Exercise for poodles: Poodle exercise needs

Physical activity can maintain health in good condition and make poodle’s life longer. Good exercise is equal to walking. Here we will talk about the daily exercise duration, its frequency and appropriate type. It is very important to not overdo it – the right amount of exercise is what we are looking for. Still, over-exercising is thought to be useful. Here are some tips about how to make exercise balanced for each poodle species.

We will fix on Poodle exercise needs

• Physical activity advantages
• Most suitable type of exercise for each poodle species
• What is required for all poodle life phases
• What to do when exercise is out of place
• How to substitute the activities
• Six main exercise recommendation
• Questions and answers

Vet recommendations: How much exercise does a Standard Poodle need?

The benefits from being active are tremendous. Having regular exercise provides your poodle with great health, not only physical but mental as well. It includes improving blood circulation and simultaneously preventing it from cardiovascular diseases. The amount of injuries will decrease as its muscles are well-trained. Exercise is good for digestion since it prevents constipation. It prevents different illnesses including canine diabetes, stroke and cancer. The poodle’s bones become stronger. You can avoid having urinary tract infections. Exercise stimulates urination that helps avoid infection gathering. Arthritis develops slower. Diet, exercise, dental care and good living conditions have a good impact on poodles’ life. Exercise makes your dog well-disciplined. You see how its behavior improves just by taking a look at the way your poodle sticks up to the rules and the walking schedule you have set. For other reasons, walking and exercising is a good way to release its curbed energy in a very useful way. You will not see any development if you do these exercises without any order and purpose. Sticking to a schedule helps you get rid of some undesirable actions. Exercising your dog frees its anger and irritation so that it returns home calmer.

If you do not let your dog get rid of curbed energy through physical activity, it can get rid of its energy through damaging your possession. Emotional crashes are the main reason of excessive barking. Physical activity cures this problem. Having physical exercise is a great opportunity for your dog to spend time with you since dogs usually suffer from lack of attention. Now your poodle looks forward to the next scheduled training.

You will notice improvements in sleep quality as well. Regular exercise makes your poodle sleep better. That is about the sleep length and the amount of deep sleep it has. On the contrary, sleep deprivation has various consequences for poodle’s health. Proper exercise easily manages this problem.

Make your dog happy. Poodle feels elated when it can do what it can and love, especially feeling smells and discovering new places. Let it do this and you see that being at home your dog has a better mood. Naturally, socialization depends on the physical activity your poodle has. Doing your exercise right can teach your dog how to socialize. Indeed, bringing the poodle up involves a lot of issues. This concerns teaching communication with others. You are mistaken not walking with your poodle when it has a storming reaction to people, cars and dogs. There is nothing to do but teaching it good manners. Exercise helps your poodle to acquire some skills important for communication, especially self-assurance. You can improve your relationship with the dog by becoming real friends. Your dog considers walks as a duty and teamwork.

Do Poodles need a lot of exercise? How often should you walk a Poodle?

Good health, better behavior, and a great mood are elements provided by physical activities. Healthy nutrition, safe house, brushing teeth, grooming and an integral part of this list is regularly exercising. Doubtless, there are few situations in which you had better steer clear your poodle of exercise.

The most appropriate exercise for poodle

Walking 

One is the best method for physical activity. First of all, it does not overload its tiny bones. Secondly, it gives you a chance to adjust the poodle’s body to different type of training. Having strictly planned walking you see soon that you can increase exercise. Thirdly, it is not difficult to fulfil. You need only a leash, a harness and a bit of patience for this. Walking is perfect for any weather condition. Talking about toy poodles, there is a question among the owners whether walking is a good exercise as the dogs are really tiny. The answer is that, compare your step and poodle’s one. Your normal step makes your poodle run in order to catch up to its owner. So it is really beneficial for your poodle.

Play games

Fetch, Tug of War, Chase bubbles, Find the treats and many more. These will keep your pet entertained, happy and in a good mood which is essential with Poodles.

Chew Toys

Simply – dogs love to chew. It is good for their gums, teeth, and brings lots of joy. Oh, and truly it is better to have a fun chewing tow than chewed shoes.

Dog toys that move on their own

An option if you yourself are a bit tired of running or playing. There are many safe and fun options on the market.

Play with other dogs

Of course your pet should socialize, but make it controlled, especially when you have a toy or mini poodle as they can get intimidated easily.

