Exercise

I know it varies from breed to breed but I want to know if Sadie is getting sufficient exercise. For some that don't know,shes 7 month old lab/pit mix. She usually gets about an hour of rigorous exercise a day outside in our back yard,usually 2 30 minute sections of fetch so constant running back and forth and our back yard is about 3/4 of an acre. And on nice days like today we'll sit outside for an hour or two and I let her roam around the yard. I just want to make sure she's getting exercised sufficiently.

Is she a healthy weight? Does she have some muscle tone? Does she seem to have a lot of pent-up energy? Does she have any behavior problems?

How much exercise a dog needs is totally dependant on that individual dog; even dogs of the same breed have different requirements. The above questions will answer your question better than anything else.

You do want to be careful not to OVER exercise a growing puppy. Strenuous running for some breeds could damage their joints. It's more dangerous on concrete than grass, and it doesn't sound like you'll really have that problem, just something I thought I'd throw out there. If you're in doubt about your dog's skeleton/joint health, you could definately talk to your vet about it.

Well she definitely has muscle tone.




I'm not sure but I would imagine she's a healthy weight. Last time she was at a vets office was couple weeks ago when she got spayed,but I wasn't there and I doubt they weighed her.

I have heard about over exercising. And I do worry about that as well.

She does have some behavior problems but I think they're just things that are typical with puppies...I think

She seems like she gets bored on a daily basis,and starts playing with our cat sometimes,but usually if she continues to do it for more than 5-10 minutes after I tell her to stop I take her out and play fetch for a little while to get some energy out.

She does spend alot of time crated. Around 6 hours a day about 5 days a week because I'm at work,and my girlfriends in college still.

Are there any toys I can get her to help keep her mind on something else? She has a kong toy,and she's gotten so good at getting things out of it,it only lasts about 5-10 minutes now. Are there other similar toys that are good at keeping your dog entertained?

Maybe something like the Buster Cube? You put kibble in it and the dog has to roll it around to get the kibble out, sometimes it's a big payout, sometimes just a few pieces.

She looks very nice, healthy and a good weight to me. I wouldn't let her get heavier though. Do you do any obedience practice with her? That can really exercise their brain, which tires them out very well, plus gives you the added benefit of not only learning some skills in themselves, but helps with general over-all behavior. Really short sessions are best. You could do those in between the fetch, in fact. The fetch could be a general reward for working nicely with you for say 5 or 10 minute stints of sit, stay, come, walk along side you nicely. Sometimes with dogs that love fetch, too much seems to make them "lazer brains" and that can become all they're interested in. (just something I've noticed with a few dogs) But as far as exercise, they say not to make it too repetetive....where they're doing and moving the same way over and over. If she can stop here and there and do something else, it can give those same bones and joints she's using a break, while she works some other areas for a while. I wouldn't worry so much with this romping she's doing. Anyhow, she's a beautiful girl!

Thank you doberlove! I work hard on her making her physically well. I do obedience sometimes in between fetch to help wear her down,I don't have any training treats at the moment because the only petsmart is in valdosta,about a 45 minute drive from here so i'm having to break down some bigger treats which dont last long,and usually the pieces are too large to do training for very long,but she does very well at sit,lay and stay. I'm getting to where I can get on the other side of the yard with her staying. What are some other exercises,physically, that I could do with her outside other than fetch?

A lot of "people foods" can be used as treats. Sandwich meats, hotdogs, cheese (cheddar, mozzarrella, etc.), raw fruits (apples, bananas, etc. - no grapes or raisins), raw vegetables (carrots, broccoli, etc. - no onions!), plain yogurt, peanut butter, chicken, beef, canned meats, even bread and pasta are all treats I use a lot with my dog. Whatever treats you use, though, you should cut them up into very small pieces, about the size of a pea, so that you can do lots of repetitions without your dog getting full (or gaining much weight). You cannot buy dog treats that are small enough, IMO, I cut up everything. I even break pieces of kibble in half if they are particularly large.

Most grocery stores also carry dog treats, Petsmart is by no means the only place to buy treats.

I often make treats. There is a little plastic container at Petsmart that has tiny, training treats. I forget what they're called, but they are definitely tiny, like a pea. I often do what Lizzybeth says; mozzarella cheese, sometimes cheddar if that's all I have (it's a little harder on their tummys I think than the white cheese, but that depends on the dog) left over chicken, pork, beef, salmon from last night's dinner. (it doesn't take much) Or for some dogs who are pigs, like Jose`, even kibble is considered good enough. (Some dogs aren't thrilled over kibble) As far as adequate reinforcers, just make sure she is crazy for the treat. Homemade treats are cheap and easy. Here's just one recipe I use. Some recipes that I've seen online have a ton of garlic in them. Be careful. Small amounts of garlic are good for them. Too much can be toxic.

