle. It's more subtle than barking. But my restless mutt indulges in both of these behaviours when she is underexercised.

And anxiety. She is more anxious when she hasn't had a chance to burn off energy lately (aren't we all?).

[Greytmate]

Licking themselves, the cushions and the couch? Not sure why some dogs do this at times. They do it as a diversion behaviour around here, but perhaps for the reason you mention as well.

[Rottigirl]

subtle signs: pacing beteween front door and my office and staring at me, occasionally will lick his chops (like the hunger sign I believe this also represents play), will whimper occasionally if he really really wants to go out.

not so subtle signs: if I skip a walk in the afternoon mine will sit down and systematically dismantle one of his toys. OB or hide and seek are necessary at home if we don't want toy distruction and I can't walk for some reason (recently have had a back prob so one walk was about all I could handle).

Edited March 6, 2011 by Rottigirl

[nickyp]

Funny you should mention this at the moment. I haven't walked my dogs for a week due to a sore shoulder and I've noticed a distinct difference in their demeanours.

Em, very active 10 year old kelpie x acd, has been licking and chewing her feet a lot and stealing things more often. She steal paper or cardboard items, including books, craft items the kids have made and toilet rolls and eats them. There's also been the increase in barking for attention that I was expecting, but the other things are more of a surprise. Em really enjoys her long walks and it's obvious that there's a lot of unexpended energy when she doesn't get them.

Indi, older kelpie x, who walks more for the sake of getting out of the house than for exercise, has been more reactive generally. She's barking more, but also picking on Em for imagined transgressions and was freaked out by the sound of the next door neighbour's bug zapper last night.

[The Spotted Devil]

Ziggy will jump on the bed and paw at the doona/pillows - very, very unusual for him.

Em will alternate between puppy zoomies and wrestling with the Dally and one of the cats - no sense of awareness that the other party might not be quite as keen as she is and no amount of being ignored or told off by the other participant is sufficient. Although she also does that after an afternoon of training/swimming/running!

ETA: Since pup arrived Zig has shown NO signs of a lack of mental stimulation or exercise

Edited March 6, 2011 by The Spotted Devil

[The Spotted Devil]

*gremlins*

Edited March 6, 2011 by The Spotted Devil

[Vickie]

I must be very unobservant.

I have never noticed any change in my dogs if their exercise is reduced.

Either I'm not noticing, their exercise rarely varies or they just don't act different. I suspect the latter.

[poodlefan]

Nothing subtle about my poodle boys. They become more reactive to sights and sounds outside the house and are more readily triggered to bark.

[halfthewords]

Staring. Lots of staring.

[piperspal]

Mine bark more, more zoomies, and I notice the old dog is a lot stiffer when he does not get a daily walk, so for his health we go.

[Aidan3]

One of the subtle signs after a while can be the dog becoming less active and engaging less with you. To some degree this might be a good thing, the dog fitting in better with the owners lifestyle, but I think it's a real loss.

[Polgara's Shadow]

My young SBT boy is not so subtle. If we don't meet his excersise and mental stimulation requirements we come home to a destroyed yard. Then we have to deal with him irritating the heck out of us, pouncing at us, trying to knaw on our hands and arms, dashing in and out the doggy door all night long, barking at possums.

We try very hard to keep up with his excercise and training, exposing him to different environments, and taking him with us where ever we are going. Then we have a calm, snuggly, sweet, fun, obedient ball of muscle.

[Greytmate]

Our dogs don't play, unless I withhold their walks. If they get a walk, they don't bother playing.

But they really do love their walks so much.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

It's raining. She's pretending to sleep on the office dog bed...

[Agility Dogs]

The only thing I get is even more effort when we do work, but I guess that is a channeling of the OTT barky/bouncy behaviour.

Other than that they know that down time is down time and up time will come again.

[Baileys mum]

The signs I usually would see are, barking more, more zoomies, staring at me, excessive licking & they will also start destroying their toys...especially their stuffed ones. There ends up being lots & lots of toy stuffing over the floor.

It has been raining all day here today & the dogs have hardly been outside at all & are bouncing of the walls at the moment, they are driving me nuts.

Edited March 9, 2011 by Baileys mum