Great Ways to Provide Your Dog with Exercise!

Providing your dog with an appropriate amount of exercise is absolutely vital.  Obviously, exercise is healthy for your dog and will help him live a longer life.  But another great reason to provide your dog exercise is because it will tire him out!  The more tired your dog is, the less destructive he will be.  There is no doubt a link between a lack of exercise and behavioral issues.  A dog who is lacking exercise may obsessively dig holes in your backyard, bark excessively, or wreak havoc on your house when you leave him alone.  Luckily, many common behavioral problems in dogs can be fixed with some exercise.

Most veterinarians will recommend that at minimum you provide your dog with a half hour of aerobic exercise 3 or 4 days a week.  You may already realize this, but the larger the dog is, the more exercise he will require.  You can either exercise a larger dog longer, or at a higher intensity.

So what type of exercise should you do with your dog?  Well, whatever you and your dog like to do!  Exercise can range from simply running to playing fetch.  If your dog enjoys swimming, as some dogs do, this would be a great form of aerobic exercise!  My dog absolutely loves swimming and playing fetch, and I found the perfect toy to combine these activities.  I bought him the Chuckit! Amphibious Toys for Dogs, pictured above.  You can choose from a boomerang, bumper, or ring.  I have bought all 3!  They all come in bright colors for easy visibility, which is great because you can throw them very far!  You can use the Chuckit! Amphibious Toys for Dogs in the water or on land, but they are particularly great to use in the water because they float!

Its no secret dogs love playing fetch.  If your dog does not like swimming, you can of course play fetch on land.  A great toy is the Flying Squirrel Fetch Toy for Dogs, which is a colorful disk that can be thrown a very long distance.  They come in 3 different sizes, so you can find one that will be a perfect size for your dog.  A great toy you can “fling” really far is the Air Kong Dog Fetch Stick.  There is a string that you hold onto to fling, and it is attached to the end of a cylinder shaped toy made of the same material from tennis balls.  Your dog will love it!