Tug of War

Poodles can be competitive and stubborn. But this game is great even as a mini poodle exercise as they will enjoy it at fullest. Of course, you are in charge, so the game must be fully controlled. If your pet starts getting carried away a bit – make a pause, choose another entertaining activity.

Swimming

This is a great option if you have an opportunity. Remember, Poodles were bred as “water dogs”, so swimming is the right amount of Poodle activity level, great for health and will even cheer up your pet. It is healthy standard poodle exercise even for older dogs.

Stair Walking

Nice change of regular exercises – a leg-day if you will. This is used to help muscle development and is required for pups also. But for smaller dogs it is better to do with a leash for safety reasons.

Backyard agility

When you choose on how to exercise miniature poodles, you at least can give them some time at the backyard to run and have fun. We are talking 15-20 minutes minimum. Beware – they can get bored if something will not entertain them. 

Fetch

As for toy poodle exercise and also miniature poodle exercise, they might not enjoy stair walking or playing with bigger dogs, but they can enjoy playing fetch for sure. They have a drive, a hunting instinct, so fetch may soon turn into Tug of War. Bigger breeds can enjoy frisbee when smallest poodle exercise can include running for small balls or stuffed toys.

Does your poodle need much exercise?

One-year old toys and miniatures poodles and eighteen-month standards should have a carefully elaborated schedule for exercise by you. It is a good way to spend its energy with benefits. Do not limit your puppies in actively spending their time, it will harm their development. But it is better to keep the balance and to know measures.

This happens because the poodle’s bones grow and form during the first period of their life. Growth plates are at the major bone ends. They are a soft area with quickly dividing cells that let the bones develop and grow longer because the puppy becomes grown-up. When the poodle is grown-up, the plates become solid. Too much exercise at a young age leads to easily injured bone tissue and difficulties with following bone growth. It is better for you to know how to both not harm your dog’s bones and not to limit development.

Remember that it is good to have a moderate home playing for your poodle not to be wound up from moving. Running and walking with a good voice given for a long time should be eliminated. You should teach your poodle discipline. At the same time, it is vital for your pet to keep moving to such an extent that it does not want more. Remember to never force your puppy to play if its heart has been unwilling and not prepared for it. Examining these recommendations you should know that the walking duration leaves unchangeable despite the dog size. It can be explained by the dog’s pace being equal to an exercise state. Toys and standards trot and you simply adjust to their pace. Remember the rule of thumb, that each month of its life you make the exercise five minutes longer. Here is a short mention of this rule.

Miniature Poodle Exercise

• Three-month dog walks for fifteen minutes every day.
• Four-month dog has twenty-minute walk, by the way, you can split it into two from now on.
• Five-month dog walks for twenty five minutes a day, you can also divide it.
• Six-month dog walks for half an hour. It can be even three walks.
• Seven-month dog has a thirty-five minute walk. Eight-month dog walks forty minutes (15, 15 and 10 minutes).
• Nine-month dog can easily walk during forty five minutes (15, 15 and 15).
• Ten-month dog has fifty-minute walk (20, 15, 15)
• Eleven-month dog can walk fifty-five minutes (20, 15, 20).

Toy Poodle Exercise

For standard twelve months mean twenty three, so the walk duration takes fifty-five minutes (20, 15, 20). On the contrary, toys and minis can move to the adult schedule of walking. Without doubt, you want to move at your usual speed. But keep in mind the fact that young puppies do not know how to walk on leash or heel proper, so it takes time to teach it. Here we try to explain how to make your walking useful.

Standard Poodle Exercise

One-year old toy and two-year old standard poodles are thought to be an adult, so their walking and exercise should take an hour every day. The amount of time does not depend on the poodle activity. Exceptions are everywhere, so the days when you are too busy or the weather is too severe are simply considered to be the day-off for your dog. It is advisable to split this time into two or three sessions. It will be more beneficial for your dog.

Exercise your dog before your leaving in the morning. Arriving home in the evening you should take your dog out for the evening bathroom and then walk with it to get rid of the stress being home alone for the whole day. In two hours there will be a good opportunity to walk for the last third time. If you do not want to train your pet before the bedtime, spend it together with your family and your poodle.

