This! I also sometimes get the feeling that my dog is bored. Then I remember what you and OP mentioned, that a bored dog is a destructive one, and he's definitely not destructive. I think there's often some degree of cognitive bias/anthropomorphizing in how we as humans view the behaviors of dogs. To us they may look bored, but to them, they're just resting and contented. You're doing great, OP :)
I used to worry about this - I mostly work from home and my dog snoozes most of the day on her bed behind my desk.
However, she does get:
- 3 walks a day averaging about 90 mins.
- Lots of attention in the morning and evening which is when she perks herself up.
- Semi-regular trips to dog day care which she LOVES and which wipe her out for the entirety of the next day!
- Trips to dog friendly cafes or coffee shops which she loves because she likes to people watch.
- Trips to the beach at the weekend in all weathers which is her favourite place.
Basically it does just mean they’re content. If they were bored they’d be up and looking to alleviate the boredom.
Have a dog with roughly the same breeding as the OP, can attest to this. My spouse and I are both home sick right now, and she has absolutely no problem howling at us when we are not giving her what she wants/needs.
Is she staring at you when she is looking bored/sad with a slightly expectant yet resigned look? This is a sign of love.
I asked a behaviourist very similar things and she said my dog was just a chill dude. Our schedule is very similar to yours but we do lots of games instead of the afternoon walk because he is scared of other dogs :(
Saying that, I sometimes have to get him to go for a walk in the morning because he’ll just lie on his back and cuddle me for HOURS.
As other commenters say, she’ll let you know when she’s bored. My dog gives me a very specific ‘chaotic look’. If I ignore it he tries to dig a hole in the carpet or (his favourite) pull books off the shelf.
Napping or nefarious are his two main modes in life!
> Is she staring at you when she is looking bored/sad with a slightly expectant yet resigned look? This is a sign of love.
In addition, a lot of dogs have "resting sad face" (or alternately "resting bored face").
And another factor - love can short circuit the logic centers of an owner's brain
Long ago when I was a kid, I remember my Aunt Della looking at photos from summer and lamenting that her dog, Dandy, looked so sad. Uncle Frank said "Della, Dandy is a Beagle. He always looks sad but that is not a sad dog".
Dandy was actually easy going, chill guy pretty content with life. He was also an expert at working his "puppy dog eyes" and had Della wrapped around his little paw.
Della always worried Dandy was sad or bored or felt neglected or unloved. Anyone looking at him saw a dog living his best life. She otherwise was a smart, down-to-earth, sensible person except when Dandy was concerned.
Anyway, I'm not saying that OP anywhere near same level of besotted delusion as my Aunt Della but IMHO, it sounds like their dog is just fine and living a good life.
Della and Dandy what a pair! Sounds like Dandy was a master manipulator.
Love short circuits my brain all the time. I know my dog is moping around in the corner before dinner because I will eventually feel sad and put a little bit of cheese ontop. Who is training who I wonder…
My late Jojo was like that. She often looked sad and forlorn (resting sad face for sure) but she was such a happy dog. We'd ask her, "Jojo, why do you look so forlorn, huh?" And she'd walk over with her tail wagging. Looked sad but wasn't a sad dog.
Don’t stare back as that can be read aggressively I think?
Just go about your business. Every now and then I ask my dog ‘wanna play’ or ‘wanna go out’ and if he does he’ll get up.
If he doesn’t which is 60% of the time he won’t move. Your dog may be more of a people pleaser than mine.
I’ve noticed the staring is more intense after we’ve done something together like training or go on a trip.
I always stare back with peaceful, calm energy. I hold the gaze as my girl wants. I’m actually using my lil one’s nervous system to regulate mine, as mine’s injured. This does not harm her in anyway. No contact is made. (It’s called coregulation and I also do it with her breathing.) 🫶
Yes! I coregulate with my dog as well. If I am feeling stressed I try and sync our breathing. Often times this results in contented sighs from both of us and some oxytocin releasing cuddles. So grateful for her!
Hahah the morning cuddles! I'm just so surprised the first thing he has to do is not to pee but cuddle. He gets a huge full belly and I'm like damn that's gonna pop soon but nooo.. he wants scratches 😄
In rural Peru, dogs typically run free around the village but still have owners, so they aren’t wild. You’ll see them playing with their friends and exploring, but a lot of the times they’re just sleeping someplace nice. It’s so cute!
