Hellobee Boards

@MrsBrewer: could you get a dog walker or local kid to do it maybe a few days a week? I feel dogs, especially dogs that need to be active (the heeler), really need the walks or else that's when destructive or otherwise not ideal behavioral issues surface.

We have a lab mix, about 80 lbs and he gets 2 walks/runs per day every day. We had a dog walker after our son was born 2 yrs ago so we only had to do a short walk in the evening with him but then we couldn't afford it any longer so it's on us now. I definitely find it annoying some days but it's actually been good to get us all out of the house no matter what. Plus DW and I take turns running in the morning with him so then we get our exercise too. We make sure to go pretty much as soon as we get home at night and when we get up in the morning. If I sit down, I will find it annoying to get up again to do it! Of course, neither of us are pregnant so that's a different story but I would definitely think of hiring the dog walker as our dog needs the walks to keep him from bad behaviour and boredom. DS has come with us in the stroller since day one so he looks forward to the walks and a stop at the park too!

The best dog walker I ever had was someone in our neighborhood who was a marathon runner and was constantly running/training every single day, so they put out an ad to run with your dog. I used them when my dog was a puppy and super high energy and she would be WORN. OUT. The walker charged $20 per run, but I only had to use the walker like 1-2 a week during periods when I was really busy at work. I might look around to see if there's like a high school student who's like a cross country runner or something who might be interested.

We have a medium dog, but we are terrible about taking him on walks since having kids. Bad dog parents. For a while we were paying neighbor kids to walk him for $1 a walk which was great but they moved...

Well...I'll make you feel better! We basically don't walk either of our dogs. We have a fenced yard and they get lots of activity there, and when we take them to exercise (1x/wk) it's a very short walk to a close park to fetch. They are both decently leash reactive (older dog has chilled out and would be fine alone but our younger dog still has issues and then amps him up) and now with two kids I really can't commit the level of attention they need to keep everyone safe. That being said, we bring them if we hike and LO1 loves going to dog parks with them, and they come with us in any trips that don't involve an airplane. So they aren't (quite) neglected but walks don't happen. Pre-babies I ran 3x/wk and had our older dog then, so it has been a step down. Now I don't exercise myself either! Ha.