A Glimpse into Real Dog Pack Life -How Much Exercise?

There are quite a few misconceptions going around about how a dog pack functions. The dog pack absolutely DOES NOT exercise 8 hours each day! Rather, it's more like this:

The dog pack goes hunting - of course, led by the Alpha Leader. But if one pack member has a better sense of smell than the others, the Alpha Leader allows that one to lead the hunt - until he is certain that he is on the trail well enough to lead it himself. Also, the dog who is most skilled at herding is highly respected by him.

Each dog pack member is respected for each thing that he can do well, and is called upon to do it in any emergency situation. Say a helicopter came overhead and the frightened dog pack ran, forced into another dog pack's territory. The Pack Leader would hand the reins over to whoever grew up there (most likely a female), as that one would know the cracks and crevices. The Leader of the Pack is definitely not macho!

As danger passed, the dogs would return to hunting. Only about one in ten hunts is successful. However, once they do succeed in bringing down prey, they stay with it until only the bones remain - mostly eating and sleeping.

So contrary to the popular belief that all the wild dogs do all day is run, it's more like: "We hunt a couple of times a week, and the rest of the time we eat and sleep!" - With occasional trips to mark the territory (the human equivalent of a field trip) and fairly regular games of chase.

Yes, a dog needs regular exercise. There's no denying that. I'm a firm believer in twice a day, 45 minutes each time - 30 minutes the second time for some - but there are several dog breeds who could never keep up with that pace.

I mean really ... can you picture this Chihuahua trying to keep up with a German Shepherd?

The amount of activity you do with your dogs has to be based on their individual physical and psychological needs - not on what you've heard about the dog breed.

Dog Breed Prejudice or Just Sound Wisdom?

I don't spend much time on forums. Although there are some people there who have a lot of knowledge or ask intelligent questions (and it's great to share information with them), there are also people who pose the most ridiculous dog questions that anyone who did a little "thinking through" would figure out.

One particular individual felt that Labs, Goldens, and German Shepherds were always in the spotlight when it came to movies. He was very angry because Beagles weren't. He also felt the Police Force should use them because their sense of smell is better than German Shepherds.

The truth is that we don't need to be making movies where Beagles are the stars ... or any hound dogs, for that matter. I love these dogs, but they make lousy family pets. They are miserable when they don't get to hunt. Imagine not getting to do the one thing you are born to do! That's cruel.

If these dog breeds are promoted in movies, people go out and buy them as house pets, because they think how cute that dog was in the film. Appartently some producers are starting to figure that out.

If you want to make a movie that has hound dogs in it, do one about Search and Rescue Dogs that shows how wonderfully their gifts can be used ... and yet shows them as working dogs, not pets. This would stimulate people to get involved in the training of Search and Rescue Dogs, instead of filling our animal shelters full to overflowing with perfectly beautiful dogs.

When this gentleman stated that Beagles should be used on the Police Force because of their superior sense of smell... Yes, he's right. They do have a better sense of smell than German Shepherds. However, he did not take into consideration the fact that Beagles howl and bawl when they have located that for which they were searching. German Shepherds don't.

Shepherds are silent and unpredictable in their movements against the target. With a Beagle, though, how many lives would be lost simply because of a loud-mouth dog! That's far too high of a risk to take.