Different Ways To Exercise Your Dog

Regularly exercising your dog is an essential part of their daily routine. This not only benefits the dog and the owner's health but prevents your dog from being frustrated and behaving badly in your house.

Each dog and breed has different needs that need to be met during exercise. For example, if your dog is a large but low energy dog, they do not need to be exercised as much as a small, high energy dog. Age and weight are important factors to consider when planning how much to exercise your dog as you do not want to overwork a dog with health problems.

Dog owners often think that if you have a small dog or a large garden then it is acceptable to let your dog walk around the garden for 10-20 minutes, then bring him back indoors. This is not enough structured exercise as dogs require stimulation and exercise which they won't find in the garden.

The most common form of exercise is walking your dog. However, unless you have a small dog that has to run to catch up with you, walking is not enough exercise for a dog. It is recommended that you walk to an area where it is safe for your dog to run loose, for example a secured field. This gives them the freedom that they need so they won't be as much trouble at home.

If you don't live near a secure area for your dog to run, or if your pet cannot be trusted off the lead, then an easy way to exercise your dog is to use a skateboard, a bike or rollerskates to move alongside your dog as he runs at a quick enough pace to burn off excess energy that makes him dig up the garden or bark at your neighbours.

Another less common but useful method of exercising your dog is hydrotherapy. Using hydrotherapy is a good way to calm your dog as he swims freely in a pool of warm water. This can also be used as therapy after a dog has had an operation or an older dog who is less agile.

Treadmills are sometimes used to exercise a dog if people have little time to walk their dog far. However, this is not ideal as the only form of exercising your dog because it doesn't give your pet the social benefits of mixing with other dogs. Exercising your dog is part of forming a strong bond between you and your dog as well as keeping them a healthy weight. If your dog is on a treadmill alone then the owner-pet relationship is not growing.