# Exercise for Chihuahuas



## Brittany Barrix (Jun 24, 2011)

Q3: How much exercise do Chihuahuas need?
One of the reasons that the Chihuahua is a popular breed is that they don’t require much more exercise than they will get running around your house or apartment during a typical day. While they enjoy an occasional walk, they are not good jogging companions. Simply allowing them to run around the yard for a few minutes can often provide adequate exercise. Chihuahua’s are known for quick bursts of energy that will come and go throughout the day, and therefore do not require large exercise areas. Chihuahua’s can be trained to fetch small toys and this game is an excellent indoor activity. As puppies, Chi’s are boisterous and energetic; however, as they get older they can easily become couch potatoes. If it looks like your Chi is gaining too much weight, in addition to getting him out for a walk every once in awhile, you may want to consider decreasing the amount you’re feeding him.

Site: http://www.chihuahuafanatics.com/faq.html

This FAQ about Chihuahuas state that they don't need much exercise, but some things on the internet can be considered false. The reason I bring attention to this is because I'm new to dogs and researching them on the internet and I'd feel a lot more accurate if someone would share their knowledge and let me know if this is true or not. I want to believe that this is true because of their smaller size, but dogs are full of suprises and can require more than you thought when you purchased it. Should I believe what I've read in this FAQ about Chihuahuas? I feel a bit stupid for asking a question like this, but if it makes me feel more comfortable then I don't really care.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

A common fallacy is that small size means less exercise. It's not necessarily true. I don't have a chihuahua, but I have a papillon who is a whopping 7 lbs and still requires a ton of exercise. She requires more than most large dogs I know. Especially when she was a pup, I was looking at 2+ hours a day off leash exercise with her at the park where she could run around plus agility 3x a week. Now that we have a yard, she's much better but in an apartment, that was a must if I didn't want her to be obnoxious or destroy my things.

In my experience chihuahuas are a little more 'go with the flow' kinds of dogs than papillons. As in they're not quite as demanding as paps as far as exercise goes. My neighbor at my apartment had a chi that was friends with my two papillons and he was pretty much okay with whatever exercise she'd give him. A few short walks and he was happy to just hang around and play indoors. He was active but just not very intense. I'm not sure if he was typical chi or not. But my dog weighed the same amount as him and required much more exercise. That amount of exercise would have ended up with me having two dogs literally bouncing off the walls in boredom. 

I also knew a guy that went running every day with his chihuahua and his chi kept up just fine. 


The nice thing about small dogs is I can play ball inside without worrying about the house being destroyed in the process. That was helpful in the apartment on some days but I still needed to get her outside and going or else I'd regret it. I think most toy breed people do not exercise their dogs enough. Many small breeds have a lot of energy and many of the behavior problems I personally see in little dogs can be helped if they'd get adequate exercise. My dogs will be okay not exercising hard a few days in a row (now, as a pup that would be NO WAY). But my dogs are much better behaved indoors and much happier if they get their exercise pretty much daily. 

But bottom line is I wouldn't expect just because a dog is small that you can get away with not exercising it. Gets a lot of people who get breeds like papillons, min pins, or JRTs in trouble. I can't count how many times I've been asked 'why is my papillon so hyper?!' or 'why won't my papillon just cuddle with me!?' or 'Why won't my papillon stop moving!?' Little dogs aren't always couch potatos.


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## Brittany Barrix (Jun 24, 2011)

Laurelin said:


> A common fallacy is that small size means less exercise. It's not necessarily true. I don't have a chihuahua, but I have a papillon who is a whopping 7 lbs and still requires a ton of exercise. She requires more than most large dogs I know. Especially when she was a pup, I was looking at 2+ hours a day off leash exercise with her at the park where she could run around plus agility 3x a week. Now that we have a yard, she's much better but in an apartment, that was a must if I didn't want her to be obnoxious or destroy my things.
> 
> In my experience chihuahuas are a little more 'go with the flow' kinds of dogs than papillons. As in they're not quite as demanding as paps as far as exercise goes. My neighbor at my apartment had a chi that was friends with my two papillons and he was pretty much okay with whatever exercise she'd give him. A few short walks and he was happy to just hang around and play indoors. He was active but just not very intense. I'm not sure if he was typical chi or not. But my dog weighed the same amount as him and required much more exercise. That amount of exercise would have ended up with me having two dogs literally bouncing off the walls in boredom.
> 
> ...


