Tuesday, October 25, 2016

The Lazy Dog's Workout Program


People know that exercise is very important to being healthy. Exercise lets people have strong bones and hearts and exercise is good for being happy too. Well dogs want healthy bones and hearts and we want to be happy too. When dogs get exercise we get rid of extra energy that makes us look for things to do like chew shoes and furniture, dig holes, and bark too much. Our people like it when we don’t do destructive things which make us happy.
Some people think that talking walks is the only way to get dogs exercised. Not true. Walking is very good but on days when it is rainy or cold, we don’t want to go out much either. So, I found lots of other ways to get exercise.
1. Obstacle Courses. These are big fun and can be an indoor or outdoor exercise. Our pen is a good place for an obstacle course. Big chunks of wood are good for running around and old tires stuck in the ground are good for going through.
In the house we get to run around the chairs and tables and up and down the stairs. Stair running is good because it makes you tired fast and you use different muscles going up than you use going down. Mom throws a toy down the stairs and we fetch it and bring it back.
Mom shows us how she wants us to go around chairs and we follow. DixieLee usually is better at the running stuff but I good at the figuring out stuff like a champion agility dog. The thinking part is hard because we train with treats and in obstacle course you don’t get to go straight to the treat you have to go around stuff.
2. Hide and seek. Dad is a good hide and seek player! Our house is not very big but he still finds good places to hide. At first we needed to be held while Mom counted one, two, three… but we learned not to go until ten. Sometimes DixieLee still starts looking earlier.
3. Tug of war. This is a good game to play with our humans and just with dogs. Tug of war is a very competitive game and both DixieLee and I are very competitive so we have strict rules about how hard we can play. When Mom or Dad say “stop it” we know we have to give up the toy and calm down. We have some good tug of war toys but DixieLee likes Dad’s socks the best. She forgets that socks are no nos.
4. Hiding treats. It’s sort of hide and seek where you look for hidden treats instead of hidden people. Good hiding places are behind chairs or doors or under tables.
We also play hide treats with our Kongs. Treats hidden in Kongs are easy to find but hard to get to. It takes concentration to get the treats out and keeps us quiet for long times.
We still like taking walks with our friend Scout and her new puppy friend but when we can’t we have plenty of other ways to get our exercise.
Let us know what you do to stay fit.

Your friend,

Zeva

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5 comments:

  1. Thank you for the new blog, Zeva. Jasper likes to do exercise by chasing his brother, Meeko....and sometimes Joshua, too, but Joshua is getting older and not much for playing. He thinks Jasper is being mean to him....he doesn't understand Jasper's way of playing. I love reading your blogs. Lumas' new blog will be up tonight.

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  2. One of the reasons we have two dogs is that they keep each other entertained. I get tired just watching them run around.

    Look forward to reading Lumas' blog.

    Marie (and Zeva)

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    1. It takes me so long to get caught up on emails. I'm just about finished and then I will get the blog up. Yes, with two cats and Jasper, we keep entertained and they take care of the exercise routine. I don't have that much energy either.

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    2. I understand what you are saying about emails. I want to answer all but it takes forever sometimes.'
      :)

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    3. I used to answer them all. I don't do that much anymore. LOL!

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