The country’s Agriculture Minister Julia Klockner this week announced she will introduce the changes to the animal welfare law, noting pets are “not cuddly toys”.

She said the draft law was based on expert advice to ensure animal protection and welfare.

“Their needs have to be taken into account,” she said.

“Animals are not there to fulfil the dubious aesthetic demands of their owners.”

The farming ministry, which is responsible for animal welfare, said the exercise rule was intended to make sure dogs were not confined to kennels round the clock and instead taken for a walk or a run twice a day for at least an hour.

One in five German households owns a dog but some are bred for physical characteristics that cause them to suffer, known in German as Qualzucht, or “torture breeding”.

Ms Klockner said despite it being prohibited, “it continues”.

Breeds that exhibit “tormenting defects”, such as pugs bred for flattened faces or German shepherds with malformed hips, are due to be banned from dog shows in an attempt to curb demand for these traits.

The draft law would also prohibit breeders from tethering dogs with chains and stop them from being transported in vehicles for more than four and a half hours in heat over 30C.

The legislative amendment is chiefly aimed at stamping out the more egregious cases of abuse, such as black-market “puppy farms”, in which dogs are bred and neglected on an industrial scale.

The BBC reports dog breeders will be restricted to looking after a maximum of three litters, and puppies will have to spend at least four hours a day in human company for socialisation.

There are 9.4 million pet dogs in Germany.

They are presently required under the Hundeverordnung, or dog regulation, to be given “sufficient exercise” outdoors.

A spokesman for the VDH German Dog Association said: “One rule for all dogs is probably well meant but unrealistic.”

Meanwhile, an opinion piece in the Bild newspaper was titled: “Compulsory Walkies for Dog Owners? Rubbish!”

The new regulations, if passed, could become law early next year.

With The Times