How much exercise does a Scottish Deerhound need?
Daily exercise minutes, the activities a Scottish Deerhound enjoys and signs of too much or too little.
Give an adult Deerhound around an hour of exercise daily, ideally including a chance to gallop flat out in a safely enclosed field a few times a week. Lead walks are fine for the rest. Many also enjoy lure coursing, a sport in which dogs chase a mechanical lure, which gives the chase instinct a safe outlet.
Off-lead running should happen only in secure spaces with fences at least 1.5 m (5 ft) tall, well away from roads. Deerhounds are sprinters rather than endurance joggers, and they overheat more easily than you might think, so keep hard runs short and save them for cool weather. After exercise they collapse into long naps. A dog that seems exhausted for days afterward, or starts limping, has done too much.
Scottish Deerhound exercise in numbers
Activity ranges are editorial planning estimates. The five-minutes-per-month puppy rule lacks scientific evidence. Adapt activity to the individual and seek advice for pain or exercise difficulty. PDSA puppy exercise guidance.
Editorial activity estimate
60 to 90 min
Puppy activity
Individual plan
adapt to age, health and development
Senior activity
Individual plan
adapt to comfort and ability
Size
large
34 to 50 kg
Energy level
Playfulness
Handles heat
Handles cold