how long do you walk you vizsla for

When I am working my 8-1/2 year old V gets a half hour walk in the morning and then runs around in the back yard for the rest of the day. Five days a week she seems pretty content with this. In the weekend she gets at least one long walk/run.

Sometimes during the day my wife is at home and sometimes the V is home on her own between 8:30am to 3:30pm. If this is the case then sometimes I try to come home for lunch. During these long periods at home is when the MISCHIEF happens. My gumboots are now half as high, sometimes we get the odd hole in the lawn and the washing can come off the line. Everytime something like this happens I ask the V was it you and she just smiles and says I'm glad your home. :-* She has never done any serious house damage.

She does whine and bark a bit when separated from the family. 1notenough said somewhere that 1 is the loneliest number and he is probably right but 2 must be like a tornado!

I always work in some training to the morning walk. So 90% of the things she has learnt have been done during Mon to Fri. I can now get her to walk at heel without the lead fairly consistently. Come, wait, stay, sit, down, stand, shake all work too. I also have some hunting commands. I always try to finish with a game. They really like learning new stuff. I think this helps work their mind.

As someone who field trials, I don't believe the average person walking their dog could run long/fast enough to adequetley exercise a fully grown V. When we train for Nationals/Championship stakes, we rode the dogs off of atv's/horses for 30-60 minutes 3-4 times a week. A V can run faster than I feel safe cornerning an ATV, they can easily reach speeds of 20-25 miles per hour and maintain these speeds for long periods of time with the correct conditioning.

I do not advise somone to rode their puppy as they are still developing, generally we just let a few of them out on the field (30 acres fenced) and watch them play/tackle each other. I've always believed two V's are better than one as they help each other run off some of their energy. Never really had a problem with the desctuction in the house with a V, but our current one is a female and matured quite a bit faster than our previous male.

V's have developed into a much bigger running/less of a close working dogs over the last 20 years and it's apparent by the decrease in overall size as well as the increased exercise they need. V's are even winning field comps agaisnt German Short Hairs which did not happen even 15 years ago on a regular basis.

It's great you're getting out for an hour with yours a day, what great exercise!

Good luck,
Chris

HI
Know this is an old thread, but thought I would reply in case anyone was still about (I'm new here!)

I've never had a Viz, we are considering it hence me visiting But I have had several springers.

I don't know whether it applies to a Viz, but what I discovered pretty quickly was you will never tire a Springer by walking as they will literally go forever! A quick power nap and they are back on it. But I found getting the springers mentally tired, was more important than getting them physically shattered (as I say virtually an impossible task)

So I found a half hour walk which included some tracking, proper lead walking (ie where they are working to follow you, not pulling you down the street) some retrieval, followed by 5-10 mins run round; tired them far more than a three hour run off the lead round woods etc where they weren't being mentally worked. Walks out were also more tiring than round the garden, due to new smells, sensory experience etc

Something else worth seriously considering if you work is getting a treadmill for you dog - for those that do need a serious energy release and you don't have time before work! You can also get doggy backpacks for those who need something a bit more challenging!

Lastly saw the dog whisperer take a Viz out with his roller blades the other day - that looked FUN!