Tips To Properly Exercise Your Dog!

Exercising your dog does not need to be time consuming or tedious. Exercise for a dog is very crucial to their health and can propmote better blood circulation and stronger bones as they get older. There are many activities for you to have with your dog in order to properly work them out, and the best part is not all of them need to be exclusively outdoors. Why should we gatekeep our pets from the benefits of working out? In this post I will be going over techniques you can use to properly exercise your dog and have fun doing it!

Places To Visit:

Now it may seem a little silly, however, one of the best places for your dog to have a free roamable space is a dog park. If there is one close to your general vicinity then they are the perfect place for your dog to thrive and have fun with other dogs! If there is not any in your area, then any park that allows dogs will work just as well! There are also amazing menatal benefits of having your dog being able to socialize with other dogs as well. One thing I recognize is the value of my time, and I understand not everyone has the time in the day to drop what they are doing to exercise with their dog. It is for that reason I am here to tell you that your home is also a place for your dog to have fun and to properly exercise, even if you do not have a backyard! I know from running my own dog around in my living room that just 30 minutes of running and chasing could work wonders on a bored dog.

Types of Exercises:

The best types of exercises are often overlooked as just "games". Playing fetch or simply chasing after your dog is a perfect and effective exercise for their body and mind. One of my favorite activities is to chase my dog or have Kota chase after me, it works out his legs and incites his primal nature of chasing after prey. This may seem like a "violent" thing to have dogs do but having dogs use that part of the brain actually helps get their agression out of them.

Mental Benefits of Exercises:

A phrase I hear a lot when it comes to dogs is "a tired dog is a happy dog". I can attest to this statement as a tired dog is one that sleeps well at night and does not spend its time barking at every little thing which can be annoying. Fenzi Dog Sports Academy goes over the multitude of benefits of exercise in their webinars that could be found here; Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - Home. A little known fact about dogs and their health is that a workout for a dog can be a mental one, just as humans have mental workouts! Even taking your dog outside to sniff around can count as a workout and calm their burst of energy.

Devices You Can Use to Help:

A device I thought seemed silly at first but actually helped my dog is called the "pitpat" (PitPat | Dog GPS Trackers and Dog Activity Monitors | Dog Health Platform). My dog was a bit overweight before his first birthday. When we took him to the vet he was about 10 pounds over what the normal BMI for dogs his breed was. We tried running with him on our free time but we also did not have a way to effectively track how Kota was fairing. That is when my dad decided to buy this cute device called PitPat which is essentially a dog FitBit! It has a crazy one year battery life and lets you know exactly what activity they are doing and the approximate diet and exercise plan your dog should be doing in order to be healthy for it's breed. Thanks to the PitPat, which was only $25, Kota dropped from 90lbs to 75lbs. That is exactly where he needed to be as well in order to be considered a healthy puppy.

Last Resorts:

In worse cases or if for some reason you are just not able to do any of these things I am here to tell you there is still hope! I have previously stated that your home could be as good as any park or field, however, what if you are not physically able to do so? There are many ways to keep your dog healthy and fit even if you can not help them yourself. I would suggest using toys to help aid their surplus of energy, especially self moving toys. Mazes of any kind can keep Kota entertained and active for hours which can also help with their digestion and joint problems!

What I Do:

Kota is a very big dog, he is half boxer and half hound. Boxers need a lot of movement because they are bigger dogs and tend to burn off a lot of what they eat. The boxer breed is also very expressive and often acts out when they are bored, leading to them doing mischievous things around the house. I recommend running of any sorts with bigger breeds like Kota, and even if you can not; the time they spend on walks or being around other dogs can help them exercise their brain. I will end things off by asking of your experience with your dogs, and how you implement new ways of exercising with them on a daily basis?