Walk, Bike, RUN

Elli enjoys a good daily walk. As long as the weather isn't too hot, rainy, too cold or snowing she's eager to get outside.

In comparison, Reilly's exercise needs far exceed little Elli's. The best way to wear him out is a good run with his friends at the dog park. Since going to the dog park isn't easy to do every day for us, we have to find other methods of getting all Reilly's energy out. I've learned that a tired dog is a good dog (mostly!).

So I've been working on incorporating different ways for Reilly and I to get exercise during the week.

We do go on walks daily. Although these walks are much too short to really make Reilly even slightly tired. Sometimes I will walk Reilly and Elli together for half of our walk, then drop Elli back home and continue on with Reilly.

The past few weeks I've been taking Reilly to the park in our neighbourhood and playing frisbee with him. He seems to really enjoy this and it does make him tired. The only thing that I have to watch out for is other dogs or walkers who may distract him while he's off leash. Luckily his recall is pretty solid, but you never know what might catch his attention and send him off running to make a new friend. I try to go to the park just before the sunsets. I feel this is the best time for the park to be relatively empty, especially as the weather gets colder.

I also bike ride with Reilly. We make two laps around our neighbourhood, or sometimes if it's not busy on the main road I take him north to ride by the alpaca farms for a change of scenery.

Since Reilly is lucky enough to get to go to his babysitter's house while I work, I'm trying to incorporate a mid-week stop at the dog park. Elli does not appreciate this since her main goal at that time of day is to get home for dinner.

Another thing I'm trying out with some success is working on new tricks with Reilly. He's a really smart dog, and it's fun to have some interesting tricks to show off. He just learned the trick "under". Basically he weaves under my legs as we walk down the hall. He gets it, but we haven't perfected the smoothness yet. Like when he went to his puppy classes, mental exercises like working on new tricks and training help him use up energy as well.

The latest thing is the hardest for me (although probably also the most beneficial for me). Last week I started jogging with Reilly. I'm a terrible runner, so we're starting off slow and increasing our distance and time spent running weekly. He seems to enjoy these (short) runs so far. He does start panting, so I know he's at least slightly tired. I just need to work on my own endurance so I can keep up with him.

Providing your dog with the adequate amount of exercise is important for their happiness and health. It's also important to consider the weather conditions and keep an eye out for any injuries.

My goals in maintaining a fitness routine with both my dogs is to keep them in healthy, add some variety to their days, and also socialize and train them to be good out in the world.