Exercise

[Shadrack]

i think this post goes here, considering exercise is a part of a dogs health?

basically where i am we've had some bad weather, wet or cold with a few nice days thrown in, i love to hate melbourne sometimes. but being extremely vulnerable to pneumonia i cant go out in the rain, and recovering from health issues, on the nice days i cant walk that far yet, but with that being said i have a purebred and a mixed Jack russell that need a lot of exercise.. The Mixed is becoming noticeably overweight >__> are there any fun games others play with the dogs inside to atleast keep them active? on the nice days i take them outside with a ball and practice some recall training. but then, if the grounds wet my mix wont move so im just after some indoor exercise ideas. Currently we play some fetch, i throw the ball up the 3 stairs we have, and tug-o-war. and chasy (when i want to go up to the bathroom or something and they want to come, so i try to outrun them.. never works.) < although i think i have to drop that.

[Steph M]

What about strength tricks? Balancing on hind legs or a ball or board? Holding stretch positions?

[persephone]

Just cut food back by 1/3 . for the dogs :)

do lots of very short trick.training sessions ... get their recall every time .. practice lying on your bed/mat/chair .... practice "pick up toys" /retrieve .... practice walk alongside me s l o w l y ... do your training in a whisper - so they pay more attention to you . All this increases their concentration - therefore can make them tired ;) ( think of you at work/kids at school - all that brain fag settles you down )

[Shadrack]

its so basic, but can you believe i never thought of cutting their food back, maybe then they'll pay more attention during training haha.

but being fed less, does that mean they'll be hungry all the time?

i would love to train in a whisper, but they already ignore me a fair bit, lol. ive been working on the recall lately, using a method from a video i watched of tossing a treat across the room, then when they turn to return to me, saying come, and i think ace is getting some exercise considering that all he'll do now is run back and forth expecting a treat xD

But waht youve suggested ill look around youtube for examples on how to teach it :)

[persephone]

ha!!''If coming toyou/obeying you when you (loudish to start with) whisper is the ONLY time they get food - guarantee they'll learn fast :p

[blakkjackal]

I have a treadmill inside, mainly for the dog. I managed to find a reasonably priced used treadmill and it's really a great thing for when I finish work really late or it's pouring down as I can easily squeeze in 10 minutes of good exercise almost any time of the day. Your dogs being small even a short walking machine might be sufficient -- I had to do a bit of hunting as I needed a fairly long one. I hardly ever exceed 9kmph and that's a pretty fast trot for my 25 kg dog so you really don't need too much speed either.

I also like playing bucket games with my dog, he balances on it, does "doggy squats" and walks around it with either back or front legs on bucket. He absolutely loves it and goes crazy trying every trick he knows when the bucket comes out. You could maybe even use a phone book or something for starters? :D

Edited May 1, 2014 by Black_jackal

[Shadrack]

ive actually been considering a treadmill, but i need to save up some $$ first haha, being a student, living independently doesnt help much and i cant really find a good priced on at the moment, and with them destroying things i own i find im needing to replace things more than id like, im thinking they coud be bored? which is why i thought of exercise, but i might try more training exercises for them to keep their minds active, and ill definitely try whispering, who knows, maybe with me talking quieter it might actually encourage them to pay better attention to me if theyve got to concentrate harder on what i want.

so do you think the games of fetch and stuff im doing is enough in the meantime? i dont want them to get unwell from lack of exercise but right now sadly it is a little hard for me to take them out, but at the same time, i want to keep them while doing what i can for them.

[DobieMum]

For trick training try Kikopup on YouTube, she has some great ideas.

[Shadrack]

For trick training try Kikopup on YouTube, she has some great ideas.

Thanks ill take a look, ive been watching videos from TrainingPositive.. not sure if anyone on here would recommend that, but it seems alright, i like the completely positive approach and wouldnt mind giving it a try, ive heard that its better to ignore unwanted behaviours other than punish for it