Exercising Your Dog

This is an important topic that alot of people have no idea about, but is very crucial when it comes to exercising their dog. Most of us will take our dog out to the local dog park or school field and whip out the Chuck It, a frisbee or your dogs favorite toy and throw it over and over again until your dog is tired and you go back home with a pooped puppy.

Why is this the wrong way to exercise your dog? Think of it as if you were your dog. You woke up, ate, then just started running for 20 mins - 1 hour then stopped, had some water and went to sleep. Your muscles would cramp up and be more susceptible to strains. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with throwing a ball for your dog, but make sure you are taking care of your dogs body.

A great exercise regime that is nice and easy and guaranteed to get your 

dog sufficient amount of exercise is:

Lets say you have 1 hour to take your dog out and you've chose a ball for exercise.

• 10 minute walk to start on leash, start getting your dogs heart rate up slowly.
• Let your dog off leash and let him jog around the field or park for 5 minutes to allow his muscles to warm up
• Spend 30 mins throwing the ball on and off. Throw the ball for 5 minutes. Take a minute break. Throw for another 5-10 minutes and repeat. Make sure to have fresh water handy (see below for a the doggy bag musts).
• Once you're done, let your dog jog around on him own, leash him up after a few minutes and take him for a 10-15 min cool down around a couple blocks or just around the field/park until the dogs breathing is close to normal.

Just taking less than a quarter of the time to properly warm up and cool down your dog can save your hundreds to thousands of dollars in vet bills.

IMPORTANT : DO NOT run a dog less than 1 year old for more then 15 minutes every few hours. This can lead to severe joint problems such as arthritis as early as 3 years old.

 Doggy Bag Musts:

• Bottle of water, I use just an old coke bottle cleaned out (500ml for winter months and a 2L in  summer months)
• Some sort of container like an empty Tupperware or anything can hold a little bit of water like a collapsible dog dish. If you don't bring a container you're going to waste more then 50% of the water trying to let your dog drink from the bottle.
• More then one toy, I usually bring a ball, frisbee and cloth to play a game of tug.
• Treats in a ziploc bag - you never know when you want to reward your dog for a wonderful behaviour, such as calmly meeting a child.

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