With the warm weather, many personal trainers bring their clients to a park.
We see many of them working out with various fitness accessories.
My mom is my pawsonal trainer and I am her workout buddy. We decided to accompany our morning walks with some workout fun and brought our own fitness accessories. Well, I can say mine is really fun. It is the Kong Bounzer. From my WW photo yesterday, many of you commented that is HUGE. Yes, it’s a HUGE over-sized KONG. It is made with medium soft rubber that it compresses when grabbed then bounces right back to its original shape. A Kong Bounzer dog toy replicates a (for human use only) Kettlebell, a cast iron weight that looks like a cannonball with a handle. A kettle bell is  a tool used by Russian strongmen for training/competition. Kettlebell is becoming a popular fitness accessory that you can find in many gyms.
Our Workout Plan is while mom does her Kettlebell workout, I’ll play fetch with my Kong Bounzer. First, mom had to  modify the handle. Even though mom can use the Bounzer handle to throw it and I can grab it, for safety and trouble free  long distance fetching, mom attached a nylon string using a square knot at the top.

Okay I’m ready … 1st I get into position: mom’s side where I sit and wait till she throws the bouncer. When I’m just too rowdy and excited I stand about 5ft from her then she throws it. While I fetch my Kong Bounzer mom does her Kettlebell swings and she stops when I return and drop the Kong Bounzer. I Woof! Woof! at her to go again …
Believe it or not we do this about 10-15 minutes. I can go longer but mom says we have to do other workouts (which will be sharing in the coming weeks).

Here’s a snippet 14sec video of my short distance Fetch Play with my Kong Bounzer.

Did you know? …
that a dog burns about 38kCal from playing 15 minutes fetch? For humans a kettlebell workout builds strength, cardiovascular endurance and burns about ~250 calories (10lbs/15minutes)

If you plan to tailor your workout/fitness accessories with your dog, here are
5 Safety Reminders Tailoring Your Workout With Your Dog

1) Must know your dog’s Capacity then decide what kind of workout you can do together.
a) Intensity – Depending on your dog’s age, breed,body and/or mental energy, your dog’s intensity requirement vary. I am a senior dog but I have lots of energy and with safety in mind I do require high intensity activities.
b) Interest – Every dog has different interest. It varies and don’t assume same breed will have the same interest. On our last post about swimming. Many have told us that some retrievers do not enjoy being in the water. We also found out some retrievers do not enjoy fetch play.

2) Make sure to do your workout in a Safe Place wherein you and your dog feel comfortable. This is important especially if your dog is off-leash. Basic Commands of sit, stay and come, become very handy and your dog must know these commands to be safe.

3) Choose the Right Time of day to work out with your dog. We suggest morning hours are the best time for outdoor workouts.

4) Don’t Misinterpret your Dogs Behavior. Slowing down and sitting/lying down often are a good sign that your dog is tired. Many might interpret this as stubbornness. Always allow a rest time to hydrate and relax.

5) Have FUN! Turning a regular dog play into a workout for you and your dog is FUN. Be Creative on your toy choices and mix it up to make more varied experiences for both of you.

I am a retriever dog that can be toy obsessive and enjoys carrying a toy.
I found a silly way to carry my Kong Bounzer.

Your DOG is the Best Workout Buddy that Never Lets You Down

I am joining FitDog Friday Hop,
hosted by SlimDoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place and To Dog With Love.

Click Here to read our review of SlimDoggy App.
Read our previous posts on my Dog’s Health page.

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

I know it’s only Thursday but tomorrow, Friday, is our 1st anniversary of
{This Moment} See Beautiful. Hope you plan to join us.

12 days ago (Mother’s Day), we had a blog friends meet-up in the city.
I am Golden Excited as I love going in the city.
We met with Rocco and mom Diane from To Dog With Love.
They were visiting family in Chicago and its Rocco’s first time traveling via air.
We also met Dolly and mom Sandra from Dolly the Doxie.

5 Reasons To Have A Blog Friends Meet-Up

1) A socialization opportunity for both you and your dog.
2) Great activity for the day. Chasing and running are PAWsome calorie burning activity.
3) Another opportunity to practice/reinforce your basic commands of Sit, Stay, Come. As we said before, it does not matter the age of your dog. It is important that these basic commands must go hand in hand with any of your dog’s activity. It helps a lot especially when your dog is off-leash.
4) Explore new place.
5) It’s FUN!

Did we accomplished these 5 reasons? Yes, absolutely.

