Does my teenage dog need more exercise?

You’ve come home after another long walk with your teenage dog hoping this time you’ve finally tired them out enough that they’ll sleep. But instead they seem even more hyper than they did before the walk and instead of relaxing they’re doing laps of the house and literally bouncing off the walls. They might not be tired but you are - you’re exhausted from walking your dog for longer and longer every day and spending hours chucking balls for them to fetch.

And you’re not the only one. One of the most common problems people with teenage dogs are struggling with is getting their dog to actually chill out. Most of them are doing what you’re doing - walking their dogs more and more. And most of them find out exactly what you have - that it doesn’t work. Luckily for you, there is a better way to get teenage dogs to relax and sleep.

Walking only makes your teenage dog fitter

Walking your dog further and faster each day, or playing fetch and tug for longer, is only going to build your dog’s fitness. Instead of tiring your dog out, you’re training a canine athlete who’ll need more and more exercise to reach the same level of tiredness. Before you know it you’re walking your dog for hours and hours every day and it’s taking up most of your waking hours. But your dog’s still as wired when they get home…

Unfortunately, the way you walk your dog may actually be making them more hyper, not less. It’s logical to think that high intensity activity like running, fetch or tug would tire out your dog and leave them exhausted and ready for a sleep. But instead it hypes up their brain ready for even more activity. If you don’t calm your teenage dog down afterwards all that energy will have nowhere to go. And they’ll just come home and do the zoomies not settle down for a snooze.

Walk slower not faster

It seems completely counterintuitive but you actually need to do less on your dog’s walks, not more. Dogs love to sniff which is awesome because it’s EXHAUSTING for your dog’s brain. If you’re thinking ‘but my dog doesn’t sniff’, it’s probably because you’re walking too fast. Dogs are great at matching our pace on walks. So if you’re on a route march, they will be too. But if you walk slower (or even stop and sit down) they’ll eventually start sniffing. And if they don’t you can scatter a few treats and they’ll start.

Teenage dogs love to explore and climb on things - which is great for building physical flexibility and tiring out their brains. Try encouraging your dog to splash in puddles, jump in leaves and climb on logs. Your dog will come home way more tired if they’ve spent their walk exploring their environment than if they’ve played half an hour of fetch. And as a bonus they’ll be much more focused on what you’re up to on the walk - which is going to give your training a massive boost.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to stop playing fetch and tug with your dog. Play is still great fun and brilliant exercise. You just need to be more careful about how much high intensity exercise your dog does. Try to limit how long you play for to maybe 2-3 minutes at a time (you can play several times a walk though) so your dog’s brain doesn’t get too wired. And then help your dog calm down straight away by scattering some treats and encouraging them to sniff. That way they’re not left in that hyper state.

Getting your dog to snooze after walks

You also need to help your teen dog calm down after walks - especially if they’ve done a lot of running and playing. Coming home and just leaving your dog to settle down and sleep doesn’t work with teenage dogs. They usually get home full of energy and have no idea what to do with it. That’s why they get the zoomies - their brain is still hyper and they’re not able to calm themselves down yet.

Give them something to do when they get home to use up some of that energy and help them learn to relax. You could scatter treats and kibble around your house for your dog to sniff out. Or you could hide some food in your clean paper or cardboard recycling for your dog to shred. Just giving your dog a carrot or frozen banana to chew can help them chill out. Don’t worry - you won’t have to do this forever. Your teenage dog will start to learn how to calm themselves down after walks and usually by the time they get to adulthood they’ll naturally come home and sleep.

Written by Juniper Indigo, dog trainer in Tiverton and Exeter