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Hello!
I work part time as a dog walker, and I’ve run into a problem with a pair of golden retrievers that I have been walking for last few days so I am looking for advice. I have a golden retriever myself! She’s an English Cream, about 5 years old, and I’m totally obsessed with her. I aim to get her the best life possible. I want to help these other goldens out, but I am not sure how to go about it.
The pups are just over 10 months old. One male and one female. They are brother and sister.
When the owner hired me to walk her dogs during lunch time everyday, I was a little taken aback when she said they only need 10-15 minute walks each. Unfortunately they cannot be walked together because they are huge, extremely energetic, and not trained well at all, which makes it very difficult. These goldens must be mixed with another breed because they are huge! I’d guess 80-90 lbs easily. She hired me for a 30 minute walk total, even though the dogs clearly need more exercise than that, I’m thinking because it’s cheaper than 60 minutes.
Here is the problem. Both dogs are crated all day (from 8-12 hours) and then also at night when the owner goes to sleep. The owner mentioned that her and her husband work a lot. The owner says they need to be crated because they chew up things like the wall, carpet, and furniture. Hence why I was really confused when the owner said that they only need a 10-15 minute walk each. In my opinion the dogs should be walked for 30 minutes each at a bare minimum to get some of their excess energy out. While on walks the dogs seem anxious, distracted, and really frantic. They bite at everything they see and compulsively pick up sticks and other objects on the ground. They don’t walk well unless I hold them on the shortest leash imaginable and they seem afraid of their surroundings (cars, things blowing in the wind, etc). Other than that, they are incredibly sweet. They calm down when you give them affection. They burrow into my chest as I pet them, almost like they are trying to hide or give me a hug.
So here are my questions.
1. I don’t want to call out that the owner isn’t taking good care of her dogs, but it seems that way to me, but also I am no expert. I assume the dogs do not get much exercise on their morning and evening walks as well, but I’m not entirely sure. The owner just seemed to think 10 minutes was enough, which blew my mind. Is it normal for dogs to act this way on walks and also chew up everything in the house at 10+ months old? I always thought that if you paid enough attention to your dog, trained them, and gave them plenty of exercise outdoors, then they would not act like this. I’ve also only had one dog myself, so maybe this behavior is normal for dogs of this age? If this behavior is normal, do you have any advice on how to train them? I’m hoping to help them out so they do not need to be crated all day and night.
2. Is it crating the dogs for such a long time causing the problem? What advice would you give the owner to resolve the issue?
3. And lastly, how do I train the dogs to walk alongside one another? My goal is to convince the owner to hire me for 60 minutes a day so that I can properly walk each dog and hopefully train them to walk together. I’m hoping this will lead to the dogs getting more total exercise each day.
I really appreciate the help and so do the goldens!
Thanks!
I work part time as a dog walker, and I’ve run into a problem with a pair of golden retrievers that I have been walking for last few days so I am looking for advice. I have a golden retriever myself! She’s an English Cream, about 5 years old, and I’m totally obsessed with her. I aim to get her the best life possible. I want to help these other goldens out, but I am not sure how to go about it.
The pups are just over 10 months old. One male and one female. They are brother and sister.
When the owner hired me to walk her dogs during lunch time everyday, I was a little taken aback when she said they only need 10-15 minute walks each. Unfortunately they cannot be walked together because they are huge, extremely energetic, and not trained well at all, which makes it very difficult. These goldens must be mixed with another breed because they are huge! I’d guess 80-90 lbs easily. She hired me for a 30 minute walk total, even though the dogs clearly need more exercise than that, I’m thinking because it’s cheaper than 60 minutes.
Here is the problem. Both dogs are crated all day (from 8-12 hours) and then also at night when the owner goes to sleep. The owner mentioned that her and her husband work a lot. The owner says they need to be crated because they chew up things like the wall, carpet, and furniture. Hence why I was really confused when the owner said that they only need a 10-15 minute walk each. In my opinion the dogs should be walked for 30 minutes each at a bare minimum to get some of their excess energy out. While on walks the dogs seem anxious, distracted, and really frantic. They bite at everything they see and compulsively pick up sticks and other objects on the ground. They don’t walk well unless I hold them on the shortest leash imaginable and they seem afraid of their surroundings (cars, things blowing in the wind, etc). Other than that, they are incredibly sweet. They calm down when you give them affection. They burrow into my chest as I pet them, almost like they are trying to hide or give me a hug.
So here are my questions.
1. I don’t want to call out that the owner isn’t taking good care of her dogs, but it seems that way to me, but also I am no expert. I assume the dogs do not get much exercise on their morning and evening walks as well, but I’m not entirely sure. The owner just seemed to think 10 minutes was enough, which blew my mind. Is it normal for dogs to act this way on walks and also chew up everything in the house at 10+ months old? I always thought that if you paid enough attention to your dog, trained them, and gave them plenty of exercise outdoors, then they would not act like this. I’ve also only had one dog myself, so maybe this behavior is normal for dogs of this age? If this behavior is normal, do you have any advice on how to train them? I’m hoping to help them out so they do not need to be crated all day and night.
2. Is it crating the dogs for such a long time causing the problem? What advice would you give the owner to resolve the issue?
3. And lastly, how do I train the dogs to walk alongside one another? My goal is to convince the owner to hire me for 60 minutes a day so that I can properly walk each dog and hopefully train them to walk together. I’m hoping this will lead to the dogs getting more total exercise each day.
I really appreciate the help and so do the goldens!
Thanks!