XipoeWalking your dog
How many steps does your dog take on a walk?
Updated 20 October 2026
For every step you take, your dog takes about 1.4 to 3 of its own. The smaller the dog, the more steps.
Your iPhone counts your steps. On a lead, your dog covers the same distance, but with shorter legs and four of them. Here is about how many steps a dog takes at a normal walking pace, by its height at the shoulder.
| Size | Height | Per km | Per your step | Your 10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toy | 25 cm | 4,020 | 3.0 | 30,100 |
| Small | 35 cm | 3,150 | 2.4 | 23,600 |
| Medium | 50 cm | 2,430 | 1.8 | 18,200 |
| Large | 60 cm | 2,130 | 1.6 | 16,000 |
| Giant | 75 cm | 1,810 | 1.4 | 13,600 |
Worked out at a walking pace of 1.2 metres a second and a step of 75 cm. In the app, Xipoe uses your own step length from Apple Health and your dog's own height.
Dog step calculator
Set your dog's height at the shoulder and your steps. The answer uses the same formula as the app.
about 23,600 paw steps
2.4 for each of your steps · about 3,150 a kilometre
An estimate for a dog on a lead beside you, with your steps 75 cm long. Sniff stops and off-lead running aren't in it.
How we know
- Dogs of every size walk the same way, scaled: a stride grows with height and speed in the same proportions for a small dog and a big one (Alexander and Jayes, 1983).
- The curve is fitted to a 2023 study of 30 dogs under 25 kg on a pressure walkway, and its numbers match that law.
- 35 dogs wearing motion sensors, from an open set of 45, check it: at a normal walking pace the estimate agrees within 3 to 20 percent.
What it can’t see: sniff stops add nothing, since the distance doesn’t grow while you stand still; off-lead running isn’t counted; big dogs strolling slowly may be overcounted by up to about a fifth. It is an estimate, so Xipoe always says “about”.
How long should you walk your dog?
There is no single number. It depends on breed, age, health and fitness. The PDSA, the UK veterinary charity, says that “most dogs need at least 1–2 walks per day (unless otherwise specified by your vet)”, and that “some breeds need a minimum of one to two hours of exercise per day”, working breeds more.
- Puppies: build up slowly, to protect growing joints.
- Older dogs: often need less than they did in their prime.
- Flat-faced breeds: little and often, and not in the heat.
If you’re unsure, ask your vet. Xipoe doesn’t set a walk length for your dog; you choose a daily target of steps together, and a good week is a few good days, not seven perfect ones.
Why the walk matters
For you: dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog (Westgarth et al., 2019).
For your dog: dogs given time to sniff came out more optimistic in a study of nosework (Duranton and Horowitz, 2019). Let them sniff.
Count your walks together
Xipoe finds the walks you take with your dog in Apple Health, with no start button. Tap who came along, and each dog gets its own walks, streak and paw steps. Every day grows into a tree.
Sources
- PDSA. Exercise for dogs: our ultimate guide. pdsa.org.uk
- American Journal of Veterinary Research 2023;84(6): a study of 30 dogs walking and trotting on a pressure walkway. doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.22.12.0217
- Vehkaoja et al. Movement Sensor Dataset for Dog Behavior Classification. Mendeley Data, v4. CC BY 4.0; the analysis is ours, not the authors’. doi.org/10.17632/vxhx934tbn.4
- Kim et al. American Journal of Veterinary Research 2011;72(9):1171.
- Light et al. American Journal of Veterinary Research 2010;71(9):997.
- Alexander and Jayes. A dynamic similarity hypothesis for the gaits of quadrupedal mammals. Journal of Zoology 1983;201:135.
- Westgarth C. et al. Dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog. Scientific Reports 9, 5704 (2019). doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41254-6
- Duranton C., Horowitz A. Let me sniff! Nosework induces positive judgment bias in pet dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 211 (2019) 61 to 66. doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2018.12.009