Can Beagles Run Long Distances?
Having an exercise buddy to help push and motivate you is always super fun. However, it’s always good to know your partner’s limits. You don’t want to push them too far or hold them back too much if the two of you are going at different paces.
Can beagles run long distances? Beagles are not the best long-distance runners. They can run a few miles, but they are not built to run marathons or cross country. If you and your beagle slowly build up endurance together, you can probably run a little further than a couple of miles, but they are not built for long distances.
Making sure you don’t overwork your partner will help to keep both of you healthy and happy. It is good to push each other to get a little better, but be careful to not go too far because it can be unhealthy and possibly harmful. I have gone into exercise needs and specific for beagles below!
Is it Possible to Turn My Beagle into a Long-Distance Runner?
Let me start off with saying this is a touchy topic because every individual dog can have different limits and needs depending on their genetics and how they were raised. You don’t want to overwork your dog either to try and make this happen.
I would stick to keeping your runs with your dog to just a few miles, but if your dog doesn’t look fatigued at all, it is probably safe to do another mile. I would not suggest doing an extra mile if your dog looks fatigued though!
Do not keep pushing your dog if they are not able to keep up with you! You will over-exercise your dog and possibly harm them by doing so!
When running, it helps if your dog sees how much you love running too. Seeing how much you love it will help to motivate your dog to love it just as much as well.
If you really long to run longer distances with your dog, you can work up to going a bit further than the average, but it will take time and dedication and an awareness of when it is enough or too much exercise and pushing for the both of you.
First, you will want to make sure you are your four-legged friend are excelling in your normal length runs. If you are still struggling to run a couple of miles together as a workout, then you two are not ready to go further. You will not only hurt yourself, but you will hurt your dog as well by pushing yourselves too far.
After the two of you are excelling in your two-mile runs, you then need to work your way up to a three-mile run. Work on this 3-mile length until you both are excelling at it, just like with the two-mile runs.
Continue to repeat this until the two of you get as far as possible in length for your runs, as long as you are not out and over working yourselves. If you get to doing runs that are much longer than 3 miles you will probably only need to work out once a week.
I would not push your dog past five miles simply for safety and health reasons. Running any longer or further can end up becoming unhealthy for them. If they still have excess amounts of energy after their workouts, switch methods of working out after running a certain distance.
You could play catch with a tennis ball or Frisbee or even work on some tricks. Just make sure you are not overworking your pup.
How Do I Know if I am Overworking My Beagle?
You will notice a few signs when your dog is exhausted and you need to stop exercising and go home. Make sure you are aware of your dog’s state of being, how exhausted he may be or if he may not be feeling well, so that you can avoid overworking them.
Signs your dog is exhausted:
- Heavy Panting
- Sluggishness
- Unable to keep up with you
- Frequent stopping
- Dehydration
- Sweating
- Limping
You should not wait to see these signs before going home after exercising!
If your dog is showing some of these signs or other signs, even and especially those of seat stroke and heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or injury, you should stop the exercise and go home.
Over-working your dog can cause injuries and even illness in your pup and that is definitely not something you want! When you overwork your dog, you risk them straining their muscles too much or even causing joint problems.
There are so many issues that could happen, so just be safe and be smart in your workouts.
How Much Exercise Should My Beagle Get?
Your beagle should get an exercise of about a half hour in length at least a couple times a week. Beagles are a very active breed of dog and so they need extra amounts of exercise to keep up with their energy levels and to keep them in shape.
A run should be roughly a couple miles in length if you decide that is your workout for the day. That should be long enough to take up the necessary workout time while staying at a moderate pace and not pushing you too far. Especially for beginners!
If your runs last longer than that, or you have a longer or more vigorous exercise, then you can probably reduce how often you and your beagle work out. You don’t want to overwork yourself or your loveable pet, so you guys can avoid any injuries.
A good rule to live by to determine how long and how hard you should exercise to stay healthy is, the harder and longer you exercise, the less often you will have to. The easier and shorter the exercise is, the more often you will have to exercise.
Fun Exercises for Beagles:
Beagles were once used as hunting companions in which they would help to sniff out game and then they would also run out to receive it after it has been shot and bring it back to their owner.
I would imagine that this is where the well-known pet game ‘Fetch” originated from, retrieving their masters’ kills when hunting. Due to this, the beagle has a decently high endurance level when it comes to exercising.
Now, I totally get that going on vigorous is not everyone’s idea of fun exercise. It’s not particularly my favorite either. So, if we don’t like going on runs, then how are we supposed to exercise our furry friends?
