exercise Archives - Oh My Dog!

A swimming story

06•30•16

When we were looking for our house, we were in no hurry to move. It was a want, not a need, so we made a list of house wishes that were super specific. One of those wishes was a swimming pool. Our fabulous real estate agent pointed out that there were many neighborhoods that had a pool within walking distance. “No,” we said. “It’s not for us. It’s for our dogs.”

We knew she was the agent for us when she smiled and said, “Totally get it. I’m an animal lover, too!”

So, we found our house with a pool.

The goal for this summer was to get Emmett swimming! He’s about to turn 13 (next week!!), and he’s dealing with something a lot of seniors deal with: loss of muscle mass. That, combined with some shaking in his legs and a droopy old man belly, walking has become increasingly difficult for him. With the heat this summer, it’s been even worse. But, it won’t keep him healthy to skip exercise, so swimming seemed like the perfect fit.

Note I said seemed.

Emmett knows how to swim. He’s been swimming in the Chesapeake Bay and at the indoor swimming pool at his old doggy daycare. He’s been swimming in my aunt’s outdoor pool, and he’s paddled around in various blow-up and kiddie pools.

Perfect, right?

Emmett appears to have decided that swimming is just too much work. It’s too tiring. He just doesn’t wanna.

We’ll take him outside. He trots along next to us. We open the gate to the pool, and he belly flops… Right into the grass just outside the gate, back to the pool. He turns his head and averts his eyes. “If I don’t look at them, they can’t see me!”

We have, on occasion, put him in the pool. He paddled along, straight to the steps, and right out. Then he shakes off and stands in front of the gate, asking to be let back into the yard. Or, John’s held onto him so that he couldn’t immediately depart but got a short workout in with a few paddles, but again, the second John let go, straight to the steps, out, shake, gate.

So, what do we do?

He can swim. It’s good for him. It’s a way to build strength and endurance without putting more strain on his already weak, trembling legs. It’s not like he has to even spend hours paddling around. A few laps a day would do the trick.

But, he just doesn’t want to.

So, do we force him for his own good, strength-wise, but make him unhappy? Or do we stick with short walks to the end of the block and back, at which point his legs are shaking so badly that he can barely lift one to pee?

I love my old dog with my entire being. He is my light, my angel, my love. But, man, it’s a lot of stress figuring out what’s right…

Cooper, by the way, is a whole other story (of course) that deserves its own post because he’s just flipping hilarious and adorable. More on that to come.

A video posted by Maggie Marton (@maggiemarton) on Jun 19, 2016 at 4:45pm PDT

In the meantime, what would you do? If you love a senior, what decisions have caused you angst? Or if you have a pool, how does your dog feel about swimming?

Lean, mean running Bean

04•25•16

For all his ~~flaws~~ quirks, and despite his litany of fears, there is one thing that focuses Cooper, gives him confidence, and lets him blow off all that pent-up drive:

Running.

Cooper loves to run.

He would run until he dropped, sleep it off, then get up and run some more if we let him. (We don’t.)

Last year, before Lucas, I started the C25K training program with the app on my phone. Of course, the incremental training was for me, not for Cooper. We worked through it together, though, then totally derailed because I de-prioritized running when we were dealing with Lucas and moving. Fast forward to this winter, and John and I started to run at an indoor track. He decided to set his sights on marathon training (um… no, thanks…), and I set mine on getting back to finishing a 5k.

Which we did last weekend! (Yes, I turn that shade of red every time I run. Sometimes even redder if the temp is above, say, 60 degrees!)

Now that spring has sprung, we’re back to running outside with Cooper, and all the time off? Well, it didn’t do a thing to slow him down. His drive is still there, fully intact. He will. not. stop.

Here’s the deal: When Cooper is out for a walk and we spot a dog, he flips out. He loses his head. He strains at the end of his leash, he barks, he wags, he yips, he hollers. It’s extreme frustration. When Cooper is out for a walk and we spot a squirrel, he makes his dog-spotting flip out seem tame. He seriously screeches. People from blocks away turn to stare. When Cooper is out for a walk and we get startled by a person–someone getting out of a car, someone coming out of a front door somewhere on the same block we’re walking, someone he can’t see coughing or sneezing somewhere nearby–he barks at that person.