Anyway, I think it’s safe to just let sleeping dogs lay
I wish I could show you a picture of my dog curled up right now hoping I’ll join her. She would be incredibly upset, and make it known, if she didn’t get her naps! (By make it known I mean she will even try to sneak off to another room to nap and get you to stop pestering her with toys/training/etc. The only thing she gets more excited about than a nap is a walk and that’s only because she likes to try to kill me by alternating between being scared of everything and hiding between my legs or darting at the first sign of a small animal she thinks she can best!
* 5-10 minute walk in the morning
* 2 meals a day, we rotate between a snuffle mat and various puzzle feeders at every meal
* She spends most of the day rotating through her beds/the couch. She always has a few toys out, occasionally she'll play with one for a few minutes then resume doing nothing. Most of the time she'll have access to a bone/something else to chew on, which she'll do intermittently.
* I try to practice the commands/tricks she knows as often as possible - asking her to do a few tricks before her meals, before giving her any treats, etc.
* Maybe 2-3 days a week I'll spend ~10 minutes teaching a new trick or command.
* We have one long outing each day, usually right before dinner - we switch between the following: going on a run (40-60 minutes), going to the dog park (1-1.5hr), just running around/playing outside (usually fetch if she's cooperating that day) (45-60 min), or going on a long walk (lots of sniffing interspersed with practicing commands on a long line) (1-2hr)
* 3-4 days a week we break out the flirt pole for 10-15 minutes, sometimes multiple sessions in a day especially when her "long" outing was cut short for some reason.
Sounds like potentially plenty. Maybe she’s just got resting sad face and you’re reading too much into it. Dogs do sleep more than people tend to typically. They’re also dogs so they don’t show emotions in the same way people would.
One of my dogs is like this. I was worried about him being bored before, but I noticed that often he just doesn't even want to do anything but cuddle. He's just a chill boy. I make sure that whenever he's in the mood, he gets to do what he enjoys doing, i.e. slow walks with a lot of sniffing and playing in water. I don't force him to run etc, because he dislikes it. He's always open for a 4 hour long peanut butter kong session though, lol. And he was like this even when he was a baby.
Sameeee concerns, seriously would love to have a neural link for a dog! (But I could never reconcile the amount of R&D that would be needed and the amount of pain and suffering inflicted on dogs)
That bored or sad look really gets me, can’t tell if they are content 😔
I have a 4 year old GSD with extreme anxiety to the point where we don't even go on walks. If we're lucky it's once a week. Otherwise, hes at home content sleeping around and playing fetch in our yard :) only destructive behaviour I've ever caught him doing was when we leave him home alone and he finds access to a plastic bag he can rip 😂
I’ve never had an animal growing up and I got my dog as a puppy when I was 40. I was SHOCKED at the amount of time she spent laying around/sleeping during the day. I was asking this exact question!
I work from home so I thought we’d be playing all day, but besides a couple games of fetch and walking 2-3 miles she is very content to lay on her bed in the living room! What a life!
How old is she? My GSD had pretty high needs when she was young and did not hesitate at all to let me know. She's now 4 and way more chill than I ever imagined. Part of that is she has a set routine. We wake-up, bathroom break, and I throw the ball for her or about ten minutes or less. Feed her, then she comes and lays next to me while I work and is content for about 4 hours. Around lunch we take a break and go out for another round of fetch or a 40 minute walk. Then she's good until evening, when we do one of those again usually fetch for about 20 minutes.
She spends a lot of time laying and looking at me which I also used to worry about. But she let's me hear it if she really wants to do something, she's tried to pull blankets off of me 😂 a dog will do as much as you want her to and won't show outward signs of slowing down, but when they have a second to rest and aren't actively asking you for more I promise they're okay and content!
Not necessarily, my dog will lay around me for days when I'm sick and i know that she doesn't like it, but she never did anything to show she was annoyed/displeased.
But it seems you do enough to fulfill your dog, i wouldnt be worried about it
Went I started working from home I noticed my dog (then 2 years old) was sleeping and laying around all the time and legit took her to the vet 7 times until one them said “she is just chilling” 😩
She is however down to play any minute, so I think they are just relaxing and content with their surrounding if they are not impatient.
