Mental Vs Physical Exercise

[Gharrissc]

We all know that mental stimulation is good for dogs,but I've heard some dog people claim that purely mental exercise can replace physical exercise. I think BOTH are certainly importantly and play their role.I prefer to combine types personally.

Do you think mental exercise tires a dog in a more beneficial way than physical?

[llombardo]

I think it has to be balanced and the balance depends on the dog. My dog does much better with mental exercise, so therefore we do more of that. I also think that the balance changes as the dog changes, so we need to adjust it to what works. Maybe next month she will do better with physical exercise over the mental. I just pay attention to her and what she needs.

[Clyde]

I don't know if one replacing the other is a very good word. To me that would mean not bothering with physical at all. A lot of people get stuck up on the physical and they end up creating a dog they can't keep up with and don't have enough time in the day to exercise enough.

I would say my dogs get more mental exercise than physical although the physical exercise takes up more time. I find 15 minutes of mental is similar to an hour of physical for my dogs. For example a day at a seminar where they might get only 30-40 minutes of actual training time during the seminar and are in the car the rest of the time they were more tuckered out then the days I take them on 17km hikes.

Both types of exercise are important I think trainers are just trying to get people to realize that there are other options. If you don't have 3 hours everyday you can do other things that don't take as much time and mix it up a bit.

[Stosh]

I don't think I can tire Stosh out with purely physical exercise, he has tremendous stamina. He can play frisbee or hike all day it seems, but combine the physical with the mental workout he gets when we're herding it's another story. Even days when it isn't as physically demanding he's still exhausted. Some days thinking about what the sheep are doing is harder.

[JohnGold]

wow! I was not any idea about it. Really thank's for all

[fuzzybunny]

So what kind of mental exercises are people doing?

[gsdlover91]

Berlin gets both - and both are important. He can tire out just as easily from being at school or having a good obedience session with me. He loves anything physical, but he LOVES working his little intelligent brain. Besides obedience/school I play some mental games with him, i.e.. "find". He is still young, but I eventually will be doing more with him.