Exercise means doing things with your dog, not just letting him run
around alone in the yard. Dogs are social animals and require interactive play
– they must play with you, their owner. Time spent alone running around in the
yard will not solve your dog’s behavior problems. In fact, it may lead to more
behavior problems, e.g. barking, digging, fence fighting. It may actually increase, rather than
decrease, a dog’s level of frustration. An active, involved owner with a
small back yard is a lot more fun for a dog than a detached, aloof owner who
banishes the dog to “go play” in a big back yard.
Steven Lindsay, in The Handbook of Applied Dog Training and
Behavior concurs, “Putting a dog outside in a fenced yard is not enough to
produce adequate exercise. The owner must become directly involved in the
exercise activity, insuring that the exercise is done in a way that produces
physiological and psychological benefit.”
Dog parks and day care are not
appropriate for every dog. But luckily, those are not the only ways to exercise
your dog. Dogs enjoy fetch, jogging, long walks, swimming and playing games
like tug-of-war and flirt pole.
Tug-of-war is a great game to play
with non-aggressive dogs, as long as you follow some basic rules. The owner
should be the one to start and end the game, use only one object as the tug toy,
put it away when you’re done and teach the dog to drop the object on
command.
A flirt pole is simply a wooden pole
with a length of rope and a toy tied to it. Dogs with high prey drive love to chase and
try to catch the toy. Dogs are not cats though, so be careful not to use the
toy to make the dog jump up into the air, or your dog may be injured when he
lands. Instead, make the toy “run” along the ground, simulating the movement of
a running critter.
Food
games (like food puzzles or balls that dispense treats when hit a
certain way by the dog) can be fun for dogs, providing much needed
mental stimulation. While mental stimulation is not a substitute
for exercise, don’t underestimate its impact on your dog’s overall well-being.
Occupying
your dog’s brain can sometimes be just as tiring as physical exercise. Take your dog with
you wherever dogs are welcome. Invest in
a good obedience training program so that your dog will learn to be polite and well-mannered - then he will be welcome in more places. (Plus the
training itself is another great way to occupy your dog’s mind.)
