Is toy destruction a sign that my dog needs more exercise?

Question

Short Story

Is my dog doing ok? He destroys toys, but not other stuff (yet). He gets 2 walks a day, each is 2 miles and 1 hour in duration. He is alone and sleeps during the day (9 hours) He's 2 years old.

Mostly it's the toy destruction that has me wondering: is he getting enough exercise or is it just his personality? He LOVES chewing his toys. I'm fine with getting more expensive/durable toys, but I don't want to mask an underlying exercise need that isn't being met.

Long Story

I adopted a 2 year old American Staffordshire Terrier / Boxer mix a week ago. I take him for a 2 mile / hour long walk morning and evening before meals.

He's alone for 9-10 hours per day while I'm at work. I leave the radio on, have a video chat with him at lunch, and give him a Kong with wet food for entertainment. I do not have a backyard.

He cries for 2-5 minutes after I leave, then he sleeps all day. He usually grabs 1 or 2 things he's not supposed to during the day. He doesn't destroy them or heavily chew them, just leaves them strewn about my apartment. He does destroy his toys however.

I'm hoping to eventually play fetch with him in the morning for 30 minutes, but I'm waiting until I have a better idea how he is around other dogs. He'll always have a muzzle if there are other dogs and I'll try long line training first.

Answer 1

I don't think your dog destroying his toys means that he doesn't get enough exercise. I think it's just something he enjoys doing that helps satisfy his need for mental stimulation. My dog is also super high energy and even when I tire her out mentally and physically (11 mile hike after 3 days in a row of multi-hour dog park visits, having to get her dinner out of puzzle toys, 30 minutes or so of rough tug of war), she will still be happy to destroy any new toy I throw her way.

It sounds like you give him plenty of physical exercise, but you can try other things for his mental stimulation. Kong, and a few others make a bobble toys that dispenses kibble or small treats when your dog knocks them over (my dog LOVES hers and will even play with it for kibble she won't touch in her food bowl). You can also try hiding treats around your house, so your dog can go hunting during the day (a few times a week I hide caches of food at dinner time for my dog to find around the house... as she's gotten better I've had to increase the difficulty now - I hide the food in shoe boxes and under cups and her blankets). Interactive toys and training are also great for burning off that mental energy.

Good luck, sounds like your pup is a normal happy guy. It's so cute that you video chat him at lunch.

Answer 2

Two walks are too little and leaving it for 9 hours is too long. You could half the long walks and then complement them with two short, 10 minutes or so, walks, during the day. Would you be satisfied with just two visits to the toilet/day?

Don't leave the dog alone for more than 4-5 hours a time. You need to find someone who visits the dog in the middle of the day for half an hour or so.