How much activity does my senior dog need each day?

Senior dogs are quite different from puppies and adult dogs. They start to slow down and take more time to relax. They don’t need to expel as much energy, but you want to provide enough activity so they can still get up, get moving, and still be a little bit energized.

Every dog is different, but I will tell you, I have dogs that are as old as 14, and my own personal dog was a standard poodle that lived to be 15 and a half, and he had a daily walk. Of course, he ran four miles a day with me when he was younger, but dogs that are kept thin and healthy and have a daily or every other day exercise routine can exercise well into their senior years. What we do not want to do with a senior dog is have the kid come home from college, and you have a 12-year-old lab, and he takes them out for a run. That is going to be terrible for this dog. We see it all the time, and it's well-meaning, but this dog's joints will wind up severely inflamed the next day. I have seen dogs die from heat exhaustion because someone came home and said, "I'm going to take the dog for a run." This dog does not have the fitness to do that. With an older dog, we need to be gradual or regular and moderate regarding fitness. That's what I tell my clients. They need a regular moderate exercise routine. If you're going to be gone for two weeks and the dog's not getting the exercise, when you come back, slowly build back up to where you were before.