How Much Exercise Does a Flat Coated Retriever Need?

There are a few different things that you will need to do in order to take good care of your flat coated retriever and keep them healthy. You will need to take them on regular vet visits to check their health. You will need to help feed them healthy and nutritious foods. And you need to make sure that the dog is able to get the amount of exercise they need each day. But how much exercise does a flat-coated retriever needs.

A flat coated retriever needs an hour and a half to two hours of exercise a day to calm down. They like to spend time going on walks, running, swimming, hunting, playing fetch, and doing other activities that help them to run around and have fun. If you do not give this dog the amount of exercise that they need, they are going to get anxious and hyper and may struggle to calm down and not destroy the home.

When you bring this type of dog breed home, you will need to be ready to leave a pretty active lifestyle. Let’s take a closer look at how much exercise a flat-coated retriever needs each day and some of the best exercises to use to help this active dog feel good, stay healthy, and get that energy out.

How Much Exercise Does a Flat Coated Retriever Need?

Your flat coated retriever is going to be an active dog. If you have had other dogs in the past, you may still be surprised at how much energy this dog is going to have and you may be a bit worn out by the end of the day when you are done wearing them out.

If you do not have a good deal of time available to provide this dog with the exercise that they need, then you may want to consider working with another breed.

So, just how much exercise is the flat coated retriever going to need? It is estimated that this dog breed is going to need at least 90 minutes of exercise during the day, though some people notice that their dog will wear out better if they are given a full two hours instead.

This is a lot of energy compared to others dogs who tend to need closer to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise instead.

If you miss out on some of this exercise time, you may notice that the flat coated retriever is bouncy and will not sit down. When you leave them on their own in the home, you are probably not going to be happy with the amount of mess and destruction that is found around the home as well.

This can make it difficult to keep the dog active and busy and you need to be able to devote some time to exercising this dog breed when you bring them home.

What Types of Exercise Does the Flat Coated Retriever Like?

There are a lot of different types of exercise that the flat coated retriever is going to love. The first one is walking or jogging. This can be a great activity to do with them and a long walk can be beneficial to their human as well.

A two hour walk is probably pretty long for you and the dog, but doing a few half hour walks split up through the day can help to cut into the exercise time that you need to get done and will wear out the dog.

There are other activities that this dog breed is going to enjoy. They like to go swimming and run around at the lake or the beach as well.

This can be a great way to help them cool down when you have a hot day and they will love getting to run around in the water with the kids. You can wear out the kids and your dog at the same time with this one.

Playing fetch is a good way to help this dog wear out some of the energy too. You can work on throwing a ball, kicking, or having them search for other options as well. This can be part of a training session as well so they are able to wear out their energy while working out the brain.

They can also become good hunting dogs as well and with a bit of training, you can help them learn how to go after whatever has been shot. They are strong enough and have enough energy to keep up with this.

Your flat coated retriever will also do well running around and playing in the backyard as well. Sometimes they can entertain themselves with a few toys that you give them.

Or let the dog and the kids run around and play outside. They can both find some fun games to play with one another and this can count for the 90 minutes or more that this dog is going to need.

Does the Flat Coated Retriever Like to Run?

The flat coated retriever does like to run. This is a great way to get a lot of their energy out in a short amount of time. If you are a jogger or a runner, this can be an activity that the two of you are able to do together. If not, you can play fetch and other games that help your dog to get some of that energy out.

While there are a lot of activities that you can do with the flat coated retriever to help you to get their energy out. But running is a great activity that will stretch out their legs and help move the muscles. And thanks to the parents of this breed, this dog is a fast one.

When possible, try to find an area with a lot of space for you to run around and just let the dog go wild. They can wear out some of that energy without you having to do much.

How Do I Give the Flat Coated Retriever Enough Exercise?

You are going to need to do a lot of activity to help the flat coated retriever be as active as they would like. This can be harder to accomplish than some people imagine.

An hour and a half to two hours is going to be quite a bit to fit into your schedule and you have to fit it in or this dog will get bouncy and hard to handle. Aggression could become a big issue as well.

The good news is that there are many methods that you are able to use to help wear out the dog. You do not need to sprint at high speed for two hours to get them worn out, though this may seem like a great option on occasion when they are really driving you nuts.

Swimming, playing in the backyard, and doing other activities can be effective as well.

To start, consider doing a few walks during the day. You do not need to get up and do a two hour walk during the morning or the evening.

You can split it up and do one in the morning and then one in the evening. If you have time, split it up three times and do one in the morning, one at lunch, and one at night.

You do not need to spend the full two hours with walking. Maybe you only have time for one long walk during the day. You can take the dog to a dog park and let them run around with other dogs.

Let them swim in a pool that is in your backyard. Or play a longer game of fetch with them to make sure they can bounce around and get that energy out of them.

If you have children, they will be able to help you wear the flat-coated retriever out of energy as well. When they run around and play with the dog in the backyard or the park, that is going to count as some of the movement that this dog needs. The goal is not to just do one activity or it will not count.

The goal is to see how active you can be with the dog and finding creative and unique methods will make it more enjoyable.

Keeping Your Flat Coated Retriever Active

The flat coated retriever is going to be an active dog that you will need to work with. This is not the type of dog that will sit around all day and cuddle without a nice, long run before you do it.

You will need to make sure that they are able to get outside to play and run around as much as possible during the day in order to wear out that energy as well. While this is a loyal and a fun dog to keep around, you need to make sure you have the time to give them 90 minutes or more of exercise each day.