Exercising with Dogs

I used to run with my German Shepherd but he is so bad on a leash and he would peter out before I was done. He makes an excellent bum, though.

I have a catahoula. She is about 10 months old right now. I take her running, when I trail ride my horse, walking, hiking, and just go play in the back yard with her. I have a nathan 5k belt and just hook a retractable leash through it so I don't have to hold the leash. I spend a good amount of time training my dogs. She knows when we run it is for exercise and she is to pay attention to me and stay in line (at least when we are on roads). If we are doing something in the woods then she is off leash and can do whatever she wants for the most part. If we run into other hikers, riders, runners then we just pull over, I tell her sit and stay while they pass, and then we go on our merry way.

We have a chocolate lab (his name is Mud He is not very good on a leash but still I try to walk him everyday. Hoping he will calm down a bit as he ages, he will be 2 (people years) this summer.

I had never heard of bikejoring before and had to google. I love biking and have just been waiting for the weather to warm up and snow to melt so I can start going on my rides again. Not sure I could handle my dog pulling me though.

I've got a Black Lab/Pit mix that goes running with me. He's nearly 10, and he still outruns me every time! He's an excellent pace coach, and I even get some agility training when he smells something interesting on the other side of me. :laugh: When we're not running, I take him hiking and let him off the leash so he can explore. He's the perfect exercise buddy. We keep each other in shape. I keep him on a glucosamine chondroitin supplement so the wear and tear on his joints is minimized.

I used to have a horse that I would ride for exercise, too, and my dog would come on trail rides with us. I don't have a horse anymore, but I still ride. Super fun way to exercise.

Funny you posted this because just the other day I did squats while holding my puppy, lol
Shes a little 8 lbs Maltese. I felt bad because she was just staring at me while I was doing my workout wanting to play, so I picked her up and made her part of my work out! Funny enough, it made my squats easier. I think she made me balance myself better so I was able to have better form. Yay for puppies!!!

I have a red-nosed pitbull, a cairn terrier and a fire-tip siamese cat. I play with my dogs on the floor and my bed. I walked them but they are very hard to walk. I wouldn't mind jogging with my pitbull but she's difficult to walk. They are going into training next month and so will hopefully be better. I may start jogging with her then.

I have an Australian Shepherd, he is nine years young and a few pounds over his ideal weight of 48, but that happens every winter and now that we're getting out more he should be back to ideal within a few weeks (if only it were that easy for me, sigh.) He was quite a leash-puller when we first adopted him but he's much better. He does want to stop and sniff/be social every couple of feet (it seems), so even when I work up to running it may not work with him lol. Luckily he only has a medium herd instinct, he limits it pretty much to our cats and sometimes running kids (he doesn't nip but does his best to steer them, it's pretty hilarious to watch.) The only thing he loves better than someone throwing/kicking his soccer ball around for him to chase is the sight of the leash appearing from the cabinet. I'm trying to catch some of his enthusiasm for movement :-)

+ 1 My lab is 5 and very lean - I don't hunt but when my parents look for labs they always go for ones that are field trial labs. Those are typically bred for intelligence, not show. My next dog will be a rescue, but I absolutely adore the dog I have now. She's my little mountain goat when we go hiking, and I love that she can go everywhere with me. Haven't been running with her on a leash since I moved out of NYC but she's great for running on trails!

I take my boxer running with me. She is a fantastic running partner. She never pulls her leash or tries to stop. The lab is too slow and lazy so I only walk with him. The cat, well, he likes to come lay on the yoga matt when I get it out, but that's not really exercise. :laugh:

I've got a border collie mix. Her name is Daisy and she's a little over a year old. She's got a lot of energy, but she also has hip dysplasia, so we have to make sure she gets exercise, but not too much. My husband walks her daily because he gets home from work 3 hours before I do (must be nice), but on weekends we like to take her for a long walk at one of the two parks near us. A couple weekends ago, it was really nice out so we took her to this hiking trail for a 45-minute hike. She LOVED it and was huffing and puffing by the time we got back to the truck. I hardly ever log exercise that I do with her, though, and I certainly don't run with or without her. A runner I am not.

My cat Chloe isn't big on exercise, believe it or not.