New Exercises For Your Pooch

Is your dog bored with his “routine exercise routine”? You know, walking on the same street or path, tossing a favorite toy for him to bring back, or playing tug of war is eventually going to become so routine he becomes bored. If so, it is time for a few new exercises for your pooch to get the old boy back into the fun of playtime as well as increase his ability to solve problems.

New Exercises For Your Pooch

For those dog owners who have large dogs of over thirty five pounds why not look into skijoring. This is one of the new exercises for your pooch and you catching on in America. Originated in the Scandinavia countries where skijoring has been popular for many years, skijoring is a variation on traditional dog sledding used for centuries by Eskimos and Nordic people. This sport leaves out the sled, and the person, you for example, are harnessed to one to three dogs who pull you through the snow. Of course it needs to be mentioned you are wearing skies for this fun activity your dog will love. A variation of this can be seen in many warm climates by people who are being pulled along by their pooch while wearing roller skates.

A similar fantastic exercise for large dogs is cart-pulling. This is actually a competitive sport, and while you and your dog might not want to go to the competitive level, it is still a great way to give your high energy dog a good workout. The dog wears a solid, cushioned harness to prevent possible injury and pulls a non-wheeled or wheeled cart loaded with the appropriate amount of weight. The distances pulled are short and geared to the strength and interest level of the dog. Start this training with your dog properly harnessed to an empty cart and gradually add weight as he becomes accustomed to the new form of exercise.

Another new exercise will get BOTH of you in shape, as described in an article on Prevention.com:

Climbing steps together will sculpt your legs and help your pup burn off his breakfast. How to:Leash your pooch and pick a long staircase, either in your house, or perhaps the bleachers at a nearby school. Go up and down the stairs with your pet by your side, and vary the way you step for a more challenging workout: Take steps two at a time, widen your stance so you step up in a “V,” run up the steps sideways, and more.

New exercises for your pooch for those who need to bond with their dog would include what is referred to as treibball. This best suited for dogs from the herding breeds but all dogs can give this one a go. Originating in Germany triebball is a great way to exercise high energy dogs that can listen to commands and follow instructions. Triebball has your dog use their nose to push different colored and sized balls into a goal or net in the order you select, and then command them to do. This is a very good bonding and intellectual exercise for those breeds that are intelligent and can follow instructions well.

Try one of these new exercises for your pooch, and see if he or she does find play time more exciting.

Have you tried one of these exercises with your dog? Feel free to leave comments below.