Senior Poodle Exercise

It is wrong to think that seniors do not need exercise. You can go with exercising your poodle unless your vet forbid it. You will see how satisfied your senior poodle is playing around the house with you. Seniors are known for their desire to please you, so it is really hard to surprise them. So these exercises in the fresh air can remain them their childhood and forget about their boring duties and thoughts. Joint discomfort is easily forgotten thanks to regular light exercise. Muscle mass will be in a good shape as well. Physical activities help your senior dog feel younger.

Senior poodles suffer from osteoarthritis. Despite exercise anesthetizes these symptoms, you need a vet’s opinion. Control how your poodle does the exercise to find out whether it is worth to decrease the amount or vice versa. Some health conditions demand to cease exercise. That is luxating patella (slipped kneecap). Medicine and complete bed rest are recommended to make the process of recovery less painful. When your poodle recovers, you can have a bit more exercise to train its joints. Walking uphill is good to build up the muscles around the knees. Control your poodle health after this illness as the acute conditions can be. The veterinarian should control the amount of exercise requirements including even mental stimulation you offer to your poodle.

Pregnant Poodle Exercise

Generally speaking, healthy pregnant poodle was allowed to have exercise as usual till last week. It helps your poodle to maintain its body and mood in good shape. As the result, labor and delivery are very easy for your poodle. You can start to train your poodle in a fortnight after labor.

How far can a Poodle walk and how rapid your walking should be?

The only advice adjusts to the dog’s speed of walking. For you it can be an ordinary walk, but it is an extremely complicated task for your dog, so mind its age, size and physical abilities. Do not hope that you can get a real physical exercise walking with your toy poodle. All in all, it is better to move, even walk slowly is profitable for you.

Remember, any movement is better than just sitting. Passing a mile in 25 minutes is normal pace for an adult standard poodle while the toy poodle passes only a half of this way for the same amount of time. Watch the way your poodle’s legs move. It is good if they are trotting with a short striding. Shorter walks or less exercise, even a brisk pace – everything can be adapted to your liking. The key – is enough exercise to get those endorphins and protect your pup from obesity and other health or mental problems.

How to cope with walking troubles?

Your unwillingness to walk daily with your pet may be explained by several reasons.

Uncontrollable behavior while walking.

Actually, it is a wide-spread problem. Though, avoiding walking is not an appropriate way out. Barking at everything it sees is a common behavior. An only explanation for excessive barking is a poodle’s concern or simply curiosity. The more often you show your dog these things, the less it barks, as it gets used to it.

To cope with the excessive barking problem you can simply take a walk with your dog the same route for six months and then you will see an absolutely different canine. There is no magic, your poodle gets acquainted with all the subjects that irritated it before. Minutes of daily exercise can be a fantastic way for a dog owner to be closer with his pet, create a bond.

Ignoring the barking is a good idea to make your pet walk silently. When your dog stops giving the voice, give it a prize.

Hot summer days and exercising your poodle

How weather really affects dogs’ health. Be sure that your dog is ready for exercising during the summer days. You can use paw wax for your poodle not to burn its paws. It is like shoes for you. Nose balsam saves your poodle nose from sunburn. It can happen if you are under the sun for twenty minutes. It is preferable to stay at home while the sun is highly dangerous. Early mornings and late evenings are good for walking. Do not forget about taking some water with you and offer it to your pet when you are on the break. See that the water was cold. Obviously, you should take a break only in the shadows.

Frozen poodle in winter

Winter training is possible if it is planned. It is recommended to keep the paws safe. As winters are snowy, your poodle skin may suffer from cold. So it is better to protect it with paw wax or special canine booties. Do not forget to dress yourself and your poodle for the weather. As you freeze, your walking turns out to be rushing and your training program spoils. The only thing your poodle has a chance to do is to go to the bathroom. Rolling yourself up with a hat, a scarf and a good winter coat really works for you not to be cold. In addition, you can take care of your dog’s warmth with a vest, hoodie, coat or sweater. Chapped nose is the most common problem for poodles in winter. Be as preventive as possible about this thing. Just a little good nose butter saves your poodle’s nose.

Decrease the amount of time spending outdoor according to the weather condition. Severe snowstorms and extremely cold weather are perfect reasons to stay at home.

Boredom and right stimulation: can Poodle get enough physical exercising playing on its own?

Despite being hyper active at home, you need to take your poodle to walk for the sake of socializing, learning commands and being together. Sticking up to the rules you have set is also important, so having scheduled walks is crucial for even a very little poodle.