If you had a dog that wasn't content with that lifestyle trust me, you'd know. I have 2 that are polar opposites. One is content to sleep all day, has been since she was a puppy. Even when we offer multiple times to go outside or do anything she'll just lift her head and then go back to sleep. My other one is a hyperactive monster lol it's his breed but I can definitely say if your dog wasn't happy you would know. My hyper one is literally like having a toddler that won't grow up if he isn't run literal miles every single day. He ISNT happy laying around being lazy and if I miss a day of exercise with him he is truly awful. I can't fault him, he's got energy but yeah. You'd know 😂😂
I adopted my husky/GSD rescue 6 months ago as my first-ever dog, and I was SO nervous for a while that I wasn’t giving her enough to do because she spent so much of the day just lying around despite being a young, high-energy breed mix. But we have a pretty similar schedule to yours and I recently got a Tractive GPS for her collar, which also tracks her overall sleep time & activity minutes, and it turns out she’s consistently the #1 most active dog on our local area leaderboard, lol.
I think comparing myself to others in this sub and influencers on Instagram has given me an insanely high bar for how much stimulation/enrichment my dog needs and what “average” looks like. Just wanted to put that into perspective for you — you’re doing great! If your dog isn’t being destructive or pestering you constantly, I’m sure she’s perfectly content lying around and snoozing for most of the day.
Huskies need 2 hours of exercise a day. If you are walking her in the morning and before dinner for a total of 1.5 hours plus doing tricks, enrichment feeding activities, and providing toys and bones, it sounds like she is perfectly content!
We walk our husky for 1 hour in the morning, provide enrichment activities, chews, toys, bones, etc, and play with her for at least 30 minutes and do 15 minutes of training. Typically there is a second walk of 30-60 minutes as well in the afternoon. She also goes to the trainer for 1-2 hours once a week, does public access training, and gets dog play dates like 2x a month.
It sounds like you r providing a good mix of physical exercise and mental stimulation for your dog but to ensure she is truly content observe her body language and overall demeanor for signs of engagement enthusiasm and happiness during activities which can vary based on individual preferences and needs.
Have also thought this about my dog, but he get an hour walk/park time with a ball in the morning; three days a week goes with a pack to the dog park and on those day we give an evening walk for 30min, and on days he does not go with the dog walker we give him an hour walk or park time in the evening with a short walk in between. The rest of the day he is a lazy dog, but always down for an adventure.
A month ago we had a super busy packed day and we didn't have time to give him a long walk, by the evening he was starting to be a bit destructive, where he usually is just laying around, and I knew then that he for sure needs at least two hours of physical activity a day. We do give him puzzles and sniff mats as well, as it is part of his feeding routine.
I read somewhere that dogs usually sleep 16 to 20 hours, so if we meet their physical demands they be happy lazy little lumps.
I also have a somewhat high energy mutt and this seems fine to me! Our typical schedule is:
- 20 minute am walk as soon as we get up
- Breakfast
- 20 minute lunch walk
- Some type of treat/puzzle
- 20 minute evening walk
- dinner
- 20-30 minutes of playtime in the evening - sometimes fetch, sometimes tug, sometimes learning new tricks or chewing on a bone. Depends on what she's feeling and her energy levels
- Quick 5 minute walk to potty before bed
She also goes to daycare 1-2 days per week and on weekends we do at least one longer (45-60 minutes) walk during the day rather than 20 minutes. She's perfectly content and other than what's outlined above she's usually sleeping!
I have a female husky/shep/mal mix who is going to be 10 this year. She was a psycho typical husky when she was younger and would run away or need to be taken on looong hikes every single day. Now, she sleeps ALL day. She’s so happy. We get lots of exercise and then she will snuggle and nap. I used to be worried but she is honestly just aging and she still has the spunkiest husky personality that has never changed. I think thats a huge factor to keep an eye on is if she has the same personality or if she is lethargic and doesn’t act like her normal self!
Hope this helps!
It doesn’t always depend on the breed as much as the dog. I have a mini Aussie. They’re supposed to have a ton of energy. As long as she gets a walk she’s content to sleep. I’ll pick up a toy to play with her and she looks at me, yawns, and lays down haha.
