How I Exhaust My Dog BEFORE Work (Full Time Job + High Energy Dog)

If you want a pet that you can leave alone all day without putting in the work, you probably should have bought a fucking Tamagotchi. If you own a working breed and you work full-time, a well-structured routine is non-negotiable. I see this constantly in Perth. People buy these high-drive dogs and they think that a quick 15-minute walk around the block before they rush off to work is enough fulfillment for the day. It's not. And then they wonder why they come home to a destroyed couch, a dug-up garden, or a dog that's been barking at the fence for 8 hours straight. 80% of having a dog is just putting in effort. If you want to sleep in till 8 AM, scroll on your phone, and casually sip your coffee before work, you just shouldn't own a high drive dog. You have to earn the right to leave them alone. A lot of people think the answer is just run your dog into the ground, take them to the park, they get a Chuck It stick, and they mindlessly throw the tennis ball for 45 minutes while they just scroll on Instagram. That's not fulfillment, that's just putting your dog on autopilot. When a dog is chasing a ball back and forth, their brain is just turned off. They're just acting on instinct. And worse, you're just building an athlete. You're creating a dog with incredible cardio, which means next week they're gonna need an hour of fetch to get tired. It's progressive overload, just like going to the gym. If you bench 50 kilos this week, you're gonna have to bench 55 next week to get the same result. This is the exact same with our dogs. Mental exhaustion is infinitely more powerful than physical exhaustion. You have to tax their nervous system. You have to make them think. Let me walk you through exactly what I do every single morning for my most intense high drive dogs to set them up for a successful day. This is the exact routine that I use to ensure they sleep and relax while I'm at work. Phase 1 is going to be structured play. The second I bring them out of their crate, we go straight to the garden. I'm going to let them toilet and then we're going to go for a good play session. The goal here is to get them into a really high state of arousal. I use a tug toy or ball on a rope. We are fulfilling them genetically. They get to chase, they get to bite, they get to win. But here's the crucial difference. We're putting obedience into play. While they're at their peak excitement, while they're desperate for the toy, I make them sit, I make them down, and I make them drop the toy on command. This forces them to use impulse control. They have to switch from being in a pure state of instinct to a state of control. That switch from high arousal to obedience and back again exhausts their brain and it taxes their nervous system massively. And just remember this: 10 minutes of intense structured play is worth an hour of mindless fetch. So get off TikTok and start playing with your dog. Phase 2 is going to be off-leash freedom. After a short rest from play, we head straight out. I don't want to walk them around the streets on a bloody leash. I put them in the car and we go to the local oval, or we go through the woods, or we hit a quiet beach. We do a 25 to 30 minute off-leash run. I let them fill their boots. They get to sniff, they get to explore, and they get to cover 3 times as much ground as they would if they were stuck on a bloody 2-meter lead next to me. But this is where the e-collar comes in. I use the e-collar as an insurance policy. It allows me to give them that freedom safely, knowing that I have reliable recall if a bloody kangaroo jumps out or another dog approaches. If you're feeling guilty about your dog's reactivity, then I'm here to help. You're not a bad dog owner. You've just been fed the wrong information. But fear no more. That knot that you get in your stomach every time you grab your dog's leash. Let's fix it. We've put everything that we know into a completely free program, and it's going to help you solve absolutely all of your issues. Did I mention it was free? Click the button below and get access right now. Phase 3 is going to be scatter feeding. By the time we get home, they're physically tired, mentally satisfied. But I do one last thing as just the icing on the cake. But before I do this, I make sure I give them a good rest. Once they're rested, I take their breakfast, their kibble, and I scatter it through the grass or just through your backyard. I don't use a bowl. I make them use their nose to find their food. Sniffing is naturally calming for a dog. It lowers their heart rate. And like I said, it's just the icing on the cake for a great routine. By the time I leave for work, my dogs have had their genetic drive satisfied through play. They've had their physical exercise by being off the leash and being able to explore and do everything dogs love to do. And then they've decompressed through a bit of scent work. Their physical and mental needs have been completely met in about 45 minutes of focused, intentional effort. The result? When I leave the house, they go to bloody sleep. They don't destroy things, they don't bark at neighbours, they just rest because they've got nothing left in the tank. When you put this level of effort before you start your day, you don't have a problem dog, you have a fulfilled dog. Stop complaining about your dog's energy levels. Stop blaming the breed. Just look at your routine. Are you putting in the work or you just looking for a shortcut? I know what you're going to say, Adam, I don't have the time. Well, guess what? Start waking up earlier. Start engaging with your dog. If you need help building this routine or if you're just struggling to get that off-leash reliability, hit the link below and Perth K9 Academy is here to help give your dog the life they deserve.