Quote: Jennifer Lee

I agree, when I think of a 10 I think of border collies and other true working dogs that just don't make suitable pets for most everyday people.

That's what I think of, too.

That dog on the farm that is going the entire day with its owner on various jobs around the farm.

Or a true herding dog that's livelihood depends on keeping watch over his flock.

oooh look what i just found http://www.jogadog.com/dc4.html

if only i had $1200!

One of the barn dogs at the barn I ride at might be a 10. It also might be that he just has a ton of energy because he is young but he goes all day with my friend. She will take him for a 4 mile run and I'll show up right after with Cicero and he just keeps on going!! You wouldn't be able to tell he had just been on a run.

When I was a kid we had a black lab that lived to be 16-ish in spite of eating a can of Alpo for breakfast every morning and free-feeding Purina dog chow all day. Maybe it's because she ate road-kill and ran for hours with us while we were out on our horses?

When I read Jennifer M's posts I feel super LAZY (I usually only feel SOMEWHAT lazy;-). I consider my dog to be medium-high energy, a 6 or 7, but it seems to change seasonally because our routine changes.

We walk about five miles per day in the winter with off-leash running as part of the routine. Most of the training is indoors with the clicker. That's about it and Murph seems fine.

In the summer we do MUCH more of everything, training is outdoors, more physically draining and more about distractions so mentally draining as well. On the rare day that we do less, in spite of how much more it is than we do in the winter, Murph is restless (though still obedient).

I think there is something to the idea of a routine and a dog having needs and expectations based on that routine.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have a dog that's a 10. I would not be equipped to handle that at all.