In my family, we’ve all rescued dogs. Some of us have shelter dogs, and some of us have privately rescued dogs. There’s even one street dog in the mix, an energetic Rottweiler/Shepherd who lives for kicking ass and taking names. But one thing all these dogs have in common is their immense need for exercise.
Ted and I personally have three dogs, which I’ve talked about before — a pitbull mix from the shelter, an ex-racing greyhound, and the Rottweiler mix I mentioned above. Interestingly, the greyhound needs the least exercise. She’d rather stay on her nice soft bed, thank you very much. She just goes on our walks, and that’s enough for her. But for the rest of them, a massive effort is required to keep them from going stir-crazy. I take them on long walks nearly every day, but it seems like it’s never enough. We’ll come home from a two-mile walk, and the two hyper dogs look at me like, “Okay, NEXT!”
So, I’ve started jogging with these two. The first time I tried it they figured out how to jog beside me without tripping me up, so now I take them out for a jog every other day. I hate jogging, so we only go for a mile or two, but even this addition to their exercise routine has made a huge difference. They’re calmer throughout the day, and they’re less prone to chew something when we leave them at home. I’ve never been much of a jogger, and it’s true that I have the knees of a person twice my age, thanks to high school sports injuries. But it’s worth the pain and trouble to keep my dogs well exercised, because when they’re happier, so are we.
For the next ten days, we’re dog-sitting my brother-in-law’s sweet Lab mix (who also came from a shelter), so we effectively have four dogs for the time being. When my brother-in-law’s dog came to stay with us yesteday, I figured I’d throw him into the mix. He’s used to going for frequent jogs at his house, so I thought it would be no big deal. If I can manage two dogs while jogging, why not try it with three? Sadly, this logic proved to be faulty at every level.
It’s not that any of them aren’t well-behaved. In fact, all three dogs fall in line so well when jogging that it makes me feel like a wolf pack leader, running through the hills with my pack behind me. (I don’t care how silly that sounds because it keeps me going.) No, the dogs aren’t the problem: it’s their leashes.
We live in the suburbs, but our neighborhood is just north of our city’s downtown, so we get a lot of traffic. So I can’t very well run about the neighborhood with a pack of leashless dogs, nevermind the leash laws and the threat of large fines for those who let their dogs off-leash on the streets. So the dogs are leashed when we run together, and this causes problems. Normally it’s okay, I can handle two leashes. But three? That’s another story.
This morning as “the pack” and I made our way down one of the larger streets in the neighborhood, I accidentally got caught up in a leash as one of the dogs changed position behind me. I didn’t trip, exactly, but my foot made a loud THUMP! against the pavement as I caught myself from falling. There were lots of witnesses: a mail carrier, a guy watering his lawn, even an ambulance driver on the other side of the street. And each one of them had a comment for me. “Whoa, watch out there! Hey, you’ve got your hands full! Wow, are they all yours?” And so forth.
It’s understandable that people would think I’m a professional dog walker, though if this is how I made a living I’d probably be a lot better at it. I’m going to keep trying, mainly because the benefits far outweigh the risk of falling on my face. Many people keep dogs as family pets, and a lot of them have what trainers call “issues”, like separation anxiety and fear aggression. My dogs have issues, all right, but I believe in the power of exercise. A tired dog is a good dog, so they say, and I can tell you from experience that this is indeed true.
If you’re thinking about getting a dog, adopt one of the thousands in need of homes. And if your dog is having problems at home, whatever they may be, try exercising your dog. Everyone thinks they know what’s best for a dog with problems, and I’m not trying to say that exercise will fix everything. But I do know that exercise is where you should begin with your dog. Tire Fido out before you take him to obedience school, or before you leave for work in the morning. If you can’t jog, then walk. These things are consequentially good for you as well, so it’s a win-win. So many people get rid of their dogs because they have “issues”, but if I was stuck inside someone’s house all day with nothing to do but lick my butt, I’d go completely insane, too.
Try it out for a week, and see how it goes. What can it hurt? Well, besides your knees…
{ 0 comments… add one now }