I agree that many people get dogs that are not suited for their lifestyle and it is a shame. I don’t think having a harness on a dog in public is a problem though. I have 2 Australian cattle dogs and they are great off leash but not sociable to other dogs. One is friendly or indifferent to strangers but wary of children because she didn’t have exposure to young children growing up or even now. The other is deaf and is nervous about other people.

We go out on long hikes in the timberlands when possible and they aren’t leashed and they’re great about being mindful of where I am and don’t stray too far and come back if I stop. That said they still have their harnesses on, for safety (people hunt there, blaze orange) but also there are unexpected situations that can happen.

Day to day they spend a 1-2 hours of active play in the backyard as well as intermittent play inside. If they aren’t getting enough exercise in they let you know it.

My biggest problem with the oldest one (9) is that the wear and tear on her body from being very active shows and she has a stupid pain tolerance. It is hard to try to engage her in low impact play when she is limping but still happy to sprint across the yard to catch a ball.

For truly big dogs, like a Pyrenees, their later years are really sad because their back tends to just give out on them and they have a ton of trouble just getting up and moving around.

The worst part of dogs is that they don’t live long enough but I’m also not personally interested in artificially extending my dogs lifespan, just making sure they aren’t suffering in their older age.