A Few Simple Tips to Exercise Dogs for a high Energy Malibu Pup

For this Malibu dog training session we worked with Australian Shepherd puppy Alfie, sharing tips to exercise dogs or high energy puppies.

Alfie is a mature puppy who lives in the hills above Malibu. Because of coyotes and the rugged landscape daily walks arent as easy or natural as it is in urban or more developed environments. But since many of the unwanted behavior problens his guardians wanted help with revolved around a surplus of puppy energy, I wanted to share some creative forms of exercise for dogs and pups with his guardians.

But before we shared tips on how to exercise a high energy puppy, we covered a number of fundamentals before we got to the exercse; how to introduce and use marker words, the importance of celebrating desired behaviors, how to teach a puppy manners as well as self control exercises like leave it.
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Some creative tips to exercise dogs

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When it comes to dog exercise, many people think that physical exercise is the only way to go. But mental stimulation can be a very effective way of helping a dog or puppy burn off excess energy. The old adage a tired dog is a well behavied one is tried, but often true.

We call this enrichment (a combination or physical exercise and mental stimulation) andf like to recommend people oscillate between physical exercise and mental stimulation every couple of hours. Your average dog needs about an hours worth of exercise every day; hunting dogs and herding breeds like Alfie often need more.

The key to helping a high energy dog behave the way we want is all about adopting a healthy lifestyle that services the dogs needs. If you dont get a high enervy dog enough mental stimulaiton and physical exercise, you should expect it to offer many behaviors you dont find appealing. So really the choice is up to the humans. Alter your scheudle slightly to accommpdayte the dog’s needs, or be prepared to deal with the consequences. And if you dont give the dog the outlet it needs, its inappropriate to say the dog is “naughty,” or “gets into trouble.” That means we failed the dog so if anyone is in trouble, we need to look at ourselves.

To give the family some additional options on how to exercise their dog, I pulled out my camera so that I could record some creative exercise tips and suggestions for dogs. If you have a high energy dog or puppy that could use some additional mental stimulation or physical exercise, check out the free positive dog training video below.

As I mentioned before, when dogs and puppies get into what we perceive as trouble, it’s often due to boredom or frustration out of being unable to release their pent-up energy. Dogs are supreme athletes who need appropriate ways to channel the energy that makes them such athletic creatures. If we don’t provide the dog with the mental stimulation and physical exercise they need, we should expect them to get into some mischief.

By incorporating a variety of physical and mental exercises such as scent games like cooking in the corner, Alfie’s guardians will put him in a position to succeed.

One of the tips that I suggested was that the family keep an exercise journal for a week or two. By writing down the time along with the quantity, length or frequency of various exercises, along with a overall daily grade, The family should be in able to hone in on the proper amount of exercise and mental stimulation Alfie needs to stay out of trouble.

To help the family remember all of the dog behavior tips that we shared in this in-home Malibu dog training session, we recorded a roadmap to success video that you can check out below.