1 container (not sure of the weight, maybe about a lb.) of chicken livers

1 egg

(puree in blender)

Mix in bowl with 2 cups of oat flour. (or any flour if you don't have oat flour)

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Sprinkle in a few pinches of parmessan cheese (to make it nice and smelly)

Mix well and pour into greased 8x8 Pyrex casserole baking dish (or metal)

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 1/2 hour or until edges come away from the sides and toothpick comes out clean.

Take out of pan, cut into tiny 1/4 " pieces. (or as small as you can)

Let cool.

You can divide into baggies and freeze. I don't make the portions more than I can use in 2-3 days.

Let the dog lick the bowl. LOL.

Another fun thing that gives exercise besides fetch, might be hide and seek where you hide and when she finds you, give her a treat and praise. This can help with "come." Throw in your cue just as she arrives. Walks are good. You can be working on good manners as you go. It sounds like what you're doing is great. She probably doesn't need inordinant amounts of exercise. Like it was mentioned, excessive exercise might damage her bones and joints at her age. Later, you might enjoy one of the many dog sports that they have now, like agility or fly ball. You could even start her in a puppy agility class where she is introduced to those obstacles, but the jumps are very low, everything is low at first, the weave poles, she can do, but should go slowly through them. She can get started though, learning how to go through these things. I did that with my Doberman. It was embarrassing. Here was this big, tall 6 month old puppy jumping over jumps my Chihuahua could jump over. (at home, there was no stopping him. He'd jump over huge logs and jump off my porch which is about 4 steps off the ground) Those things were technically not a good idea, but like I said, there was no stopping him. LOL. At any rate, nothing happened to his bones or joints.

For a really high value treat (for my dogs), I use liver. Found this on the net for making those tiny bite-sized pieces that don't crumble in my pocket:

Liver treats (bait)
The only ingredient you need for this recipe is liver! And some water to cook it in.
So let’s get cooking, shall we?
Get out a pan large enough to boil the liver you wish to use. Boil the water (adding some salt if you wish, I do). Once the water is at a full boil, gently place your fresh liver steak into the water. Boil the liver until it is no longer pink, usually 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and rinse under the faucet with cold water gently rubbing the slimy stuff off the liver. Pat dry with a paper towel. Place in 200 degree oven for approximately 20 minutes or until the liver has a dry leathery texture that does not crumble or break when picked up. Once the liver has cooled, tear or cut into small bite sized pieces.
This recipe keeps well when frozen. These types of treats are popular with dog show handlers as ring bait.

Oh thanks Snark. I think I'll try that. It sounds really easy and sooooo yummy. (if you're a dog) lol.

I dont know how good tug of war and romping around is for her,but she sure does love it! I got one of those kong tug toys and she'll play with that thing forever,but shes getting to the point where she can almost pull me out of the chair if we're inside. I also like to get on the ground with her and just rough around with her. Don't know if this kind of play is bad for behavior or not.

The small treats you were talking about are the treats I buy I think,they're called natures recipe. Nature's Recipe Training Treats - Treats & Biscuits - Dog - PetSmart They're really small and sadie goes crazy over them. Of course........sadie also thinks ice falling out of the fridge is a treat as well...

Ever thought about scootering? I think I'm gonna see how Riley feels about it - he loves to run. Gonna start him out pulling an empty milk jug and go from there. DogScooter.com || HOME

That sounds like a good idea. But seems like something that would wear their joints down quicker as they became older adults?

Did you check out the site? I don't think it'll wear out their joints - like anything else, common sense should prevail, don't expect to run a mile right out of the box; start at a short distance or even a time limit (5 min. for example). Besides, it will take time to teach the commands (line out, hike, hup, gee, haw, whoa, on by, etc.) while she's pulling milk jugs. That's what Riley will be learning because there's no sense in buying a scootering harness until he finishes growing and for pulling light weights, his regular harness will work just fine.

As far as actually pulling weight, you can propel the scooter yourself (and get a pretty good workout!) so there's not a lot of stress on your dog and there are no rules about having to go at a dead run - trotting will work just as well. My old chow mix was not a fast dog, a medium trot was her maximum speed. That's the nice thing about scooters, you can go really slow and still stay balanced (unlike a bicycle).

There's a yahoo forum for scootering (DogsLovetoRun : Dogs Love to Run.) and someone on there in reply to a question about training a young dog said, 'you can't push a rope', which is true. If your dog doesn't want to go, she ain't going!