Does your dog motivate you to lose weight?

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Replies

  • resourceng
    resourceng Posts: 2
    Its good to learn that one can use a pet as a motivating factor to exercise...
    My dog died few years back and have not been able to get another one for myself because of my attachment to the dog.
  • sdpeklo
    sdpeklo Posts: 82
    My dog doesn't need to lose weight, but he loves being outdoors-as you can see by my avatar which is his pic. I would feel awful if I didn't take him out to hike, so he motivates me to get out and moving that way. Happy bonus that it fits my macros for exercise ;-)



    :smile: Love the pic....love the backpack!
  • carlacyr
    carlacyr Posts: 11
    I have a hilarious yellow lab/pit cross. She's a year and a half old and has recently become my c25k partner. She lives for walks, so whenever she sees the leash come out, she's ready to go now. Lol she's great motivation though, especially on the last intervals... When I'm about ready to die, she's still there.... Trooping along beside me. It's the best feeling ever.
  • lambchoplewis
    lambchoplewis Posts: 797
    Animals are a great motivator but remember:

    You are not a dog, don't reward yourself with food!!!
  • 2stepscloser
    2stepscloser Posts: 2,900 Member
    They don't. I've got two 13 yr old shar peis who only want to go out, use the bathroom, and come back in to lay down and go to sleep :(
  • lkcuts
    lkcuts Posts: 224
    I am a dog walker so my DOGS help to keep me moving..I really have no other choice. Some of the dogs I walk are a lot more high energy then others. I have a client with a 8 month old Australian Shepherd and she has not become my jogging partner because one walk a day was not enough for her. Dogs are wonderful!

    By the way mine is super high energy as well and typically walks 6 hours a day and also does agility!

    This is very interesting as I have been practicing and trying different methods to walk my 4 Shih Tzues. the first try was disasterous, they intertwined each other all the time and I spent more time untangleing than walking. I kept telling myself there are professional dog walkers how in the heck do THEY do it? I finally bought a loop that connects two dogs and put a swival adapter on it so at least I oculd break them up in two groups of two connected. they aren't really happy about being connected to each other as they have their own wants to sniff etc.
    Its getting better they still go under each other leads occasionally. Its like leading a team of horses lol. I have to hold one group back a bit so they don't tangle and each dog weighs average 15 pounds each so the strength training part of excersising really comes into play.
    Did you have to "learn" how to walk more than one dog? any advice to make it easier?
  • AlexThreeClaw
    AlexThreeClaw Posts: 73 Member
    Its good to learn that one can use a pet as a motivating factor to exercise...
    My dog died few years back and have not been able to get another one for myself because of my attachment to the dog.

    I'm sorry for your loss. When my Rex died a few years back I was heartbroken and didn't think I'd ever have another dog again. I hadn't realised quite how miserably lonely I'd become without a four legged fiend padding around the house until I looked after a friend's ailing spaniel. He needed a few months of close attention and she couldn't afford to pack in work for that long. I still miss Rex tremendously. He was a fat, lazy lump. His only goal in life was to eat aaaaall the food and he had a skin condition that flared up every summer. Children would stroke his lovely little head and then go "Urgh!" when they saw his back. (Kids are ****.) He was scared of cats, and the dark, and motorcycles, and his loyalty was questionable. He'd abandon me for an old man in a heartbeat but he was adorable, and I loved him and he can never be replaced.
  • slendercurves
    slendercurves Posts: 49 Member
    Did you have to "learn" how to walk more than one dog? any advice to make it easier?
    [/quote]

    I walk my Corgi mix and an Airedale at the same time. They like to walk on different sides of me so they don't get tangled much. I think they don't like getting in each other's way. Lucky me!
  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
    My black Lab Ann could stand to lose some weight but not sure I could lift her to do weekly weigh in's. ;)
  • slendercurves
    slendercurves Posts: 49 Member
    My black Lab Ann could stand to lose some weight but not sure I could lift her to do weekly weigh in's. ;)

    Joey and I visit PetSmart weekly for our weigh-ins. He steps on first, then he gets off and I step on.

    Employees and customers usually look at me strange initally, but when I explain that we're BOTH dieting, they think it's a great idea. If PetSmart starts a national people-pet diet club, you heard it hear first!
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
    No, my dog is an *kitten* and if I were to walk/run with her she would trip me every ten steps. My horses however, do motivate me to lose weight. They need exercise too and I don't like it when they groan when I get on. LOL!
  • Floatsby
    Floatsby Posts: 8 Member
    Shoot. I wish my cat would motivate me to lose weight. But proportionally, she's fatter than I am.
  • craigmandu
    craigmandu Posts: 976 Member
    Nope...not at all.

