Regular exercises are something essential for any dog to keep a good mental and physical health. Hence these exercises should be carefully selected for 2 major reasons: 1- to suit your dog’s breed, size, and fitness level, 2- to minimize significantly the risk of injuries. The following are 10 well-selected dog workouts:
1- Walking
Regular walking is a basic exercise for all dogs. It’s good to begin with short distance and progressively extend the walks when you notice your dog start gaining some endurance. Always wear a collar or harness to make sure you maintain control (and not fall in the Allow-Your-Dog-to-Lead-You).
2- Fetch
Fetch is a good exercise that provides physical and mental activity for dogs. Make sure to only use smooth soft toys. Use also tug-of-war. It’s a great exercise for the dog’s muscles, when it is played with caution. However, to prevent likely injuries, your dog should be taught to respond to the release command.
3- Swimming
This one is considered a low-impact exercise, for it causes less pressure on the joints and muscles. Swimming is highly recommended for dogs with arthritis and movement difficulties. While in water, stay close to your dog to make certain it gets in and out safely.
4- Stairs
If your dog is predisposed to hip dysplasia or has problems in the joints, it is better to avoid making it climb stairs.
5- Agility training
Agility workouts push and strain your dog physically and mentally. Always, go progressively from easy barriers to more challenging ones in order to prevent strains.
6- Warm-up and Cool-down
Before starting workouts, we all walk or juggle at a leisurely pace as a kind of warm-up. That’s exactly what you should do to your dog before any strenuous exercise. Besides, to avoid any muscle stiffness, make your dog take a leisurely walk to cool down after training.
7- Play Time
Your dog’s paly-time should be monitored, especially when playing with other dogs. To keep accidental injuries away, it’s important that the dogs playing with yours are of similar play style as well as size
8- Managing Weight
Obesity can lead to strains on the dog’s joints. To prevent such problems, make sure your dog has a healthy weight.
9- Veterinary Examinations
To make sure that your dog is healthy enough to do workouts, routine checkups should often be planned. Plus, you have to be vigilant about signs of pain, tiredness or lameness while and after trainings. In case you observe any symptoms of injury, contact the veterinarian sooner not later.
10- Suitable Footwear
The footwear should always be appropriate to the weather. For example, if it’s extremely cold, you have to wear your dog boots to shield it from scorching concrete.
