Dog's Workout Activities Archives

Keeping Up With An Active Senior Dog

October 4, 2013

I am a Senior Dog (12 years old) and still Going Strong.
For the past months, I’ve shared my Golden Activities and how my mom keeps up with my Golden Energy. Here are an accumulation of our previous posts.

I Golden LOVE running. Mom says I am the best running partner. Running is a great cardiovascular workout that helps maintain your dog’s weight. It also helps improves muscle tone and definitely builds endurance. Golden Joyful RUN helps me release my Golden Energy.

Swimming is my all time Golden Favorite. Swimming is an excellent total body conditioning activity. I wish I can swim all the time (well, I did last year when I lived in HI). Due to my allergies, swimming in the lake water is not optimal for my Golden Skin. For the past months, I’ve been making a Golden Splash, swimming indoors in a heated pool. The warm water allows for a decrease in pain, muscle spasms and stiffness.
How do I swim? My style of swimming is a Doggy Paddle.

I learned a few tricks on my monthly swimming.
One of my favorite was the Turn Around Command.

Playing Fetch is my favorite game to play in the pool. Since I proved to my mom that I am Golden Good in Swimming, I was able to swim freely. My mom was able to get a PAWsome video clip of me swimming underwater.

SGR FetchPlay n UnderWater SWIM from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

Stair Exercise is a Golden FUN workout I do with my mom. Stair exercise is a total workout for legs, shoulders, hips, and lower back muscles. It is a bit more intense than running. Each step requires the lifting up of a dog’s entire body weight through the height of the stair. The workout intensify going down the steps. Stair exercise helps a dog with coordination and agility. I learned how to be in-sync with mom climbing up/down the stairs.

Stair Exercise With Your Dog from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

Lately, My Golden Stair Workout got accelerated as I am sporting a K9FitVest from DogTread.

Stair Exercise with K9FitVest from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

That game of FETCH is always a game I Golden ENJOY to play. My favorite toy to fetch is a tennis ball. For a GAME of FUN Fetch, the Kong Bounzer is my choice of toy. It’s a kettle bell for dogs.

Fetch Play w/ The Kong Bounzer from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

Agility is an activity I learned when I was a young pup. I have not forgotten the agility equipments and its purpose. I Golden LOVE the weave poles and jumping onto a tire.

Mom has been creative in keeping me active and stimulate my Golden mind. She brings Creativity on our Walks. There are days when the outdoor was not ideal, she took me to her gym where I learned how to jump in/out of a tire.

Teach Your Dog To Jump In/Out A Tire from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

I surely Got GAME? Mom says I am always up to learning new games and tricks.
I Got Golden GAME.

Sugar Got Game! Plays Basketball from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

There you have it. What’s next? … will definitely continue to share my Golden workout activities. My mom has to put her creative thinking mind as the weather continue to change. She dislike when I do Golden Zooooomies in the house and create my own agility course.

I am joining #FitDogFriday Hop

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

Swim Fetch Play and Stair Exercise with K9FitVest

September 27, 2013

Swimming is my favorite activity. Golden LOVE it.
As an energetic senior dog, swimming is a terrific outlet.
I’ve shared 3 posts about my previous swim at Splash Dog.
If you missed it, I invite you to check our my posts
Canine Hydrotherapy, Doggy Paddle, and Turn Around Swim.
Fetch Play is one of my favorite swim games.
Most recently, mom has been playing with her Action CAM and was able to capture my swimming under water. Also, since I’ve proven that I am Golden Good in swimming, I was given the permission and freedom to swim freely. I got a new ChuckIt toy too.

SGR FetchPlay n UnderWater SWIM from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

All Around Golden Good SWIM Time. What do you think?

Swimming has helped me maintain my stamina and provided me to have looser muscles and limber. Golden Perfect for my stair exercise. Since the beach has closed for the season, mom and I are back to our favorite beach steps for our stair exercise. Most recently, mom added a workout accessory, K9FitVest from DogTread.

Stair Excercise with K9FitVest from Golden Woofs on Vimeo.

Did it bother me wearing the K9FitVest? Not at all.
Mom says I was faster than normal. On the video, my mom asked me to slow down as she was climbing up/down the stairs backwards.

Will definitely do a detailed post on the K9FitVest as we plan it to be part of my workout activities.

Swimming is a great compliment to my stair exercise. Both of these activities are featured in Peggy Frezon latest book, The Dieting with my Dog Guide to Weight Loss and Maintenance. We are on pages 68-69 (Climbing Stairs with Your Dog) and 77-79 (Swimming).

The book is available on Amazon. I invite you to check it out.

Lots of Golden L♥VE n Woofs
SUGAR

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

Stair Exercise With Your Dog

June 20, 2013

Stair exercise is one of my favorite workouts with my mom. I’ve talked about it on several posts. My mom also participates in a yearly climb and I helped her train for the event. How did it start? It started when I was a young pup. My mom just recovering from her ankle and hip injuries and stair exercise helped her gain motion control. Stair exercise also provides an intense high calorie burning exercise, perfect for an active dog, ME.
Stair exercise is a great workout for legs, shoulders, hips, and lower back muscles. It is more intense than running as each step requires the lifting up of a dog’s entire body weight through the height of the stair. Going down the stairs involves negative contraction which intensifies the workout greatly. Lastly, stair exercise helps a dog with coordination and agility.

These Basic Commands are the Foundations of Stair Exercising With Your Dog.

1) Your dog needs to know sit/stand/stay commands.
2) Your dog needs to know the heel command.
(The heel command is the key for your dog to be off leash during your stair exercise.)