If there is pouring rain or a severe blizzard outside, there is a way out how to exercise with your dog. When it is extremely hot, you can put a pool for your pet. Do not forget about your participation in your dog’s activity. You can also have sprinkled water in your yard. It is a good way to exercise your dog and have fun.

By the way, offer your poodle to swim as it is not a stressful activity. Remember, that swimming is a poodles’ inborn ability. Long time ago, poodles used to be a hunter dog, catching birds from the water. Now you can help your dog to refresh its knowledge about swimming by always being near your poodle and have a canine life vest for its safety. Remember to have your poodle showered after this kind of activity since water in swimming pools contain a lot of chemicals which bring damage to its coat and skin. Active walks are really hard to substitute. If your opportunity to walk outside has failed, there is a good alternative. Try to hide a treat for your dog to seek it. Your dog moves all the time simultaneously training its sniffing skills. Try to intrigue your poodle during the game, prompting and following it. A long hallway and a ball are good for fetch. The game process depends on your mood. The game may be fun and interesting if you desire to play and have a good mood as well as it can be boring if you are not interested in it.

Important exercise tips for Poodle Exercise

Having a well-developed schedule goes first. 

Life is unpredictable thing and time after time you need a passive rest, such as sitting on the sofa and watching TV. How nice to have next to you your pet! But if you do not have the opportunity to train your poodle outside, you can do it at your home.

Remember that having exercise is extremely important. 

No matter whether your poodle has already got rid of curbed energy or not. Exercise is good for now and then. Your dog is hardened, health and active. Anyway, it helps it live much longer. 

Your walk should be beneficial for your dog. 

It should learn it either to communicate with other dogs or get rid of fear. Define what do you expect of each walk and try to fulfil this task. Your flexibility toward poodle exercising is welcomed. You have to understand that with changing age, health condition and whether you should change the amount and type of exercise. 

A leash and harness use.

A harness should be used constantly as it may save your poodle’s life. If you connect a leash to the collar, your poodle can have collapsed trachea or other minor injuries as your pet is overactive. Why the harness is so good, you may ask. The answer is that this controlling rope share the poodle weigh equally to the back, chest and shoulders, not only to the neck as a collar and a leash do. A harness makes the walk more enjoyable since it is easier to control your poodle. 

Bathroom habits.

If you train your poodle to go to the bathroom in the exact place, you should not let it do these things during the walking. You should bring your pet to its spot and only then you can keep walking. Arriving home, let your dog pee and poo before entering the house.

Can over-exercising bring damage to poodle puppy health? 

Puppies’ overactivity is not good to some extent. Nevertheless, being energetic is a puppies’ inborn ability. If your little poodle is too passive, be on the alarm. The only thing you should be cautious about is the pain which damaged growth plates cause. Playing and running is good, but do not force your poodle to do it. It exercises as much as it can and wants. Do not forget about breaks. Playing games is an extremely fun activity for both of you.

Is there a good substitute for outdoor activities on a canine treadmill?

It is usually good for physical therapy. Treadmills help dogs of the larger species to lose weight. Nevertheless, it is quite costly and designed for one dog. By the way, even tiny poodles can walk outside in the winter for twenty minutes. Bear in mind about appropriate items to protect its body, especially paws and nose. And if there is no opportunity to go out, play fetch or something like that with your dog. Surely, it will like it much more than training alone on this bizarre machine. In addition, your dog is more likely to be injured using this machine.

What to do with your adult poodle excessive barking?

You should find out the reason for doing this. Simply walk in your poodle’s shoes. You sit at home all the time and only one time a day you are allowed to go out for twenty minutes, no more no less. This precious twenty minutes you spend on the leash and you are not allowed to play with others. It makes sense to make a conclusion that dogs bark mostly because of discontent. Do not accept barking as a kind of protest or riot. If you let your dog play with its mates, the problem may be solved.

Trust your poodle. It cannot bring harm to others if it is barking on the leash. After all, you do not know its behavior till you let it communicate.

It would be great to ask the other dog’s owner if you can let your poodle play with him. Remember, that sniffing each other is a kind of greeting. Keep in mind that scent glands, which hide the information about the dog’s health condition, mood and sex, have the rear end area location.

That is usually enough for your dog, so you can keep walking. Let your dog play with other canines, of course, if its owner allows. Watch your poodle while it is playing, keeping the leash in hand and being ready to pull it off (here is one more reason why a harness is better than a collar).