What happens if you do not walk your dog?

First, a missed day is not a problem

Life gets in the way. You are ill, the weather is foul, work runs late. A healthy adult dog copes perfectly well with a quiet day, and some play or a few minutes of training indoors will take the edge off.

What follows is about dogs that go without regular exercise for weeks and months. If that is where you are, the useful question is not who is to blame. It is what to do this week.

Weight creeps up

This is the risk with the strongest evidence. In a 2022 survey by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, vets classed 59% of dogs in the United States as overweight or having obesity. In the United Kingdom, vets estimated in the PDSA's 2023 report that 46% of dogs are overweight or obese.

It happens slowly, so owners often do not see it. In the US survey, 36% of owners of an overweight dog thought its condition was normal. VCA Animal Hospitals counts a dog as overweight at 10% to 20% above its ideal weight, and obese beyond that. On a small dog that is not many kilos.

The cost is real. VCA links obesity to diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers and faster wear in arthritic joints. A 2019 study of more than 50,000 dogs found that overweight dogs had shorter lives in all 12 breeds it looked at. The gap ran from a few months in German Shepherds to about two and a half years in Yorkshire Terriers.

Exercise is only part of this. What goes in the bowl matters more, and a walk will not make up for too much food. The two work together.

Joints and muscles stiffen

Movement keeps joints working. VCA notes that keeping joints in motion improves their function, and the PDSA says joints get stiffer when they have not been used for a while. This is why vets rarely tell owners of older or arthritic dogs to stop walking. The usual advice is shorter, gentler outings, more often.

Boredom finds an outlet

For many dogs the walk is the main event of the day. Without it there is not much to smell, see or think about. The PDSA says dogs with excess energy often become frustrated and stressed and find it difficult to cope. On its Border Collie page it warns that an under-exercised Collie will show you by chewing anything within reach.

Owners and trainers commonly report the same list: chewing, digging, barking, pacing, pestering for attention and bursts of wild energy in the evening. This is worth being honest about. These links are widely reported and they make sense, but there is far less hard data behind them than behind the weight figures.

Worry and restlessness

A study of more than 3,000 dogs in Finland found that dogs with noise sensitivity and separation anxiety got less daily exercise than dogs without those problems. It was a survey, so it shows a link and not a cause. It may be that anxious dogs are harder to take out. Either way, regular exercise is one of the things vets suggest for a restless dog.

Exercise is not a cure for behaviour problems

It would be neat if more walks fixed everything. They do not. The PDSA says exercise may help to improve unwanted behaviour but is unlikely to fix the problem completely. A dog that barks at visitors or panics when left alone needs training and sometimes a vet or a qualified behaviourist. Walks make that work easier. They are not a replacement for it.

You miss out too

Dog walking is good for the person holding the lead. In a 2019 UK study, dog owners had about four times the odds of meeting the guideline of 150 minutes of activity a week compared with people without a dog. A walk that does not happen is one you both go without.

How to get going again

• Start small. Ten minutes around the block today beats an hour you never get to.
• Build up slowly. A dog that has been inactive is unfit, as a person would be. Add a few minutes each week.
• See your vet first if your dog is overweight, older, or has not exercised for a long time.
• Pick a time and keep it. A fixed slot in the day is easier than deciding afresh each morning. See how to remember to walk your dog.
• Count other activity. Play in the garden, a game of fetch and a training session all add up.
• Do not chase the days you missed. They are gone, and your dog is not keeping score. Start from today.

If you want a number to aim for, our breed exercise guides give a daily goal for more than 80 breeds.