When deciding which dog to get as a pet there's a lot to consider, including size, age, temperament and fur type.
One important aspect to think about is how active your lifestyle is and whether you have the time to provide as much activity as the dog breed needs.
For those with less active lifestyles and people who spend a lot of time away from home, vet Dr Kirsten Ronngren, in collaboration with ManyPets pet insurance, recommends dog breeds with lower activity needs.
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”Generally speaking, there are breeds that tend to have higher or lower needs for exercise during the day to promote physical health and mental stimulation,” she told the Daily Express.
Those dogs tend to be smaller breeds like terriers, dachshunds and chihuahuas, which need about 30 minutes of exercise a day in total.
Ronngren said this could be one 30-minute walk or two 15-minute walks or any sort of activity that adds up to the general 30 minute a day guide.
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“Short walks, playing fetch, scent work games, and agility training classes are all excellent opportunities for owners to facilitate this. Again, it's important to remember that this 30 minutes is just a starting point,” she said.
However, the vet advised the activity needs of a dog can depend on the individual dog itself and she has known terriers that ”hike 10 miles (16km) with their owners”.
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Other things Ronngren recommends owners take into account when figuring out the level of activity a dog needs include the pooch's health, age and personality and what the owner can realistically provide.
Breeds not mentioned by the vet that also have lower exercise needs include pugs, French bulldogs, Maltese, shih tsu and Cavalier King Charles spaniel.
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There are some bigger dogs that don't require a lot of exercise though, including one breed that people often assume needs a lot of activity.
That breed is the greyhound, which is capable of running very fast but is actually more of a couch potato.
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“As a minimum, 30 minutes per day is recommended, but ideally a walk morning and night should be the routine. Greyhounds are built for speed so tend not to have much stamina,” the RSPCA writes in a guide to greyhounds on its website.
But greyhounds can be trained to increase their endurance but only if done gradually. For example this could look like adding a few minutes to your daily walk or for joggers, taking your greyhound for short runs in the beginning.
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