But when Cooper is out for a run… none of that fazes him. He gets a bit excited if he sees a dog, but he keeps running. He gets a bit tense when he sees a person, but he keeps running. He whines a bit and reaches in the direction if he sees a squirrel, but he keeps running.

He’s the neurotic pit-mix version of Forrest Gump.

He just keeps running.

His post-run happy face is the cutest thing ever:

Anyway, some days he goes with me on my slow, short jog around the neighborhood.

Other days he goes with John on his training runs. Those are a mix of things, from distance and duration to sprints. What we’re finding is that Cooper thrives on distance. He wants to cover miles. He dislikes varying speeds, though; he needs a constant pace.

On Saturday, John had a log run. Seventy minutes. (Shudder…) He leashed up Coop and said that he’d swing by the house sometime between minutes 30 and 40 to drop Bean off because it was a little warm out and that was a long run. So, he did. After about 35 minutes, he brought Cooper home, then went back out. Cooper? He stood at the back door and waited. He wanted to keep going! I think he thought John would come right back to get him… but once he realized that John wasn’t coming back, he flopped in the middle of the kitchen floor and slept.

Cooper is an intense dog. He’s intense in all things. Seriously. All.

Just look at him in this birthday hat (another story for another day!):

That intensity is a double-edged sword, especially when it’s combined with his single-minded loyalty. He will literally run until he drops. Finding that line where he gets the most out of the activity, burns the most steam, gets to practice focus and build confidence, without overexerting him or pushing him to that point is our new challenge.

I know many of you run and many of you run with your dogs. Any tips or tricks to share? Fun running stories or outdoor adventures with your pup? What are your outdoor exercise plans for the summer?

As for me, it’s my day to run with Cooper… so I have 30 minutes of him trotting along staring at me with those “is that all you got, lady?” eyes of his… Yes, Bean. It’s all I got. 🙂

Boredom Busters: 5 ways to exercise your dog indoors

01•19•15

In 2010, we faced an icy winter. Our backyard was a slick sheet, and the sidewalks were a slippery, salty mess. The dogs were going bonkers, so I put together this list of 10 ways to tire out your dogs indoors.

After a few years of working through that list each winter, we landed in Louisiana and faced the opposite problem: It was far too hot to play outside safely. We had worked through that initial list, so I brainstormed 10 (more) ways to tire out your dog indoors.

{{By the way, in case you don’t want to click through all those posts, I’m compiling the full list of 25 Boredom Busters into a handy PDF checklist that will go out with the January newsletter! If you’re not on the list, subscribe here so you don’t miss out!}}

Now, we’re back in Indiana and back in winter. While this has been a mild winter, we’ve had a couple health setbacks that have shortened Lucas’ and Cooper’s walks. They still need exercise – physical AND mental – so I’m back to brainstorming some Boredom Busters for the boys. Here’s my newest list: 5 ways to exercise your dog indoors!