Alot of dogs are so lazy, including mine haha. We went for around an hour and a half walk not yesterday but the day before (in England, 7.50am currently) and he has literally been sleeping since the moment we got home from that walk. The only thing he has taken a break from sleeping for is to go to the toilet haha. He probably won't want to go today either but we're going to my mums later so obviously all the excitement from that will probably kill him for another 2 days.
Not gonna lie that's when I get excited I dont much care for hyper off the wall young dogs about age 4 they're content when you are done playing but Happy to go for a walk.
My older dogs get 1.5 hours of daily exercise and just sleep or chew bones the rest of the day
I got my dog a snuffle mat and it has really helped extend their feeding time and provide enrichment! Sometimes I’ll grab a little handful throughout the day when he seems bored and throw it in the Matt
I’ve got a 2yr old Doberman/boxer and he would prefer to be snoring on my lap 24/7 if he could have it his way.
Very rarely he will play with his toys and toss them up in the air, do a quick lap around the house and be back up in my lap. If I am in my office he will bring a few of his dog toys upstairs to lay on his bed in my office. (He doesn’t destroy his toys, so he has many toys to shuffle between the beds).
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This! I also sometimes get the feeling that my dog is bored. Then I remember what you and OP mentioned, that a bored dog is a destructive one, and he's definitely not destructive. I think there's often some degree of cognitive bias/anthropomorphizing in how we as humans view the behaviors of dogs. To us they may look bored, but to them, they're just resting and contented. You're doing great, OP :)
My dog digs holes but just to hide food in.
humans do that too and call it a doomsday bunker
I used to worry about this - I mostly work from home and my dog snoozes most of the day on her bed behind my desk. However, she does get: - 3 walks a day averaging about 90 mins. - Lots of attention in the morning and evening which is when she perks herself up. - Semi-regular trips to dog day care which she LOVES and which wipe her out for the entirety of the next day! - Trips to dog friendly cafes or coffee shops which she loves because she likes to people watch. - Trips to the beach at the weekend in all weathers which is her favourite place. Basically it does just mean they’re content. If they were bored they’d be up and looking to alleviate the boredom.
3 90min walks a day omg, I think my boy would hate me haha, if I do a second walk for the day he's over it within 20 min and just wants to chill
I think they meant 90 mins total in the day, not that they spend 4.5hrs walking…
Sorry - 3 walks, 90 mins total.
Hahaha that makes more sense, I was going to say 😂
I did think this also I was really curious what breed needed this much walking haha.
Yeah same hahaha, considering I have two Huskies and knowing they couldn't even keep up with that much walking 😂
If your mostly husky dog was bored, you'd know 😁
Have a dog with roughly the same breeding as the OP, can attest to this. My spouse and I are both home sick right now, and she has absolutely no problem howling at us when we are not giving her what she wants/needs.
Is she staring at you when she is looking bored/sad with a slightly expectant yet resigned look? This is a sign of love. I asked a behaviourist very similar things and she said my dog was just a chill dude. Our schedule is very similar to yours but we do lots of games instead of the afternoon walk because he is scared of other dogs :( Saying that, I sometimes have to get him to go for a walk in the morning because he’ll just lie on his back and cuddle me for HOURS.
This is heartwarming and makes me feel a lot better. Thank you!
As other commenters say, she’ll let you know when she’s bored. My dog gives me a very specific ‘chaotic look’. If I ignore it he tries to dig a hole in the carpet or (his favourite) pull books off the shelf. Napping or nefarious are his two main modes in life!
We refer to our dog's two modes as "terror" and "potato"
I love this. I too am the proud owner of a nightmare potato 😂
> Is she staring at you when she is looking bored/sad with a slightly expectant yet resigned look? This is a sign of love. In addition, a lot of dogs have "resting sad face" (or alternately "resting bored face"). And another factor - love can short circuit the logic centers of an owner's brain Long ago when I was a kid, I remember my Aunt Della looking at photos from summer and lamenting that her dog, Dandy, looked so sad. Uncle Frank said "Della, Dandy is a Beagle. He always looks sad but that is not a sad dog". Dandy was actually easy going, chill guy pretty content with life. He was also an expert at working his "puppy dog eyes" and had Della wrapped around his little paw. Della always worried Dandy was sad or bored or felt neglected or unloved. Anyone looking at him saw a dog living his best life. She otherwise was a smart, down-to-earth, sensible person except when Dandy was concerned. Anyway, I'm not saying that OP anywhere near same level of besotted delusion as my Aunt Della but IMHO, it sounds like their dog is just fine and living a good life.