How To Stair Exercise With Your Dog (Steps/Method my mom taught me).

1) Find a good set of steps/stairs. Start on short steps/stairs.
2) At the bottom of the steps, ask you dog to sit/stand on your right side.
3) Go up the stairs with the command heel.
(You may take off your dog’s leash. If your dog is not skilled being off leash, use a shorter leash. We recommend a 24″ leash to have a better control of your dog to stay by your side during your stair exercise.)
4) Once you reach the top stair, have your dog face the steps and ask him/her to sit/stand.
5) Go down the stairs using the heel command. Same way as #3).

It takes a lots of patience and practice to stair exercise with your dog.
Being in-sync is a PAWsome achievement (you’ll see in the video).
Mom has a current knee injury so it is a bit harder for her to go down the stairs.
So here’s a 30sec video of our Stair Exercise …

I’m a senior active dog … in need for more movement. Due to my mom’s current knee injury, she gave me permission to climb up and down the stairs by myself.

Last Tuesday, very special bloggie friends from Seattle had a surprise visit in my town. Of course, I just had to show them my town’s park and the steps I often climb up/down.

Sugar with Cascadian Nomads. Wilhem can’t keep his eyes off of me

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. Tomorrow (Friday), I have a special post.

Tailoring Your Fitness Accessories With Your Dog’s Toy

June 13, 2013

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.

Joining A Dog Walking Event, Add FUN in Fundraising

May 9, 2013

It’s that time of the year, where many dog walking events are happening to benefit rescue organization. Why join a dog walking event?

1) You and your dog are Walking For a Good Cause.
2) It’s FUN …

a) fitness/workout for the day.
b) socializing with other dog breeds and dog owners
c) getting educated about rescue organization and dog’s health/product information
d) practicing basic commands and re-learning old commands

Last Saturday, we participated in the 19th 5k Bark in the Park benefiting the Anti-Cruelty. Since 1899, The Anti-Cruelty Society has been committed to caring for animals and educating the community. The facility has an open door policy (they will not turn away any animal in need) and it’s open 7 days a week. We’re glad to partake and help in their fundraising event.

We arrived at the venue very early (to avoid traffic and to get a good parking space). We walked for about a mile around the park/beach and had a chance to see the morning sun shining over the lakefront.

Arriving early, also provided us an opportunity to visit uncrowded sponsor/vendor booths.
I was particular attracted to one of the vendor who got a truck.
WHY? Check it out …
A Tasty Treat truck! How cool is that. Love what it says on the back of the truck.

One of the owner of the Tasty Truck is an advocate of dog health and fitness. He had FitPaws Peanut ball on the lawn by the truck. FitPaws ball is a peanut-shaped stability ball designed for canine fitness and core conditioning. The FitPaws Peanut Ball is used for core conditioning of sporting and working dogs as well as for animal rehabilitation and therapy. The unique peanut shape limits its movement to front/back or side/side, which is important for a dog like me new to this type of equipment. You can also adjust the balance challenge by under-inflating so the ball is not as firm. I got to try it … and the ball was very firm.
Cool! I did it … no issues at all getting on the ball. Good thing I was wearing a harness (short leash) for easy assistance on the peanut ball. I was able to stand for seconds. We also learned that a dog can get a full body workout using FitPaws Peanut ball. Interesting!

We got more time to spare before the 5k walk starts. We headed to the free agility field.
Oh! I used to do agility .. a good test if I still remember some of the equipments and commands. Did I …
Of course … my peeps were surprised and the trainer too. I had lots of cheers and claps from the volunteers who were watching on the side. I was too excited and I went on the agility course many times. Mom had to bribe me with a tasty treat to stop.

Finally, we were at the starting line.
But everyone was asked to stretch … yes all the dogs need to stretch too.
We were guided on how to stretch. 3 Steps to Stretch Your Dog Before a Walk?
1) Stretch front paws then the back paws.
2) Ask your dog to go up or hold front 2 paws enabling a stretch too on the back.
3) Give your dog a smooch.

As we walked, we enjoyed the cool breeze and lovely scenery of the lakefront beach. One thing we did not like were dog owners who used flexi leash and did not know how to control how far to let their dog go. I am not fond of other dogs sniffing my butt as I walk. We wish and for safety reasons that flex leash should not be allowed on walking events.

There were many water bowls available for all doggies. As I blogged before, I have issues of drinking water other than water that came from my house. I sniffed every water bowl available and did not drink. Lucky mom brought some water from home.
I ended the fundraising walking event by having a delish snack of bananas, which were provided free for all the attendees. Lastly, could not help to get a Tattoo For a Good Cause. Mom selected a Red Heart tattoo which represents Golden Love. It was applied with a heart stencil and water-based paint. The ladies who applied were very sweet. I was a bit ticklish …

All in all, I had lots of Golden Excitement joining the 19th 5k Bark In Park benefiting the Anti-Cruelty Society. PAWsome event and organization to support.
I invite you to check your area’s rescue organizations for dog walking events. Also, check other organizations for walking events like MS 5k Walk (we attended last Sunday) that was dog-friendly. Yes, I did two 5k walks last weekend.

I definitely had a PAWsome Golden FUN For A Good Cause.

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

Keeping Up With An Active Senior Dog

Swim Fetch Play and Stair Exercise with K9FitVest

Stair Exercise With Your Dog

Tailoring Your Fitness Accessories With Your Dog’s Toy

Joining A Dog Walking Event, Add FUN in Fundraising

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