This incredibly strong and muscular as well as calm, placid and highly loyal breed of dog loves to play rowdy, boisterous games with their favorite people.
But how should an American Bulldog be exercised, and do American Bulldogs need a lot of exercise? This is what we’re taking a look at in this article:
How Much Exercise Does an American Bulldog Puppy Need?
When it comes to American Bulldog puppies, there is no consistent, exact way to calculate precisely how much exercise they need.
This is because American Bulldog puppies are growing very rapidly, and so, their exercise requirements are always changing. But in general, American Bulldog puppies need considerably less exercise than their fully-grown counterparts.
However, many people use a formula where a puppy gets 5 minutes of exercise for each month of their age. So, if your American Bulldog puppy was five months old, for example, you should walk or play with them for up to a 25-minute session and no more.
Also, though, bear in mind that large breeds, like the American Bulldog, keep growing for a longer time, and so, remain a puppy for longer.
So, since the American Bulldog has more growing to do, Bully owners calculating how long to exercise their pooch typically exercise their more rapidly-growing dog for slightly less time than this formula suggests.
Therefore, it may be better to exercise a five-month-old American Bulldog for more like 20 minutes.
How Should I Play With my American Bulldog Puppy?
As we previously touched upon, American Bulldogs are large breed dogs who spend a longer than average portion of the beginning of their life in a state of plasticity, where they are easily able to be injured.
Your American Bulldog’s joints and bones are developing very rapidly, and although they do need a certain amount of low-intensity exercise to help their bones to develop properly, your American Bulldog should not jump up, run, stand up on their hind legs or even climb stairs and steps until they are at least 12 months old.
Because of this, be sure to keep playing with your American Bulldog as gentle as possible until they are old enough to handle more high-impact play. If you can, keep to softer surfaces, too.
Tug of war is a great game to introduce to your young American Bulldog, as long as their teeth are ready for it. It’ll help you to bond together, but you can also gently get your American Bulldog pup to pose in a myriad of new poses, much like a form of puppy yoga.
You might see your Bulldog puppy sit while grabbing the toy, or they might lie down, especially when starting to get tired.
When they’re feeling playful, your American Bulldog puppy could bow, especially to offer the toy to you at the beginning of the game. So, tug of war could teach your American Bulldog a lot of new skills.
A short session of this type of play coupled with a short walk around the block is the perfect amount of exercise for a young American Bulldog.
How Far Should I Walk my American Bulldog Puppy?
As mentioned before, an American Bulldog puppy actually needs less exercise than you’d think. This is not just because they are young, but also because they are a brachycephalic dog. But how long should you walk an American Bulldog puppy for? Is it safe for them?
Well, we previously mentioned a guideline of a 20 to 25-minute exercise session for the average American Bulldog puppy. This should be an ideal length of time to walk most American Bulldog puppies.
Of course, your American Bulldog puppy will probably have some ways of telling you what they need, though. They may lie down on the ground, or start to pull back towards home. If you American Bulldog does this, listen to them.
But in general, one or two short, slow walks around your street, where they can socialize with other dogs and sniff everything, should be ideal for your younger American Bulldog.
How Much Exercise Will an Adult American Bulldog Need?
Since your American Bulldog is now an adult, due to their increased stamina and endurance, you will both have many more opportunities to explore your nearby dog parks and hiking routes!
You can also play all sorts of more rough and boisterous games, and maybe even enroll in some canine sports!
But how much is too much, and how much is ideal? How long should an adult American Bulldog really exercise for?
Well, when your American Bulldog is an adult, they will need anywhere from 1 up to 2 whole hours of exercise a day. This brachycephalic breed will find it difficult to carry out all this exercise at once, however.
Therefore, it’s good for your fully-grown American Bulldog to get this exercise in a variety of ways.
On cooler days, you might be able to drag your adult American Bulldog on an hour-long walk or hike, before bringing your warmed-up pooch home for another activity-filled hour of fetch or tug of war (post-rest, of course).
To summarize, up to 2 hours of exercise are what an adult American Bulldog needs.
What are Some Ways to Play With an Adult American Bulldog?
Now that your muscular American Bulldog is more grown-up and agile, there are far more opportunities for a play! So, what are some of the more unique and unusual games that a grown-up American Bulldog prefers?
Fetch is a classic one. Fetch is one of the easiest games to teach your American Bulldog, as well as being one of the easiest and accessible games for you both to play together.
Simply throw and throw and throw a brightly colored object for your American Bulldog until they collapse in the grass in contentment, only to come back up to you with the ball again, begging for a few more rounds after they have a big drink of water.
Once you teach your Bulldog to fetch, be prepared to play fetch all day every day for a long time.
Or, ever heard of a Jolly Ball? A Jolly Ball is a significantly large and durable toy ball, aimed at dogs who are heavy chewers.
There’s no way for your American Bulldog to bite the toy, so they are forced to roll it around, instead. If they show a strong interest in it, some models of the Jolly Ball allow you to then fill it with water, for a more exhausting playtime.
How Long Should an Adult American Bulldog be Walked?
Well, as we mentioned earlier, a fully-grown American Bulldog should have no more than 2 hours of exercise in total each day. But as it is difficult for your American Bulldog to exercise for two hours straight, how long should you walk your American Bulldog for?
Well, although it could be quite boring for them, you could give your American Bulldog four 30-minute walks a day to meet their daily exercise requirements.
You could even give them a proper hour-long hike if the weather is especially cool. An American Bulldog would love to jog beside you, too.
Do you need to give an American Bulldog a lot of exercise?
Oh yes, absolutely. American Bulldogs have lots of energy and will require plenty of activity daily to properly tire them out, although in hotter whether they’d be happy to lie around all day until it gets cooler.
American Bulldogs do love spending time chilling out with their owner later on in the day, too. But they need to be thoroughly exhausted before this can happen.
For more about American Bulldogs see my other articles below
- Do American Bulldogs Like Water?
- Do American Bulldogs Have Dew Claws?
- Do American Bulldogs Bark a Lot?
- Do American Bulldogs Need a Coat in the Winter?
- Do American Bulldogs Sleep a Lot?
- Do American Bulldogs Need C-Sections?
- Do American Bulldogs Drool a Lot?
By Michelle McDaid.