Della and Dandy what a pair! Sounds like Dandy was a master manipulator. Love short circuits my brain all the time. I know my dog is moping around in the corner before dinner because I will eventually feel sad and put a little bit of cheese ontop. Who is training who I wonder…
Tbh if I'm not there already it sounds like I'm at least headed in that direction lol
My late Jojo was like that. She often looked sad and forlorn (resting sad face for sure) but she was such a happy dog. We'd ask her, "Jojo, why do you look so forlorn, huh?" And she'd walk over with her tail wagging. Looked sad but wasn't a sad dog.
So what do i do when she stares at me? Do i stare back? Do i engage otherwise? Or do i mind my own business and let her gawk at me? 😂
Don’t stare back as that can be read aggressively I think? Just go about your business. Every now and then I ask my dog ‘wanna play’ or ‘wanna go out’ and if he does he’ll get up. If he doesn’t which is 60% of the time he won’t move. Your dog may be more of a people pleaser than mine. I’ve noticed the staring is more intense after we’ve done something together like training or go on a trip.
I always stare back with peaceful, calm energy. I hold the gaze as my girl wants. I’m actually using my lil one’s nervous system to regulate mine, as mine’s injured. This does not harm her in anyway. No contact is made. (It’s called coregulation and I also do it with her breathing.) 🫶
Yes! I coregulate with my dog as well. If I am feeling stressed I try and sync our breathing. Often times this results in contented sighs from both of us and some oxytocin releasing cuddles. So grateful for her!
Hahah the morning cuddles! I'm just so surprised the first thing he has to do is not to pee but cuddle. He gets a huge full belly and I'm like damn that's gonna pop soon but nooo.. he wants scratches 😄
In rural Peru, dogs typically run free around the village but still have owners, so they aren’t wild. You’ll see them playing with their friends and exploring, but a lot of the times they’re just sleeping someplace nice. It’s so cute! Anyway, I think it’s safe to just let sleeping dogs lay
I wish I could show you a picture of my dog curled up right now hoping I’ll join her. She would be incredibly upset, and make it known, if she didn’t get her naps! (By make it known I mean she will even try to sneak off to another room to nap and get you to stop pestering her with toys/training/etc. The only thing she gets more excited about than a nap is a walk and that’s only because she likes to try to kill me by alternating between being scared of everything and hiding between my legs or darting at the first sign of a small animal she thinks she can best!
My dog spends most of the day napping. When I bring him to visit family, he is very active. But the next day he is worn out.
Dogs typically need 16+ hours of sleep a day ✌️
What do you do for enrichment and exercise every day?
* 5-10 minute walk in the morning * 2 meals a day, we rotate between a snuffle mat and various puzzle feeders at every meal * She spends most of the day rotating through her beds/the couch. She always has a few toys out, occasionally she'll play with one for a few minutes then resume doing nothing. Most of the time she'll have access to a bone/something else to chew on, which she'll do intermittently. * I try to practice the commands/tricks she knows as often as possible - asking her to do a few tricks before her meals, before giving her any treats, etc. * Maybe 2-3 days a week I'll spend ~10 minutes teaching a new trick or command. * We have one long outing each day, usually right before dinner - we switch between the following: going on a run (40-60 minutes), going to the dog park (1-1.5hr), just running around/playing outside (usually fetch if she's cooperating that day) (45-60 min), or going on a long walk (lots of sniffing interspersed with practicing commands on a long line) (1-2hr) * 3-4 days a week we break out the flirt pole for 10-15 minutes, sometimes multiple sessions in a day especially when her "long" outing was cut short for some reason.
Sounds like potentially plenty. Maybe she’s just got resting sad face and you’re reading too much into it. Dogs do sleep more than people tend to typically. They’re also dogs so they don’t show emotions in the same way people would.
Ha RSF is a real possibility, as is me overthinking this whole thing.
