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Post by paragon815 on Mar 31, 2009 17:40:12 GMT -5
Can anyone with experience help, please? I have a 71/2 month intact female. She is currently undergoing treatment for demodex. My knees give out long before she ever gets enough walking in to tire her out. However, if I ride my bike and have her run alongside in her harness and leash for 2 to 21/2 miles at a slow easy trot she gets into less mischief at home. Is this too early for her to run on asphalt? We are waiting for the demodex to subside before having her spayed and then definitely no exercise for a while. She loves the run and is much happier when we do this 2 to 3 times per week, max.
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Post by maryellen on Mar 31, 2009 18:19:54 GMT -5
her joints are not fully developed yet so i wouldnt run her on asphalt.. you can go buy or build a flirt pole to exercise her for now. a flirt pole is a pole or stick with a string attached and a toy attached to the end.. you stand in your yard and wave the flirt pole around and she can chase it. but keep jumping to a minimum to not jolt her joints.
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Post by bamapitbullmom on Mar 31, 2009 18:25:13 GMT -5
I agree with ME and not recommend long exercising on hard surfaces.
Swimming would be great, easy on growing bones, muscles and joints. Light trotting on a softer surface, in fence play, increased mental stimulation and puzzle toys will also provide a mental workout and energy release.
Games with you are incredibly helpful in building foundation training, such as hide n seek, go find, tug (incorporating tug rules and never pulling harshly from side to side).
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Post by paragon815 on Mar 31, 2009 20:57:34 GMT -5
Thanks I,ll check out a flirt pole. She does get to play fetch and has kong toys among many others. I neglected to mention that she has a neutered male chihuahua that's 2 wks older with whom she plays all sorts of games. They have a nice size yard in which to run around. We've had them both since they were eight wks old and they are inseperable. My wife and I take them to parks and stores that are pet friendly. We also take them with us when we travel and stay in pet friendly hotels.
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Post by paragon815 on Apr 5, 2009 21:40:44 GMT -5
Made a flirt pole this weekend. Had to research to find out what one is. My baby girl loves it! Thanks for the advice.
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Chloe
I Love RPBF!
Posts: 433
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Post by Chloe on Apr 14, 2009 0:25:39 GMT -5
We put our APBT on a treadmill as often as possible (no more then once a day though). She jogs for about an hour. She loves it, we dont even have to tie her to it, she gets on all by herself and stands there staring at us waiting for us to turn it on. If she doesnt run on it, she has been know to be a bit destructive! We just bought a used one for people, not dogs, off of craigslist for $80.00.
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Post by emilys on Apr 14, 2009 10:02:31 GMT -5
mental stimulation will also tire dogs out. Practice basic obedience for 5-10 minutes several times a day. As long as you're playing fetch with something she loves, make her sit before you throw it. Work up to making her sit and then "stay".. first for a second then gradually increase the time. Teach her to "out" (give up the toy) on command, too. Her reward is getting to chase and return her toy again. When the dogs are playing with each other, practice calling them (or one of them) to you, give a reward (treat) and then release to go play again. This is a good way to teach a recall that doesn't spoil the fun! If her demo isn't too bad, consider taking classes as well (it's not contagious to other animals, but if she looks too freaky, that might cause problems! Ask the instructor/owner if it's ok to bring her).
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Post by emilys on Apr 14, 2009 10:04:55 GMT -5
p.s. I'm not sure her age is as much a problem in regard to running on asphalt as her footpads getting scraped until they build up callouses. You might ask your vet. If you start at a slow speeds, and build up to the longer distance, it might be OK
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Post by paragon815 on Apr 15, 2009 21:23:47 GMT -5
Thanks so much for all your suggestions, baby girl loves the attention. I've used all of your suggestions, except for the treadmill. Need to find one.
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Post by mcgregor on Apr 19, 2009 8:36:58 GMT -5
if you build a spring pole, be sure not to make it too high so that the dog does not hurt his backas he attempts to jump too high to reach the spring thing...... a spring pole is great excercise and a tool for mental stimulation ,yes I agree...
By the way, I work out every day and I got a surprise from my yogijust yesterday afternoon , big boy here was following my example, he jumped every time I did and stopped when I did.... oh man he is learning to excercise with aerobics... he is not fat but filled out to the maximum per American bulldog style, his neck is as big as an elephants foot ..lol.......Iam going to allow him to do this everyday gradually so that he does not exert himself.... he will be jogging with me around the yard...... how I wish I can jog on the road but for his safety from the public and other dogs on the loose, he will be getting excercise in the yard...... I live in the mountains and most people have pits here, you never know when one is on the loose and if it is friendly or not, Im not taking chances .
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Chloe
I Love RPBF!
Posts: 433
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Post by Chloe on Apr 26, 2009 21:34:19 GMT -5
mental stimulation will also tire dogs out. Practice basic obedience for 5-10 minutes several times a day. As long as you're playing fetch with something she loves, make her sit before you throw it. Work up to making her sit and then "stay".. first for a second then gradually increase the time. Teach her to "out" (give up the toy) on command, too. Her reward is getting to chase and return her toy again. When the dogs are playing with each other, practice calling them (or one of them) to you, give a reward (treat) and then release to go play again. This is a good way to teach a recall that doesn't spoil the fun! If her demo isn't too bad, consider taking classes as well (it's not contagious to other animals, but if she looks too freaky, that might cause problems! Ask the instructor/owner if it's ok to bring her). O yeah, I forgot, obedience is absolutly a fantastic idea for exercising your dog! We do that also!
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Post by RealPitBull on May 8, 2009 11:05:37 GMT -5
I think people strongly underestimate the effect BRAIN exercise has on your dog. Even a short session that really requires your dog to focus and contemplate what he/she needs to do in order to receive reinforcement (think shaping sessions), can cause him to zonk out for a while afterwards. It is something you can do indoors too, so there are no excuses even when you are stuck indoors because of bad weather - or even, like me recently - largely incapacitated because of injury, etc. (Shaping is cool because YOU can be lazy while your dog does all the work )
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