DIY games: I love food puzzles and games. But once they’ve played the same ones a few times, they have it totally figured out, and the challenge is gone. I realized that the puzzles we had in rotation were being solved way too fast to truly keep them busy. I DIYed a few variations to mix it up a bit. First up was this Restuffable, Easy DIY Dog Toy from Kol’s Notes. Piece of cake to make (some basic sewing skills required), and you can mix up what you stuff on the inside. I also made a little “find it” game out of two Solo cups. I cut a slit in the bottom of the cup and inverted it over a piece of food. The boys had to target the cup with their nose to earn the food. To increase the difficulty, cut slits in multiple cups and have them select the only one you put food under – a variation on the shell game!
Take a drive: Now, I’d rather your dog be safe than bored, so this one is totally weather-dependent. If the streets are plowed, though, getting out of the house can be fun! Plan errands like driving through the bank because, obviously, you don’t want to leave your dog in the car, or just hit Starbucks – be sure to order your dog a Puppy Latte! Note: When John does this with the boys, he always warms up the car before they hit the road. I, on the other hand, am apparently cruel and never think to do so!
Tag! This is Lucas’ favorite game in the house. We play it a couple different ways, but the important thing is to figure out what you can do to cue your dog to PLAY. (This article is an interesting exploration of that question.) For Lucas, he gets very wound up if we pretend like we’re coming in for a hug. I need to get video of this or something because it’s really different from an actual hug – like an over-exaggerated “I’m gonna get you!” He leaps in the air and spins around, at which point I take off in the opposite direction. He chases me around until he catches me, then I do the “coming in for a hug” again, and off we go for another round! With Emmett, the only thing that gets him going is if he sees you actively try to hide, like if he’s watching me and I duck behind the couch. He goes, “Uh oh! Better go get my lady!” at which point I take off the opposite way.
Rotate toys: For a very long time, all our dog toys lived in a basket in the living room. The boys would dip in and out, choosing what they felt like playing with – but, over time, it turned into the same favorites got the most attention. So, I picked up about half the toys, stuck them in the pantry, and waited. When they seemed disinterested in playing with toys, I switched out three at a time (one for each boy, attempting to be fair… even though they only want the toy the other ones have). It revitalized several long-abandoned toys, and when I open the toy drawer, they get really excited to see what I’m going to bring out.
Strike a pose: Start an Instagram account for your dog… and teach poses! I thought of this one because we needed some new tricks. We’ve been working on many tricks for many years, so I wanted to mix it up and come up with tricks that would photo well, just for fun, and Instagram is the perfect platform for those performances! Cooper is learning “Eskimo kisses” and I want the big boys to master a “pout” by putting their chins on their paws.

There you have it! If you can get through all 25 ways to tire out your dog indoors, you’re going to have a super fun – and exhausting – winter!! I’m sure with these lists I’ve probably missed something. Do you have any go-to indoor exercises with your pup? What do you do when you can’t get outside? Any fun boredom busters?

When your dogs have different energy levels (aka, tiring out our hyper dog)

10•28•13

Twenty minutes into our run this morning, John said, “Look. He’s finally panting.”

Oh, Cooper.

dog exercise — It takes a LOT of effort to get this hyper guy to pant!

We started a C25K training plan, which was great for me and the big dogs since we weren’t in running condition, but it did nothing for high-energy Cooper. Lucas has bad hips and Emmett is a senior citizen, so since we completed that plan, we’ve created our own routine.

We start with walking, then alternate 10-minute walks with 10-minute runs. The breakout helps us (well, me… John’s in WAY better shape than I am), and it helps the big dogs because neither one of them can manage a full 30-minute run.

Cooper, on the other hand…

So here’s what we do. We start out with Cooper for the first round of walking and running. Then we circle back to the house and get Lucas. With both Coop and Lukey, then, we do another round of walking and running. Then back to the house to trade Lucas for Emmett, and we do the last round of walking and running with Coop and Emmett.

If you have a hyper dog and a less-than-hyper dog, I highly recommend this routine!

In truth, we were killing ourselves trying to get Cooper fully exercised and the big boys exercised since their requirements are SO different from each other. They still get individual walks, and – inspired by K9 Kamp – I’ve been thinking of ways to add in more exercise for Cooper each week. This past week, he ran the stairs, played hide-and-seek with me, and (to Newt’s horror) we played an epic game with his new Bumi all round the room above the garage.

So there you have it! I know many of you have multiple dogs, and not everyone is the same age/health/energy-level. I wanted to share our routine in case it would help anyone else.

But I’d love to know from you: How do you manage different energy requirements? Do you have different exercise routines for your different dogs? Do you find ways to combine activities for everyone’s fitness levels? Any other tips or tricks?

10 Ways to tire out your dog

04•19•10

Currently, Lucas is one tired dog:

And so is Emmett:

I love when the boys are this tired because I can get so much work done, but this level of exhaustion is nearly impossible to achieve with two fun-loving, energetic dogs. But since Thursday, we’ve kept them incredibly busy. So here are my fool-proof 10 ways to tire out your dog! (Click on the images to enlarge.)

1. Have a friend over! Scout came over to play with the boys on Thursday. Just adding a new playmate into the mix keeps them busy all day.