How much exercise do Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need?

Before you get a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel into your home, you need to take a closer look at the breed to find out if it fits you. Nothing would be worse than if the dog does not meet your expectations and ends up in the shelter. An important point is how much exercise and activity Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need an average amount of exercise and activity. The little dog should be able to get by with two reasonable daily walks. With a walk, it is not so much the quantity that matters but the quality. A 30-minute walk in the woods where a Cavalier has time to sniff is more effective than if he has to walk next to you for 60 minutes.

Walk with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were initially used as a playmate for children and as a bed warmer. The close relationship with humans can also be seen in the fact that Cavalier King Charles Spaniels dislike being left alone.

However, this does not mean that they are pure lap dogs that prefer to lie on the couch.

If you are looking for a dog for relaxed walks in nature, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is the right choice. They love to be out and about with their owners and enjoy contact with other dogs of their species.

As a foundation, you should plan two walks of 30 -60 minutes daily so that the Cavalier King Spaniel has enough exercise. More is possible, of course.

If you can offer your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel between 1 and 2 hours of exercise every day, it is not a big deal if you do not have time for a walk in between and only take him out for a short pee.

It would be best to keep your dog busy in the long run.

Make your walk varied.

It is not enough for your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to walk next to you on a leash for 30 or 60 minutes.

Give your Cavalier time to explore the surroundings. Like any dog, the Cavalier likes to sniff and curiously pursue new smells.

Take some toys like a food dummy or something similar with you on your walk and let your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel fetch in between.

Change your route. You should have at least two better three different routes you can walk.

If he has to walk the same route and smells the same every time, your dog will get bored.

In between, for example, every two weeks, you can also make an “excursion” with your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in a forest and then go for a walk for 2 hours or longer.

These are, again, new impressions and smells that make your dog tired and satisfied.

Sport with the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Besides the daily walks, you can also do adapted agility or dog dance with your Cavalier.

Agility is about your dog overcoming obstacles as quickly as possible. Body signals and commands direct the dog. In dog dancing, dog and human perform a kind of choreo to music.

Let your Cavalier King Charles swim.

If your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel likes to swim, this is also a great way to exercise him.

Mental Stimulation for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels also need mental stimulation and physical exercise.

However, mentally challenging and engaging a dog is not particularly complicated. Simply learning basic commands or tricks is a mental occupation for a dog.

Train regularly with your dog the basic commands like “sit,” “down,” and “recall,” or teach him tricks.

Anything you actively do with your dog is good for exercising.

Frustration tolerance is also an excellent way to exercise your dog. Just yesterday, our dogs did not get a “normal walk.” Besides the regular training of basic commands, we worked on frustration tolerance.

To do this, I sent our Cane Corso one into “down” and then threw her treats – which she was not allowed to take.

The fact that a dog lies still and treats are thrown at him or lie in front of him, but he is not allowed to take the treatment is intense mental stress. This makes a dog tired.

You can easily integrate this form of training into your daily routine without spending extra time on feeding. Hold the food in front of your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s nose, but he can only eat it on your command.

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel has too little exercise

If your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel gets too little physical and mental activity, it is like all breeds that show behavioral problems over time. These can manifest themselves in very different ways.

Signs that your Cavalier has too little activity can be:

• Cavalier King Charles barks a lot if he gets too little exercise
• Chewing on furniture or shoes
• Destructiveness
• Aggressive behavior toward people or other animals

However, if you can offer your Cavalier at least a good walk every day and give him time to sniff, you should not have any problems. On weekends it can be a little bit more.

With enough exercise, your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel will love to cuddle and be petted afterward.

A garden does not replace a walk.

For those who may think that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is a small dog that is super happy with its garden. No, a garden is no substitute for a walk for any dog. A dog doesn’t need a garden. It’s just a great bonus.

A garden is a super bonus, especially in summer when you sit with your dog AFTER the walk in the garden.

But if your dog, as you often see, is only sent to the garden, he has no real activity.

A dog does not play alone, as we might imagine.

Besides, there is nothing new for your dog to discover in the garden at some point. The smells stay the same; there are no traces of other dogs – it’s just boring.

The garden is ideal for actively exercising and training with your dog.

Conclusion: Do Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need much exercise?

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels need an average of 1 to 2 hours of exercise. They are no couch potatoes and enjoy lovely walks with their owners. However, the Cavaliers are also not high-performance athlete who needs constant action.

Mikkel Bigandt-stock.adobe.com (Contributed image)