I used to live in town with an Australian Shepherd/Collie mix who was fairly high energy. He can and would run until he collapsed if there was something fun to do. He's "middle aged" now so has a bit more sense than that at this point, haha. I almost exclusively walked him on a 100 ft long line and harness I purchased from Amazon for his exercise. We had a medium sized yard that wasn't at all large enough for him to reach full speed, and I don't think he ever reached full speed on the long line, either, but it did allow him more freedom and more exercise that he needed.
I should also disclose we did agility once a week, which helped to keep his brain and exercise needs satisfied.
We now live on a 22 acre piece of property and the only time I put him on a leash is when we have to go to leave the property, and I will say it is much easier to keep him exercised when he has the freedom to run because I have to put much less thought and time into it than I did before. He's also gained muscle and it's far easier to keep him at a healthy weight than it was when leashed walks, even long line walks, were our only option. My dog is a neutered male, so in the winter especially when it was too cold for extended outside excursions I felt like I was struggling to keep him at a healthy weight.
So, from someone who has experience on both sides of the coin, I will say that your high energy dog can get enough stimulation on leashed walks if you get creative with long lines and/or puzzle games, but it is so much easier when your dog can get some off-leash exercise in!
I should also disclose we did agility once a week, which helped to keep his brain and exercise needs satisfied.
We now live on a 22 acre piece of property and the only time I put him on a leash is when we have to go to leave the property, and I will say it is much easier to keep him exercised when he has the freedom to run because I have to put much less thought and time into it than I did before. He's also gained muscle and it's far easier to keep him at a healthy weight than it was when leashed walks, even long line walks, were our only option. My dog is a neutered male, so in the winter especially when it was too cold for extended outside excursions I felt like I was struggling to keep him at a healthy weight.
So, from someone who has experience on both sides of the coin, I will say that your high energy dog can get enough stimulation on leashed walks if you get creative with long lines and/or puzzle games, but it is so much easier when your dog can get some off-leash exercise in!