It was my first time to meet Rocco and Dolly. For our moms, it was a pre-BlogPaws meet-up.
Rocco is a young pup and he sure has lots of energy. I’m happy that I was able to keep up with him. Dolly might be small but she can certainly keep us with me and Rocco. I brought a ball which was the center of our play besides running and chasing.
We played on the lawn off-leash for about 2 hours. Many residence who live in the area joined us and chatted with our moms. A family brought their dog and 2 kids who played catch on the lawn. Well, I’m a golden that enjoy catch games too and since the ball I brought broke I joined the kids while Rocco and Dolly rested.
From the photo above, I’m in between the 2 kids and tried to catch the ball when they threw it. My mom regret not taking a video of it.
It was hilarious. I had a great time playing with them until we heard a voice from a megaphone. “Put that dog on a leash.” Ooops, its the police. I guess off-leash was not allowed on the lawn. This ended our lawn play. We said good-bye to Dolly and mom Sandra.
We wanted to explore the park, Lincoln Park. For the past years, it has gone through a renovation. Rocco and mom Diane joined us for a walk around Lincoln Park: Nature Boardwalk (half a mile walk around the out skirts of the Lincoln Park Zoo). The city of Chicago certainly did a great job renovating the area and making it such a delightful walk. Rocco and I surely enjoyed the scenery where we saw camels, goats, horses, and ducks. Also, we enjoyed posing for photos.

It was a 3 1/2 hours blog meet-up play date.
I was exhausted but definitely had a PAWsome time.

I am joining FitDog Friday Hop,
hosted by SlimDoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place and To Dog With Love.

Click Here to read our review of SlimDoggy App.
Read our previous posts on my Dog’s Health page.

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

A good park is essential to have a joyful stroll/walk/run with your dog.
We are very fortunate that there are many parks around us.
Some are walking distance but a car ride is needed to go to our favorite park.
What makes a good park for and your dog? Here’s our 5 criteria…
1) The location need to be SAFE.
2) Ample SPACE of grass area and walking paths.
3) Assurance that the park is dog-friendly.
There are available materials cleaning up after your dog (bags and garbage cans).
4) Available resting areas/facilities and water fountains.
5) Natural visual barriers within the park such as plants, trees, hills, etc
One of my favorite park is called Gallery Park. It is about a 20 minute drive from my home but well worth it. My “4 Paws Up” photo was taken from this park. This is where mom and I do our walk/run interval workouts. Also, this is where I go running up-hill and down-hill.
Gallery Park is 142 acres, one of the largest park located in Glenview IL.
There are approximately 6 miles of bicycle/jogging and walking paths which encompass a man-made 45 acre lake. The lake and surrounding area provide habitat for wildlife such as blue herons, crayfish, snapping turtles and dragonflies. Its prairie like landscape provides the opportunity for hiking recreation and/or quiet reflection.
Gallery Park used to be part of a Naval Air Station which closed in 1993. It primarily operated as an aircraft training facilities as well as seaplanes then it was reconfigured as a Naval Air Reserve base. Do you see the aircraft control tower behind me?
We usually spend hours when we go to this park.
I always have an enjoyable Golden FUN walk/run.
Do you have a favorite park?

I am joining Park Day Hop, hosted by Gizmo and Finn.
AND
I am joining FitDog Friday Hop, hosted by SlimDoggy and Peggy’s Pet Place.
Click Here to read our review of SlimDoggy App.
Read our previous posts on my Dog’s Health page.

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

It is hard when a dog owner has an injury and/or physical limitation and has an active dog.
My mom can totally relate to this.
It’s been 15 years when she had her major injury training for a marathon.
She was unable to fulfill her dream to run a marathon as it took her years to recover.

During her 2nd year of recovery, I came to her life.
In the beginning, she was not aware but I became her key to recovery.
I’m now a senior dog, still active but just imagine ME when I was a young golden pup.
Participating in various dog behavioral classes was a workout for both of us.
Agility/Flyball classes were my favorite. A backyard run was not enough, mom did not have a choice but to take me for several long walks a day. Mom and I surely bonded well.
I easily learned how to heel.
The sit-stay and down-stay became a game of commands during our fetch play.

Mom has not fully recovered from her injuries but she learned how to work around it.
She always says, “Pain Kills Pain.”
Being an active senior dog, I provide her lots of motivation
and continue to inspire her to be active.

Mom is able to run in short intervals which works well for me.
Down-hill and up-hill runs are my favorite.
My behavioral classes are very handy when we do these runs as I have to be off-leash,
be on a “sit” command (when going up hill) or be on a “stand” command (when going down hill) and be attentive to the “come” command.

Always use your best judgement and consult your doctor if you have any injury that limits you exercising your dog. There are many alternative and ways. Just keep in mind, you are lucky to own a dog as he/she is the best medicine you’ve got.

I am joining FitDog Friday Hop,
hosted by SlimDoggy and Peggy’s Pet Place.

Click Here to read our review of SlimDoggy App.
Read our previous posts on my Dog’s Health page.

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

Reminder!
If you have not check out my current giveaway, Sugar’s Furry Friend BOOK, Click HERE!