    He's an almost 15 year old Rat-terrier, that dude doesn't do jack sh1t.
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    Yes, she needs to lose weight too. I started before she did on the weight loss thing. She is 42 lbs and needs to get down to at least 35, but 30 is supposed to be better. Any who, I started walking her about 7 weeks ago and I think she lost a pound, which I gather is a really good rate for a dog. Sometimes she refuses to go for walks with me though. I try to get her out a minimum of 2 times a day, but I am really aiming for 3 haven't done the 3 very many times, but 2 seems to be her limit anyway. The other day when I tried to take her for that third walk she stopped and wouldn't go then she slipped her collar and trotted back home, we only got about half way down the block.

    So, anyway what this means is that I usually put in 2 walks a day instead of just 1.
  • Mmmmona
    Mmmmona Posts: 328 Member
    Please Please Please don't feed your dog cheese. Or any human food. Our foods are processed with so much crap that dogs cannot digest. Not to mention most dogs are lactose intolerant. You are not doing your dog any favors by feeding it human food.
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  • AlexThreeClaw
    AlexThreeClaw Posts: 73 Member
    My dog has quickly grown accustomed to the luxury of having me personally take him out for at least one of his walks every day. If I skip a day and have someone else walk with him, he makes sure to widdle on my trainers during the night. I'm finding this extremely motivational.
  • aTallLiam
    aTallLiam Posts: 75
    Yeah! My dog is a Rhodesian Ridgeback (not the one on my profile pic) and he is so energetic. I took him out for a 90 minute walk a couple of weeks ago and when we came in he was looking at me like "Dude... why we stopping?"
  • sunnshhiine
    sunnshhiine Posts: 727 Member
    my tiny white dog DOES inspire me...

    he was about 3-5 pounds over weight (which doesn't sound like much, but it IS alot for his breed)... he lost the weight he needed to lose... now it's my turn to finish.

    I want to be able to go for jobs with him and I want him to start enjoying going for walks... versus him wanting me to carry him half-way through the walk. LOL. he's such a ham. :)
  • sunnshhiine
    sunnshhiine Posts: 727 Member
    Joey and I visit PetSmart weekly for our weigh-ins. He steps on first, then he gets off and I step on.

    Employees and customers usually look at me strange initally, but when I explain that we're BOTH dieting, they think it's a great idea. If PetSmart starts a national people-pet diet club, you heard it hear first!

    LOVE THIS!!! I should start doing my weigh-ins at Petsmart... however, maybe I should take my pittie with me instead of my Iggy... no contest there. :\
  • terewilliams
    terewilliams Posts: 339 Member
    My doberman was a trainer in his previous life! We walk/jog every morning at least 1.6 miles at 6:00 a.m.:yawn: He generally pulls me up the first hill and then its on! He doesn't have body fat although he weighs in at 95 pounds. However, I noticed after the first week of walking his muscles started bulking up. I imagine that although I can't see through all my body fat, my muscles will eventually show too!:bigsmile: He is an inspiration!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Man one of the reasons we got a dog is so I would be more motivated to walk... It hasn't worked so well. Our first dog was really bad on the leash forever, then we got a second one and it was impossible to walk both for me... and now the second one is the only one left and he hates other dogs and I just can't control him on the leash.

    Maybe one day I'll have a dog that's actually fun to walk.
  • terewilliams
    terewilliams Posts: 339 Member
    Man one of the reasons we got a dog is so I would be more motivated to walk... It hasn't worked so well. Our first dog was really bad on the leash forever, then we got a second one and it was impossible to walk both for me... and now the second one is the only one left and he hates other dogs and I just can't control him on the leash. .

    Storm and I have walked for several years. Rather he walked, jogged, ran and stoped as he saw fit and I just held onto the leash!:angry: Recently, as I decided to ramp up my exercise, my SO started walking with us (former Marine K9 handler). I gave up control of the leash and let him have at it. Four days later he turned into the perfect walking companion. It was harder for me than for him but I think we now enjoy our walks much more. Get him a trainer. BTW Storm is almost 8 years old so you can teach an old dog new tricks!:bigsmile:

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