Thank you for clearing that up. I know that sometimes people think that just because a dog is small that it means they should have lack of exercise (like me in this case) and that's why I wanted to bring this up and make sure that I wasn't given false information. Lack of exercise can lead to issues with your dog? I understand the whole hyper issue, but I didn't know that it could be linked to other problems. That's very useful to know.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

I'm sure every dog is different, but I've owned a Chi for 4 years now and she has never needed much exercise. She's 4lbs and during the winter in Toronto, she went 8 months without leaving the apartment (she hates wet/cold weather lol). That's not to say she doesn't enjoy exercise.. walks, trips to the dog park.. she loves it, and exercise is always good for a dog.

For whatever reason, a lot of Chihuahuas become overweight easily, so they definitely need enough exercise to avoid that!


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## Entwine (Jan 14, 2009)

I have a 2 year-old Chihuahua (she'll be 3 in September) and she has pretty high exercise requirements. When she was a puppy she was lik Laurelin's Papillion--she needed at least 2 hours or so of both physical and mental exercise in order to keep her calm and from destroying things around he house. Now I can go a day or so inbetween off leash romps, but I try to avoid it. 

Misty is 7lbs, so she is bigger than the standard Chihuahua. She keeps up with me on hikes, in agility, and jogs. She can keep up with the bigger dogs at the dog park (just ran around with two Huskies and a Saint Bernard the other day and outlasted one of the Huskies).

Honestly, I think that no dog should be left to get their exercise running around the house/yard. They need to get out and be active and interact with the world around them. That said, an individual dog's needs will vary. Like I said, Misty can outlast her Pit Bull and one of her Husky friends in terms of energy but will become tired before another Husky friend and the Saint Bernard.


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## CoverTune (Mar 11, 2007)

Entwine said:


> Honestly, I think that no dog should be left to get their exercise running around the house/yard. They need to get out and be active and interact with the world around them.


I agree with this.. except in the case where there's 3' of snow on the ground and it's -20 degrees.


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## Sendiulino (Jun 20, 2011)

Is the puppy young? Regardless of the breed, the bones of a dog don't finish development until 18 - 24 months of age. There is such a thing as "too much exercise". A general loose rule is that a puppy should get exercise that equals his age times 5... in other words, a 3-month-old puppy should probably be limited to about 15 minutes of leashed exercise. An 8 month old puppy could get about 40 minutes, and it should all max out at about an hour of leashed walking until the puppy is older than 18 months to 2 years. 

If you push puppies too far too fast, they may end up with their bones having a loose fit in the sockets or other bone-related issues like dysplasia, which can eventually cause them discomfort or even mobility issues. These are things I learned through recent reading myself as I've been deciding how much exercise Sam will require at her current age and going into the future.

All in all though, I think it is a total myth that small dogs need less exercise... but I think there are a lot more options with small dogs to have exercise sessions in a more confined space. Ours races around the house like a racecar and tires herself out before breakfast  But that is no substitution for actual interaction with other people and dogs down at the park, which is an important part of puppy and dog development.

Small dogs often get a bad rap for being viscous little things.. chihuahuas in particular. Frankly, I find every stereotype is typically based on a shred of truth. There ARE a lot of nasty little dogs out there... the reason? People keeping them cooped up in the house, never socially interacting with other people and dogs. The dog becomes essentially socially inept, and bad behaviors creep in. (a secondary reason is people treating them like little human babies, despite the fact that they are in fact _dogs_).


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## Brittany Barrix (Jun 24, 2011)

The Chihuahua will be young when I get it and I thank you for adding the rule. It makes sense that interaction with the world is important for a dog to have since lack of it can cause social issues for both humans and dogs. This FAQ has proven to be a bit inaccurate for a Chihuahua site.


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## Entwine (Jan 14, 2009)

CoverTune said:


> I agree with this.. except in the case where there's 3' of snow on the ground and it's -20 degrees.


Oh yeah, of course. I wouldn't make Misty go out in that. ... Let me rephrase tht. I COULDN'T make misty go out in that, lol.


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

Many websites are not 100% accurate. I've seen about the breed pages for papillons that are just terrible. I've actually seen about 4 that had their example papillon picture up and it was actually a chihuahua. >.< Best bet is to talk to lots of owners and breeders to make sure the breed is for you. And meet as many of them as possible. I've looked into several breeds only to meet some and decide they really aren't for me after all. 

Another thing to take into consideration is all dogs are individuals. Owners can generalize based on trends but there will be some variation in all aspects of a dog's temperament. Of our five papillons, none are 100% what you read the breed is like. They all have lots of the traits but there's variety. Mia is like a crack addict who never stops going and is very vocal, Rose is lazy and quiet. Good breeders will be able to match you with the right temperament type. 

As far as exercising puppies goes, it's mostly forced exercise (on a leash) that is the problem. Especially walking or running them on cement. I gave my dog lots of exercise but it was mostly in the form of off leash play around a fenced park and things like that. There is a saying that a good dog is a tired dog.


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