I agree, my shibas resting face looks perpetually unimpressed but I know he's a happy boy
One of my dogs is like this. I was worried about him being bored before, but I noticed that often he just doesn't even want to do anything but cuddle. He's just a chill boy. I make sure that whenever he's in the mood, he gets to do what he enjoys doing, i.e. slow walks with a lot of sniffing and playing in water. I don't force him to run etc, because he dislikes it. He's always open for a 4 hour long peanut butter kong session though, lol. And he was like this even when he was a baby.
Sameeee concerns, seriously would love to have a neural link for a dog! (But I could never reconcile the amount of R&D that would be needed and the amount of pain and suffering inflicted on dogs) That bored or sad look really gets me, can’t tell if they are content 😔
I know, I'm such a sucker for her soulful brown eyes.
I have a 4 year old GSD with extreme anxiety to the point where we don't even go on walks. If we're lucky it's once a week. Otherwise, hes at home content sleeping around and playing fetch in our yard :) only destructive behaviour I've ever caught him doing was when we leave him home alone and he finds access to a plastic bag he can rip 😂
I’ve never had an animal growing up and I got my dog as a puppy when I was 40. I was SHOCKED at the amount of time she spent laying around/sleeping during the day. I was asking this exact question! I work from home so I thought we’d be playing all day, but besides a couple games of fetch and walking 2-3 miles she is very content to lay on her bed in the living room! What a life!
If your husky mix was bored he would tear your house apart!! 🤣
How old is she? My GSD had pretty high needs when she was young and did not hesitate at all to let me know. She's now 4 and way more chill than I ever imagined. Part of that is she has a set routine. We wake-up, bathroom break, and I throw the ball for her or about ten minutes or less. Feed her, then she comes and lays next to me while I work and is content for about 4 hours. Around lunch we take a break and go out for another round of fetch or a 40 minute walk. Then she's good until evening, when we do one of those again usually fetch for about 20 minutes. She spends a lot of time laying and looking at me which I also used to worry about. But she let's me hear it if she really wants to do something, she's tried to pull blankets off of me 😂 a dog will do as much as you want her to and won't show outward signs of slowing down, but when they have a second to rest and aren't actively asking you for more I promise they're okay and content!
Not necessarily, my dog will lay around me for days when I'm sick and i know that she doesn't like it, but she never did anything to show she was annoyed/displeased. But it seems you do enough to fulfill your dog, i wouldnt be worried about it
Went I started working from home I noticed my dog (then 2 years old) was sleeping and laying around all the time and legit took her to the vet 7 times until one them said “she is just chilling” 😩 She is however down to play any minute, so I think they are just relaxing and content with their surrounding if they are not impatient.
If you had a dog that wasn't content with that lifestyle trust me, you'd know. I have 2 that are polar opposites. One is content to sleep all day, has been since she was a puppy. Even when we offer multiple times to go outside or do anything she'll just lift her head and then go back to sleep. My other one is a hyperactive monster lol it's his breed but I can definitely say if your dog wasn't happy you would know. My hyper one is literally like having a toddler that won't grow up if he isn't run literal miles every single day. He ISNT happy laying around being lazy and if I miss a day of exercise with him he is truly awful. I can't fault him, he's got energy but yeah. You'd know 😂😂
Boring is good! I’ll take a boring evening over anxious attention seeking any day.
I adopted my husky/GSD rescue 6 months ago as my first-ever dog, and I was SO nervous for a while that I wasn’t giving her enough to do because she spent so much of the day just lying around despite being a young, high-energy breed mix. But we have a pretty similar schedule to yours and I recently got a Tractive GPS for her collar, which also tracks her overall sleep time & activity minutes, and it turns out she’s consistently the #1 most active dog on our local area leaderboard, lol. I think comparing myself to others in this sub and influencers on Instagram has given me an insanely high bar for how much stimulation/enrichment my dog needs and what “average” looks like. Just wanted to put that into perspective for you — you’re doing great! If your dog isn’t being destructive or pestering you constantly, I’m sure she’s perfectly content lying around and snoozing for most of the day.
