Exercise needs

Hey all, new to this forum and excited about learning all i can. I'm posting because i'm wondering if my boy Tyson (9 months) is getting enough exercise. On a typical day i take him for a walk around 630 lasting about 20 minutes before i leave for work and put him in his crate. He gets another 25 minute walk on my lunch break around 11 before he goes back into his crate again. I get home around 4 and take him for another 30-40 minute walk and if the weather is nice ill take him to a baseball field to really get a good run in off the leash. I also take him out briefly before bed at 10 PM. There are some days where he doesn't get to run and hes limited to the walks. Im wondering if i'm giving him enough exercise? Does he NEED to run everyday or is walking a few miles a day good enough with runs every other day or so? The reason im concerned is because he never seems tired. When in the apartment he's constantly looking to chew on something, or barking for attention, or sprinting from my bedroom to the couch in the living room and jumping from couch to couch (these are short minute long outbursts). Also, when he goes into his crate at night he will cry a little bit before settling in for the night. Is this normal? any and all help is appreciated.

THANK YOU!

Hello! I would probably recommend a daily run, I know what my girl gets like with just lead walks - they're very active dogs! A few questions for you though - what is he fed? And how is he fed I.e do you kong feed or leave activity balls out for him? Does he get training each day or other mental stimulation? Does he ever get to have a good chew, raw meaty bones for example?

I usually just feed him right out of a bowl i just make him sit and wait until i say "go" .He has all types of toys. Kongs, some kind of other ball with treats inside, i also buy him marrowbones from the supermarket from time to time. He really likes those.He is trained well he does all the basic commands : Sit, gives me both paws, lay down, catch treat in mouth. I do my best to keep him mentally engaged

Hm okay, so what about the food, which brand is he fed? Which treats is he given?

The food is Nutro Ultra and he gets small marrowbone treats i forget the company

I guess you're in the US? Reviews look good for the food but I can't actually find an ingredients list for some reason.

To be fair, I haven't met a staffie yet that doesn't have "zoomies," even after hours of exercise Bug will have a mad few minutes. I think with a daily run this behaviour may lessen. He's still very young and bound t

*to be full of energy! (Phone sent too early.) The attention seeking behaviours will probably be learnt, and will depend on your response to them. Perhaps try redirecting this energy into structured short training sessions to keep him suitably occupied, but teach him with time outs/chill time that he can't be busy all of the time!

Yep im in the U.S. the food is supposed to be of fairly high quality from what im told at the pet stores. He seems like the happiest dog in the world and not at all depressed. Just sometimes whimpers and some barking when he gets put in his crate at bed time. I wish i had a yard to run him everyday, but when it rains or when winter rolls back around he doesn't always get that good off the leash run.

Sounds like your describing what we all call "Zoomies". Very common and can happen at any time. He doesn't have to run every day as long as there is plenty of exercise but you may well find that there is an excess of energy. Use mental stimulation games to burn this off, you'll be surprised at how effective it can be. If you can't get out so much in winter due to weather etc then the same mental stimulation can be applied along with decent walks

To be honest, rather than the exercise level, what comes out from you post is the amount of time he spends in his crate. I don't have a problem with crating dogs for short spells when needed, but for him to spend nearly all day and then all night in there is, to me, excessive and may well lead to frustration behaviours.

I think you may be right about the crate time, problem is i dont see a better alternative. I wish i trusted him to roam around the apartment by himself while i'm at work but i expect to come home to the garbage tipped over, chewing damage, things like that. Do you allow your dogs to roam free in your home?

Any room you don't want the dog to roam could be blocked off using a gate or something similar i give my dog free rein of my home apart from the bathroom mia was crated until i got her at 3 caused her hating enclosed spaces, seperation anxiety ,jumping on people, mouthing has taken me years to be rid of these problems i would remove all cables, shoes etc out of the way. Is there a chance u could get a friend to visit the dog the times you won't be there .

My dogs always have free roam of the whole house. You get to learn what things you need to put away (shoes!), and you also find things that keep them occupied. Mental stimulation things like stuffed Kongs can be great, and especially now we have a puppy (6 months) I always make sure there are plenty of things she can chew. She loves cardboard, which is brilliant as it's free.

The thing with puppies and young dogs especially is that they will chew things, so it's a question of pointing them in the direction of good things and locking everything else away. You have some misses along the way, and sometimes they can be really frustrating (we had a dog many years ago who chewed the corner off a wall!) but most things are replaceable/fixable.

What's not fixable is your dog's mind. By supressing the natural instinct you are storing up problems for later. As Crystal says, maybe have a Tyson friendly room with lots of things for him to do, and see if you can get a dog visitor. What about doggie day care for half a day from time to time? My sister has a friend who hit upon the idea of having a cleaner who comes in for an hour 3 times a week instead of one 3 hour stint, so she gets her house cleaned and the dog's day broken up with a bit of company (and it's cheaper than a dog walker!). There are all sorts of ideas, it's just a question of finding them.

If you start by thinking that you have no crate, that it simply isn't an option, then what would you do? Take away your automatic choice and other options will come.

And at night time, you'll probably find he'll relax and sleep. Leave the crate door open and he'll more than likely go in it anyway, but if he doesn't want to then that's telling you that he's not keen on always being in there, so it's only fair to listen. Find somewhere that is where he likes but that is also acceptable to you. Many of us on here have our dogs in bed with us - yes, under the duvet! You may not want to do that, but a bed on the floor near you might be an option.

Have a think, I'm sure you'll come up with loads of ideas.

Pixie also has the run of the house. She has two chairs which once belonged to us in the conney lol. They her fav chairs. One is by the window so she can watch us come and go and watch the world. The other is in the kitchen. She loves bring with me when I cook. She sleeps with us in our bedroom in her own bed under a duvet but come 2 am wakes me up to be let into our bed under duvet between my legs and sleeps on. Her bed is only for bedtimes. Perhaps if you could try Tyson to have a room and if he's to sleep in the crate try keeping the crate fir bed times only or as others have said leave the door open for him so he chooses. Cardboard boxes are great for burning off some energy too. The zoomies are funny. I just let pixel get on with it. I do feel there's too much crating time. Fingers crossed you sort something out