Well, lucky for you, I have some ideas that you might already be doing, without realizing they are a great exercise for your dog! I have ranked my favorites below.
#1 Hiking in Local Secret Trails
This is my all-time favorite thing to do, with or without my dog! But, hiking with my dog is so much better, can I just say. No matter where you live, there are always some local hiking trails of all kinds of different lengths and terrain that you can go to.
You can, most of the time, just look them up online or even go to your local city building or tourist information location to ask where some of the best local hiking trails are. You would be amazed at how many there might be in your area!
Hiking is great because it is a great workout without running. You can go at whatever pace you need and still get a good workout from it. Along with going at your own pace, you have the opportunity to be surrounded by nature and explore new places in your local area that you may not have otherwise discovered!
Hiking is also great because you often get more of a workout than you think. Especially the fun, in my opinion, trails with some hills that tend to get a bit steeper, you get a great leg workout from the different degrees of the slopes.
It isn’t a crazy hard leg workout that will make your legs feel like wet noodles the next day either. It’s a win-win workout situation, if you ask me!
#2 Frisbee at the Dog Park
Frisbee is a great, fun way to get a good, high-intensity workout for your dog. You basically would need to teach your dog to chase after the
You would throw the Frisbee across a field and your four-legged friend would sprint out to meet up with it and catch it in their mouths. Then they run back to you to return it and go again.
Doing this for a good twenty to thirty minutes would suffice for a good workout with your dog.
Playing like this at a dog park keeps your dog in a nice facility that has good ground that won’t harm your dog’s paws along with being fenced in, making it nearly impossible for your dog to run away the second it gets distracted from picking up a scent. You can keep your dog off-leash and run around and play without worry of them getting away.
Another plus to a dog park is that there are often other dogs and their owners! It is a great way for both you and your dog to make friends and maybe you guys will even play together with the people you meet!
It is a great way to find people that you can set of puppy play dates and coffee dates with away from the dog park, because who doesn’t love a good get-together?
(Dog play dates may not be specifically for exercise, but they are a great way to exercise your dog a bit because they will be so excited and busy when playing.)
#3 Walking Around Your Neighborhood
Walking around your neighborhood is always a good go-to workout that isn’t high-intensity for you or your dog. You simply just put your cute beagle friend on a leash and walk around your neighborhood wherever and for however long you two want and deem necessary (a good length for this to be a good workout is about a half hour, though).
Walking around your neighborhood is a great way to meet neighbors and to better get to know the area you live in as well. You are probably gonna run into a
Or you might walk by a house with other dogs or even little kids that adore your dog.
Basically, walking around your neighborhood is a great way to familiarize yourself with your neighbors and not seem like “that one grouchy neighbor that doesn’t like anyone and only stays home or at work”.
It’s totally fine if you don’t want to socialize with your neighbors, but the fresh air from walking around your neighborhood and better getting to know the types of people you live around is good too.
#4 Catch in Your Yard
If you want to avoid contact with people in public, which I totally get too because some people are just weird, another great workout is simply playing catch with a tennis ball in your yard. You don’t need tons and tons of space to do this with your dog as you might otherwise need when playing frisbee.
Simply throwing a ball for your beagle to sprint to retrieve then return to you is a great workout for them. They are getting some vigorous work in that will satisfy their exercise needs. Just doing a good twenty to thirty minutes of this activity is a great way to check that workout off of your list.
You can do this activity while still maintaining a happy, comfortable atmosphere that you don’t have to worry about looking good for because let’s be honest, you are going to probably make sure you are wearing nice workout clothes and your hair is done just right so that you look good in case you run into “Judgy Betty” from the coffee shop or “Chatty Kathy” from the diner that you try so hard to avoid at all costs.
You can stay happy and at home in whatever attire you please and be happy as a clam without having to deal with people!
Disclaimer: The names I used are simply hypothetical and are in no way calling actual people
name d Kathy or Betty out for having these traits.
Related Questions:
How fast can beagles run? Beagles can run as fast as about 20 miles per hour, so they can definitely keep up with you when running. Just make sure that you only have your beagle off-leash in an enclosed area because the second they pick up on a scent, they are gone and will head straight for it, no matter what.
Do beagles like to run? Beagles really like to run. They are super fast and enjoy a good chase, especially if they catch a scent with their nose. They are a fast animal that was used for hunting. They can last a decent amount of time on walks/runs