Canine Cardio

Let's face it.  It's an all too common sight to find your aging buddy curled up on his dog bed, snoozing the day away, often leading to weight gain and arthritic conditions.  Even the most sedentary dogs can be enticed with activities that are based on fetch and chase.   Here are a few games from an animal behaviourist that will not only get your companion up and moving, but will add some happiness and excitement to his days! 

Chase

First rule – your dog chases YOU, not the reverse.  You never want your dog to run away from you when you need to get him away from a dangerous situation.  Start by getting your dog's attention, then run away from him. Just before he catches you, stop and reward him with a cookie or his favorite toy.  The best reward is to repeat the game!

Keep Away

A few minutes of keeping your dog's favorite toy away from him can lead to some harder play.  If he's still up to jumping, try to get him to make a few leaps in the air. Just don't  keep the toy away so long that the dog gets frustrated.  A little keep away can lead into another one of the games as follows.

Sprints

Once you know your dog will follow you on the run, set up some mild wind sprints – running about a 15 metres, making an abrupt 180 degree turn, then running back to where you started.  Start small with say, four laps.  These might not be easy for you either! 

Complicated Heeling

If you've ever done any obedience training, you're familiar with teaching your dog to heel by varying your movement to keep his attention as he stays by your side.  Why not speed it up, and not worry about the accuracy?  See if your dog can keep up with you no matter which way you zig or zag, or how fast or slow you go.  

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go.

Your dog needs to master a few obedience moves to play this game.  Instead of "down", the command is "on your mark".  Then you teach the dog to pull up his rear into a play bow on "get set". "Go" speaks for itself!  Off you go running with your buddy, just a few hundred feet perhaps, and he gets a big reward at the end!   This will charm the daylights out of everybody if you can get your pooch to master it.

Just like when you start any exercise program, make sure not to overdo at first.  You will be able to tell  when your dog has hit his limit.  Just don't neglect to get him started up again later!