What it takes to fulfill my dog on days with lots of alone time

Perspective on her exercise, enrichment, and social needs compared to other dogs and depending on the environment.

I keep feeling Scout is only a medium energy dog. Maybe even low. She’s getting older—she now shows her who-knows-exactly-how-many years—and seems content to lounge most of the day.

Then we visit friends or family and I realize oh, she still requires a lot from us.

Because we’re able to leave our heeler for so long—to confidently reply to friends’ questions about her whereabouts with “she’s napping in the van” and move right on—it sometimes seems she’s a lazy blanket of a creature. But that assumption doesn’t factor in the early alarms, the family runs, the sniffy walks, the rounds of tug, the snuggles, the meal enrichment, the everything else that happens before we even go inside our hosts’ house to say good morning.