Exercise and Dogs

[harry8]

Does anyone exercise with their dog(s)? If so, what kind of exercises do you do together?

Harry and I have started jogging together and it's great fun. I'm actually training for a Race for Life event (5k run in the UK) in aid of Cancer Research and Harry is a great motivator. I don't think I would have taken up running if I didn't have a dog.

Clare

 

[achieve1dream]

That is great! I too am training for a run. I'm doing a half marathon (13miles) and take Storm along when I can. Unfortunately it has been raining so much lately I have been doing most of my training on the treadmill indoors. I would love to teach Storm to run on the treadmill because she need so much more exercise than I can give her outdoors (especially in the heat of summer).

I have used some clicker training to get her to go into the room and touch the treadmill with her paws, but she doesn't like the sound it makes when the motor is on and I don't think she will ever be able to happily or comfortably run on it. She is just to sensitive and insecure. But I will keep working on it.

I'm happy to hear about someone else who takes their dog along for training. :dogsmile:

 

[l_l_a]

I also like distance running and sometimes I take my dog with me. I usually take him on shorter easy runs even though he's more than capable of going longer, just cos I can't concentrate on him and on my workout at the same time... I prefer to concentrate on either one or the other at a time. I don't usually run with him more than once or twice a week because I don't think he finds it very interesting! He much prefers to run more freely and sniff and explore and play games in the same session. But he does get into the groove when we are running together, it's just one of many activities we do but not the only.

there's also some small hills near where we live so sometimes we do hill sprints together, he really loves those! Another workout we do together is where we go to a soccer field and I let him off leash or dragging a long line and we do 'fartleks' - hehe no it's not a rude word, it means "speed play" which is basically doing varied and informal sprints (as opposed to a structured track workout with stopwatches and all). This type of workout lends itself well to playing chase-games with the dog and is more mentally stimulating for him.

besides running, at home we also have free weights and a pullup bar. When I'm doing some resistance exercises my dog likes to hang out nearby and play with his toys, then when I'm resting in between sets we do his trick training! it's a great way to multitask!

right now my husband is working around a previous back and knee injury so he can't run, he has been going on long daily fast walks with the dog so that's another type of exercise we do together.

 

[yoyopoodle]

Most of the exercise I do with Charlie is focused on him, lol. Agility and SAR being the main ones. I wish I could go running/jogging with him because I'm sure he'd love it... but I have a 'weird' heart-beat and can only sprint short distances or go at a steady walk - Charlie's gait is faster than my walk, so he constantly weaves back and forth. Not much fun.

I also like to hike him off-lead, but don't get a chance to on a regular basis

 

[storm22]

we do agility, running, horse riding (now my knee is getting better, i had a bad injuring and couldnt even rise to the trot it hurt soo bad for 18 long months) but storm likes to run next to the bikes or horses (they go faster than a human) and ive started boxing with my sister (koda hates the bag but storm wants to play with it), plus we do heaps of hill walking, beach walking, storm went on a hunt trail with my mate the other day, he was jumping the spars and fences after the horse he loved it soo much but was too tired to play with koda when he came home, haha 3km of running after a horse will do that to him, but he also helps exercise the horses and will lunge with them
kodas still too young to come with the horses but she loves those hill walks (the beach is no good shes learnt to eat sand from luka)
(i think i do more exercise now i have 2dogs at different stages of fitness)

 

[achieve1dream]

Horses

Sweet! Nice to hear of someone else here who rides horses. I used to take Storm with me when I went riding, but she can't go off leash (Siberian Husky) and at the time I didn't have the Halti and her pulling got annoying. When riding western I would actually tie her rope to the saddle horn (I trusted this horse with my life and my dog's life), but she would tear her pads up on the asphalt so I just stopped taking her with me. It works better with the bicycle lol. I could take her with the Halti, but horses sometimes stop too quickly and I would be afraid of hurting her. I wish she could go off leash, but Jackal will be able to someday so I will have doggy company on the trails again some day. Yay! But yeah that is another great form of exercise for the dog and the horse.

 

[harry8]

Great to hear that people exercise with their dogs! It's so much better than working out on your own.

achieveonedream - good luck with training for your half marathon! That'll be goal next year!

Clare

 

[storm22]

yeah it much better to horseride with a dog (kills 2 birds with one stone) but you need a dog thats good off leash, my old dog wouldnt come back (damn pig dog) so we had to stick to riding on the farm and bush not the roads but storm loves going anywhere fast, he also rides with me, when he was injured recently id pull him up and we set off for a ride, he was going stir crazy being left in the yard, so i took him riding and let him down to sniff and pee then back up to go home, yes i did get strange looks, i have a sled dog harness for storm and we bike in that because it the only time he tends to pull so having him in that harness is good, it doesnt restirct him and he now knows basic sledding commands (it helps to stop lolz)

 

[achieve1dream]

Horses and Biking

Lol, that is the problem I have with Storm. Can't go offleash. I have also let her pull my bike in harness and she knows some of the sled commands, but after the second bad fall I stopped letting her pull me. It wasn't even her fault, but I still wasn't willing to risk it again. We can both just get exercise from now on lol.