Monday, December 8, 2014

A different way to exercise with your dog

My dog Daisy
I love running with my dog and the dogs at our local No-kill animal shelter but when my foot started hurting I couldn't run and it even hurt when I walked the dogs a lot.  So I had an idea that would keep all of us moving.  I love going to the Nevada SPCA and getting the dogs out of the kennel to enjoy some time running and playing.  I had a really old mountain bike sitting in the garage so I took it to our local bike shop and got it working.  I thought I would run the dogs on the bike. I knew it was risky I mean some of those dogs can run really fast and could easily take me down.  I tested it out with my two dogs.  I took Daisy first and she did awesome.  Daisy is a dog that lunges and growls at people on bikes and tries to chase them so I didn't think she was going to go for it.  I was wrong and after a few laps around our neighborhood she was tired.  I tried my other dog Tigger and he only wanted to bark and jump on my so it didn't work with him.  
Constantine (The gentle giant)

Meradith
Lovely Lola
I was ready to try the shelter dogs so I loaded the bike into my car and was off to the Nevada SPCA.  I had a plan to start with dogs I knew well and that were more calm and easy going.  My first dog was Constantine and he is very large but he's not a puller and very mellow.  He did amazing and ran right next to the bike the entire time.  He is a big dog and didn't pull or cross in front of the bike.  He's amazing and was so good.  I took out Meradith next and she did just as good as Constantine.  I wasn't too sure how she would do because at times she doesn't even like to walk she just likes to sit outside and watch people.  To my surprise she was really good and kept a nice pace.  Lola and Alexandria both did good but were a little unsure at times. Once they got the hang of it they were good to go.  I had a lot of fun with the dogs and I am quite sure they had just as much fun.  If you are looking for a new way to exercise with your pet then give it a try.  Make sure you wear a helmet and start out very slow.  You have to have complete focus on what you are doing and can not get distracted.  I do this on a Sunday so there is not much traffic in the area at all.  I started with dogs that I thought would be easy.  Next I will move to dogs that are a little stronger but I will still be very careful and make sure I have 100% focus on what I am doing.  If you have time go to your local animal shelter and take out some dogs.  It will make their day and you will feel really great about doing it!
The beast of a bike
Alexandria



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