Just like us, dogs come in many shapes and sizes. Some dogs need more exercise, some need bigger meals, some are perfect for cuddling on the couch on a rainy day. And sure, some of these traits come from each dog’s personality, but some are breed specific. 

If you’re looking to get a new pup, make sure you can keep up with his exercise needs and make sure he can keep up with yours! Here are some of the breeds that need more exercise, so that you can take this into account if you’re considering them as a pet.  

Border Collie

Border Collies are excellent sheep herders, extensively used in Australia for this reason, along with the Australian Shepherd Dog. Being herder, this type of dog is accustomed to running long distances to make sure the herds stay together.

Because of their herding nature, Border Collies excel at training commands, so Lassie will be an excellent competitor in dog agility competitions. 

This is one of the types of breeds that has a lot of stamina and energy, so make sure you provide at least 60 minutes of intense exercise per day. 

Golden Retriever

Everyone’s favorite, the Golden Retriever needs to...well...retrieve! They are very well capable of keeping up with you on a hike, on a run or when you’re on a casual walk. Playing fetch is also a great option for a Golden Retriever, since retrieving is one of their favorite activities. 

Make sure to get up to 2 hours of quality exercising every day, to keep them happy and healthy. 

German Shepherd

The German Shepherd is THE breed you think about when thinking Police Dog, or Military Dog, or Bomb Detection Dog. They are very easy to train, which can make them very good at what they do. If you think about it, a police dog might run to catch an assailant, or attack a bad person at their human officer’s command, so they really need to be in good shape. 

Regardless of whether your Rex is in the force or not, you still need to make sure you get at least a full hour of moderate and high intensity workouts for him to spend some energy. 

Alaskan Malamute

Just like the Siberian Husky, the Alaskan Malamute is a dog breed for working. If you can grasp that the dog’s main working purpose was to pull on a heavy sleigh through huge amounts of snow, in the cold, for thousands of miles at a time, then you can imagine that such a breed would require a lot of exercise to burn off some of that energy. 

Ideal for an athlete owner, this breed requires at least 60 minutes of intense exercise per day, but you can safely go up to 2 hours of exercising daily. 

Pointer

As with the other breeds we’ve mentioned in our article so far, the pointer was bred with hunting abilities in mind, as the name might suggest. That means this dog breed, and others that are similar, need to be agile, fast runners so that they can catch up with the hunted prey (either ducks or rabbits, deer and so on) and lead their owner, the hunter, to it. Depending on the pray, they would need to be quick, slim and fast on his feet.

While you can adjust his form from the foods he’s consuming, you also need to adjust his energy levels making sure they exercise on a daily basis. Aim for 60 to 90 minutes of medium or high intensity exercises each day, whether it’s an intense hike, jogging or just a plain walk. 

As you can see, there’s a lot of things you should consider when it comes to picking the right pup for you. That being said, if you’re an active person or an athlete, and you want to involve your doggo in your workouts, consider one of the breeds we mentioned above, or here are some other good options as well: Akita, Schnauzer, Rottweiler, Doberman, Bloodhound, Jack Russel Terrier, Labrador and many more. Regardless of what you decide to get in the end, make sure that you can commit to offering them the amount of exercise they need to live happy and healthy lives.