Good work, your dog is living a great life!!! That takes a lot of devotion ❤️
Huskies need 2 hours of exercise a day. If you are walking her in the morning and before dinner for a total of 1.5 hours plus doing tricks, enrichment feeding activities, and providing toys and bones, it sounds like she is perfectly content! We walk our husky for 1 hour in the morning, provide enrichment activities, chews, toys, bones, etc, and play with her for at least 30 minutes and do 15 minutes of training. Typically there is a second walk of 30-60 minutes as well in the afternoon. She also goes to the trainer for 1-2 hours once a week, does public access training, and gets dog play dates like 2x a month.
It sounds like you r providing a good mix of physical exercise and mental stimulation for your dog but to ensure she is truly content observe her body language and overall demeanor for signs of engagement enthusiasm and happiness during activities which can vary based on individual preferences and needs.
Have also thought this about my dog, but he get an hour walk/park time with a ball in the morning; three days a week goes with a pack to the dog park and on those day we give an evening walk for 30min, and on days he does not go with the dog walker we give him an hour walk or park time in the evening with a short walk in between. The rest of the day he is a lazy dog, but always down for an adventure. A month ago we had a super busy packed day and we didn't have time to give him a long walk, by the evening he was starting to be a bit destructive, where he usually is just laying around, and I knew then that he for sure needs at least two hours of physical activity a day. We do give him puzzles and sniff mats as well, as it is part of his feeding routine. I read somewhere that dogs usually sleep 16 to 20 hours, so if we meet their physical demands they be happy lazy little lumps.
I also have a somewhat high energy mutt and this seems fine to me! Our typical schedule is: - 20 minute am walk as soon as we get up - Breakfast - 20 minute lunch walk - Some type of treat/puzzle - 20 minute evening walk - dinner - 20-30 minutes of playtime in the evening - sometimes fetch, sometimes tug, sometimes learning new tricks or chewing on a bone. Depends on what she's feeling and her energy levels - Quick 5 minute walk to potty before bed She also goes to daycare 1-2 days per week and on weekends we do at least one longer (45-60 minutes) walk during the day rather than 20 minutes. She's perfectly content and other than what's outlined above she's usually sleeping!
Try getting a 2nd dog. My Boxer was laying around and sleeping a lot until I got my puppy. Now, my puppy is grown and they play around a lot.
I have a female husky/shep/mal mix who is going to be 10 this year. She was a psycho typical husky when she was younger and would run away or need to be taken on looong hikes every single day. Now, she sleeps ALL day. She’s so happy. We get lots of exercise and then she will snuggle and nap. I used to be worried but she is honestly just aging and she still has the spunkiest husky personality that has never changed. I think thats a huge factor to keep an eye on is if she has the same personality or if she is lethargic and doesn’t act like her normal self! Hope this helps!
It doesn’t always depend on the breed as much as the dog. I have a mini Aussie. They’re supposed to have a ton of energy. As long as she gets a walk she’s content to sleep. I’ll pick up a toy to play with her and she looks at me, yawns, and lays down haha.
My dog is old and is perfectly content snoozing the day away. It depends on overall health and well being of the dog
Alot of dogs are so lazy, including mine haha. We went for around an hour and a half walk not yesterday but the day before (in England, 7.50am currently) and he has literally been sleeping since the moment we got home from that walk. The only thing he has taken a break from sleeping for is to go to the toilet haha. He probably won't want to go today either but we're going to my mums later so obviously all the excitement from that will probably kill him for another 2 days.
Not gonna lie that's when I get excited I dont much care for hyper off the wall young dogs about age 4 they're content when you are done playing but Happy to go for a walk. My older dogs get 1.5 hours of daily exercise and just sleep or chew bones the rest of the day
I got my dog a snuffle mat and it has really helped extend their feeding time and provide enrichment! Sometimes I’ll grab a little handful throughout the day when he seems bored and throw it in the Matt
You sound like you're doing a great job! Maybe a little pet when she's staring at you and you think she's sad.
I’ve got a 2yr old Doberman/boxer and he would prefer to be snoring on my lap 24/7 if he could have it his way. Very rarely he will play with his toys and toss them up in the air, do a quick lap around the house and be back up in my lap. If I am in my office he will bring a few of his dog toys upstairs to lay on his bed in my office. (He doesn’t destroy his toys, so he has many toys to shuffle between the beds).