What You Should Keep in Mind about Dog Exercise and Fitness

One of the best things along with one of the best ways to spend real quality time with your dog is through exercise. You exercise a dog and there are so many benefits which, of course, you are aware of, and even some that you forgot about. Pets need exercise, plain and simple, and the exercise benefits go for you, your dog and maybe someone else who will participate with you.

The Benefits of a Dog Exercise Workout extend beyond the Dog’s Physical Fitness.

Exercise supplies to those engaged in the activity better sleep and more energy; exercise builds strong bones and muscles, reinforces a wonderful bonding connection and is a vital component in teaching and reinforcing socialization.

And… Let’s not forget the sunshine. Exposure to natural sunlight for as many hours as possible is important to your dog’s physical and emotional well-being. Insufficient quality of sunlight is known to suppress immune function and will contribute to skin and other problems, and cancer.

What’s Appropriate?

The exercise you engage in should always be appropriate for the kind of dog, its physical capacity, and age and health condition. A little common sense is always in order.

Exercise should be performed regularly and, most of all, it should be enjoyable and fun as well as safe. The safe part may sound obvious but accidents do happen and when they do we can often see where they could have and should have been avoided. We will get to some of the things to avoid to limit the potential risk of injury.

Encourage exercise with activities the dog finds stimulating and enjoys — games of catch, fetch, and for balanced dogs (i.e. controllable on command), tug and pull games along with long walks, jogging, swimming and biking when done in a safe non-traffic environment without being tethered to a leash.

Large dogs require more active exercise than small dogs. Your faithful fur baby companion needs and deserves at least two walks a day. Our puppies seem to have boundless energy and look forward to a little wrestling and chasing; some breeds like to play Frisbee in the open spaces. However, when some dogs get on in years they may just want to take walks in the neighborhood. It’s all exercise and it’s important to just do it.

Even if you have done these before…

(1) Even though our friend Cesar Millan rollerblades with his pack and others, he is very skilled at it and always allows the dogs to pull in the lead under expert control, but as a rule don’t rollerblade with your dog on a leash.

(2) The same goes for skateboards; don’t skateboard with your dog on a leash.

(3) No bicycle riding with your dog on a leash.

(4) Don’t let your dog loose near traffic situations.

(5) Avoid exercise right before or after your dog eats.

(6) Don’t exercise in extreme weather, when it is very hot or very cold. Wind chill makes days colder than actual temperature readings and summer humidity makes it actually hotter. Beware of signs of Heat Stroke and Hypothermia.

(7) Avoid very active exercise during high humidity especially for dogs with heavier coats, and always make sure your pet stays hydrated.

(8) If your canine is a swimmer, don’t assume that if your dog is in the water, your pet won’t overheat. This just isn’t true when the water temperature gets much above 75 degrees and if the dog is working hard in the water it can overheat.

Exercise and Exercising Good judgment

Take a moment and consider each one of the advisory don’t do’s and you can imagine various possibilities where something may not end up well or even go terribly wrong. Common sense and exercise need to go hand in hand and it is always better to be on the safer side of possibilities.

Incorporate play with toys and have fun exercising with your canine fur child.

Very hard rubber toys, like Kong — super-bouncy and irresistible. Kong’s exclusive super-bouncy red natural rubber compound is irresistible for most dogs, and five chewer-friendly sizes are available to satisfy dogs with typical chewing temperaments, along with the rest of the Kong toy offerings.

Other wonderful products to have are: A Ruff Dawg K9 Flyer disc, similar to a Frisbee, only more rugged, flexible and non-toxic for on-land or in water. Try a simple game with a rope tug toy, great fun as long as your dog understands play boundaries. If your dog has shown signs of aggression towards you, tug-of-war is not a game we recommend.

Also recommended: A Hyper Disc which is floatable, durable and soft on your dog’s mouth, or a Hyper Ball Launcher that allows you to launch a ball up to 220 feet. These and other quality dog exercise toys along with everything else you dogs and cats need including beds crates play pens and just about everything else is available at CalloftheDogShop.com.