Do you know over-exertion is unhealthy for a dog?
Although exercising and walking your dog is meaningful and rich in benefits, excessive amounts may harm them.
On the one hand, walking protects the dog from joint pains, improves blood circulation, and promotes the motion range. While on the other hand, walking your dog too long causes bone injury and may affect cardiovascular health.

It’s no surprise that any activity that exceeds the standard limit causes damage to the body. Similarly, over-exercising or walking negatively affects the pup's body.
You love walking your dog, but deep research is essential.
As a Proud Dog Parent, you must understand that walking needs may vary from dog to dog depending on the age, size, and breed. Health condition is a significant factor that affects the walking time of your dog.
What happens if you walk your dog for too long? Is it dangerous to walk my dog too long? And many other questions by owners.
We are presenting this detailed guide to cover each of your questions. We kept the focus too simple to be easy for you to understand.
Don’t trust each piece of information popping up on the part of your screen, starting with a suggestion. Know that most online sites and companies present wrong information to earn money. Their only motive is to sell products even at the cost of the dog's health and even life. It shows that their love for dogs is not accurate at all.
Approaching the right and authentic platform to solve a dog's issue reflects your real love. Our free ebook Walk your dog like a pro is the best book for all dog-related stuff, especially about walking a dog.
Is it dangerous to walk my dog too long?
The straightforward answer to your question is. Yes, it’s dangerous to walk a dog too long. Walking too long may reverse the advantages of the walk and causes health issues.
Dive deep into the details and know why walking too long is dangerous for your pup.
Is it ok not to walk your dog every day
It is also essential to address the flip side of the question. Namely, is it good for your dog not to take for a walk?
The dog experts at Proud Dog Parents regularly ask whether it's terrible for your dog not to be walked. The biggest concern of dog parents is how it is wrong for a dog to get too little exercise.
Let me be clear: it is healthy for a dog to get daily exercise. In addition, it is also suitable for you as a proud dog parent to get regular exercise. Win-win.
Yet I can also well imagine that you are sometimes busy. Many families have a busy life with work, family, friends, and sports. It can happen that your sweet dog sometimes gets less time because of this. You are not a bad dog parent if you don't walk him sometimes.
Yet we all know the benefits of walking. Therefore, try to keep it occasional. If you really can't manage to walk your dog, look for a dog walking service.
Now let's get back to the main topic: is it dangerous to walk my dog too long.
How much exercise does my dog need?
The honest answer to this question is that it depends on your dog and how long you need to walk him. Younger dogs will need more exercise than older dogs. Some breeds require more training than others.
Still, the basic rule is that walking every day is good for your dog. It is suitable for his physical and mental health.
Because the amount of exercise your dog needs depends so much on you, ask our dog experts for a customized recommendation.
Ask your question to the dog experts of Proud Dog Parents using this form.
The following practical tips will help keep you healthy when hiking!
Tip 1: Wear and tear paw pads
It's no surprise that playing is more important than resting for some dogs, even if they have painful feet. Most dogs love walking and hence do not give you a sign that they face pain in paw pads. Therefore it is highly recommended that parents keep checking their paws when you are on a long way to walk your darling pup.
Pad injuries are excruciating and cause infections which is another painful journey for your dog.
According to the eBook, you should not walk your dog for too long because damaged paw pads are complex to deal with. Take it seriously because it's a severe injury for your dog.
Tip 2: Sore muscles
Muscular pain and stiffness are two additional problems caused by long walks. When you are walking a dog for too long, you may notice some struggle or evidence of pain in them because of sore muscles. The same issue can also be seen when your dog walks up or downstairs. There is a possibility that your dog May Cry out if you keep walking them forcefully. According to the eBook, if any of your dog's muscles dies, it means providing them with kidney damage or failure. It causes generalized pain within the body.
Tip 3: Joint injury
Overexertion, extreme exercise, and walking too long cause several joint injuries in your dog. When you are walking your dog for too long, it is continuous stress over your dog's joints, which results in some severe injuries. It may cause strain and sprain along stiff joints. Joint pain is complex to stop once it starts. Most of the time, common injuries come with back problems.
Tip 4: Heat sickness
Heat sickness is the next one under the Limelight within the list of the disadvantages of walking your dog for too long. No matter the outside temperature, if your dog's body temperature exceeds the limit, it may cause heat sickness and even heat stroke. Heat sickness may cause paralysis or some organ failure in your darling pup most of the time.
Tip 5: Behavioral changes
There is a possibility that your dog may get stressed and aggressive when you walk it for too long.
Walking your dog for too long can reverse all of the benefits of walks and causes several health problems.
Let’s shortlist some of your questions to know more about the same topic.
FAQs related to walking dogs too long
Q1. Why walking too long is not suitable for dogs?
Walking too long causes behavioral changes along with joint injuries in your dog. Along with this, excessive workouts may also cause stiffness in muscles and heat stroke because of increased temperature. There is a possibility that your dog gets aggressive with you and strangers.
Q2. How long is too long for a dog to walk?
There is neither a specific limit nor a fixed time when walking your dog. It depends on the age, breed, and health of your dog. Note that you must know about your dog's exact exercise need and tolerance. Increasing or decreasing the workout time may lead to other health issues.
Q3. Can I walk my dog twice a day?
This depends on what your dog is used to, how old your dog is and what kind of condition your dog is in. Suppose your dog is used to walking no more than 15 minutes daily, then it is not advisable to start walking for 1 hour suddenly. Always build this up first.
To wrap it up
Walking is good for dogs' health, but excessive walking means welcoming multiple health issues. Although dogs are energetic and active creatives, they should still be treated with care and love. Your dog may love to walk, but still, you should not walk it for too long. Walking your dog for too long causes joint issues and related problems. If you have read the guide, you will have an idea why excessive walking is dangerous for dogs. According to the EBook, adopting a dog is not the end of the story, but you should know each detail about your dog’s breed before putting it into exercise.
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Let us know what you thought of this article about walking your dog. :)
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