Have you ever wondered what would happen if you just never exercised your dog?

I preach the benefits of daily, exhausting physical and mental exercise for your dogs, but I haven't talked much about what happens if you don't exercise them. What I can say with 100% authenticity is that the root of the behavior problem for every dog and owner pair I've worked with has been a lack of exercise.

Behavior aside, your dog's health will go out the window. If you go back to dog's origin, the wolf, and look at their lifestyle, you'll see how important their stamina is. If they don't walk, they don't eat. Simple as that. Your dog's nature says: walk, then eat.

I Maybe you have a hard time setting time aside to walk your dog, and you don't fully see the benefits of walking them everyday if you have a big yard. This is a normal thought process, but it doesn't diminish your dogs need to travel on all fours.

The bottom line is that your dog has physical, psychological and emotional needs just like you do. Just as you need to move your body in order to stay healthy, it's so important to meet these needs for your dog. You'll find that a dog who doesn't get walked ends up channeling their energy in a destructive way.

I have a big yard and a treadmill. It would be easy for me to avoid walking my dogs, but I can't argue with the results of providing for their basic needs. I would encourage you to meet your dogs' basic needs, too, and experience the happiest and healthiest life with them possible!