A New Year's Resolution: Get Fit With Your Dog

Is your New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get fit?  Well if it is remember that routines are easier if they involve a friend or partner. What better exercise partner than your dog? Take this from a veterinarian and animal behaviorist who exercises with her own dogs and her clients’ dogs regularly, combining the two can be a great way to bond as well as an efficient way to exercise. The following are some tips to help you get fit with your dog.

Tip 1: Walk with your dog 

Walking is a great form of exercise for humans and dogs. If you and your dog are both fit enough to do so, walking at a brisk pace will give you a lovely workout. Otherwise, any pace of walking is still beneficial and a great way to spend time together.

Ideally, your dog will be walking by your side rather than pulling your arm out of its socket or dragging you to each bush to water the plants. To ensure this, it’s best to incorporate dog training into the workout. Instead of feeding your pooch his meal before the walk, carry the kibble in a fanny pack or in your pockets and use it to reinforce his good choices and behavior. That is, reward him throughout the walk by giving him a kibble or two for remaining with you and not pulling you.  The goal is to reward him frequently at first so he gets the idea of where he should be, but then with successive walks or as the walk progresses, you can begin to take more steps between providing a piece of food. Eventually, you'll be able to use less food as the walk itself will be rewarding.

Tip 2: Run with your dog 

Most dogs that engage in a good round of fetch or sprint around with dogs at the dog park can run at least a couple of miles. But to make the run fun for you, it’s best if your dog can stay by your side instead of dragging you by the leash and messing up your running form. To train your dog to run nicely, start the same way you start with walks. That is, bring a portion of your dog’s meal and reinforce his choice of being at your side. You can break your first runs into short running intervals interspersed with walks so that you can reward him both while he’s running alongside you as well as when he slows down to your brisk walking pace. That way you get him used to the conditioning as well as train him to stay at your side.

It’s also easier to run if you have your hands-free leash. My favorite leash is the buddy system (www.buddysys.com).

Tip 3: Train your dog while you perform calisthenics

Practice your dog's known behaviors like "sit" and "down" while you're also practicing your workout routine. For instance, cue your dog to lie down, reinforce him with a piece of food, cue him to stay, do a few squats, and then reward Fido for remaining in his down before he has a chance to get up. Systematically increase the number of squats or lunges or pushups that you do in between going back to reward him for staying in that position.

The bonus here is that not only are you training him to lie down and stay, reliably, but you’re training him to do so with the distraction you create by doing weird things in between. Graduate to jumping jacks and burpees—dogs generally take these exercises to be a cue to get up and play. So be sure to hurry up and reward them for staying before they have a chance to get up.

Tip 4: Play fetch with your dog while you perform calisthenics

This is a great way to ensure your dog gets as much exercise as you do. If your dog does not have a 100%, immediate come when called, make sure you’re in a dog-safe area such as a backyard or fenced-in park.  Toss the ball and while he’s running, see how many squats or pushups or jumping jacks you can get in before he gets back to you.

Tip 5: Mix up the routine

My Jack Russell Terrier and I do all of these including sprints followed by some heeling followed by pushups, burpees, or squats on my part. Make up your own routine using things you’ve learned in an exercise class. It’s a great way to work in your own exercise and quality time with your dog.

To see the New Year’s Fitness workout I shared with my dog, read Get Fit with Your Dog: My New Years Day Dog-Human Exercise Workout.