April is National Canine Fitness Month and that makes us all happy at our house! So many dogs are out of shape and overweight it is very sad. Hopefully a bit of fitness advice this month will help some humans get their dogs back in shape.
How do you know if your dog is fit or not? Besides getting on the scale and checking with your veterinarian, you can get a good idea at home. A dog should have a waist. It is easier to see on less furry dogs, but a dog’s chest should also be wider than her abdomen, with a noticeable tuck-up from chest to stomach. You should also be able to feel your dogs ribs with only a light layer of fat over them.
A fit dog doesn’t mean a dog who can run a marathon. It means a dog who is an appropriate weight, eating a healthy diet, and gets enough mental and physical workouts. Over feeding your pup isn’t a sign of love. A proper diet with fun physical and mental workouts is.
Mental Fitness
Mental stimulation is not difficult and dogs love it. Not only is it healthy, but when dogs need to solve puzzles it really wears them out. Here are some ideas for keeping your dog mentally fit:
Food puzzles – feed your dog using a food puzzle to slow down her eating and make her work to figure out how to get all of her food out of the puzzle. Kibble works with all puzzles, but even raw works in puzzle bowls.
Put low calorie, healthy treats in a treat ball as a game. Your pup should have to work for treats.
Hide your dogs food or treats around the house so she has to hunt for them. Dogs love the hunt and it provides natural mental stimulation.
Take up a sport like nose work or barn hunt. There is no requirement to compete, dogs can do sports just for fun.
Physical Fitness
Physical fitness doesn’t have to mean heavy training. Fitness should be fun for you and for your dog, and it may even help keep you fit. Remember to start slow and let your dog build some muscles if she isn’t used to exercising. Some ideas for keeping your dog physically fit are:
Walking your dog regularly and at a good pace. Find new places to walk and explore to keep you both more interested. Don’t walk the same route day in and day out, branch out to new places.
Start running with your dog. Dogs love to run. By running with your dog, your runs will also be a lot more fun.
If you have more than one dog, get them racing, wrestling and playing with each other to burn off some energy and calories. For only dogs, try setting up some doggy play dates with friends.
Try a sport like agility or FastCat where the dog gets to run, jump, and play. While you may have to run some, it is the dog who is doing the majority of the work.
Canine Fitness is so important! Just a couple pounds on your furry friend can shorten her lifespan by two years. Your dog can’t keep herself fit, it is up to you, the human. Get your dog plenty of mental and physical exercise and don’t over feed or give too many treats! Celebrate National Canine Fitness Month by making sure your pup is fit!
My GBGV Life is happy, so we’re joining Comedy Plus for Happy Tuesday!
count us in… the goal is to wear da bink bants at the end of the month… and we help da mama, with eating all her snacks hehe
Good idea, we will offer to eat some of mom’s food for her too!
A great month and a great post. I feel lucky to live with a human who loves keeping fit and taking me on long walks in fun places, and we feel really happy when we see other dogs and their humans who do the same.
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
We love it too. There are so many dogs who are just plain fat and don’t get any workouts. It is quite sad. You like us, are lucky!
We love getting out for sniffies, and for long walks. We are helping our mom on her fitness goals at the moment – we push her out the door to go meet up with friends for long walks. Zachary says he doesn’t want her to check out that slo-feeder……..
Mom says we are her fitness buddies and we keep each other fit. Our mom could use a slow feeder 😉
My older dog Slim is fit and trim…that is why her name is Slim. My young dog Frankie is losing her waist. I tried to tell the vet it is muscle and he laughed. Frankie is on a diet.
Oh dear, poor Frankie. We never diet, just exercise more if we add any weight. Glad Frankie is tackling the weight issue.
Puffin definitely keeps me active! Boston terriers are that way. We runs and we plays. Sometimes I am the instigator. Who would have thought? My brain is active…here I am writing in your blog! 🤣😘XOXO Sparkle
Good for you two. It is easier to burn off some energy if you have a sibling to play with.
Bailey, You have nailed your profession!!! I think this is the cutest photos of you, as an adult ,that I have seen! And I like how you put your sisters ( and mom)through their paces.
Thank you. Fitness for pups is a cause we are pretty passionate about at our house.
Being fit is essential in good health and longevity. In humans and our babies. Excellent advice.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to all the pups. ♥
It’s sad there are so many overweight humans and dogs. We are ideal exercise partners, so people need to use that for the good of themselves and their dogs.
Mom says now that the weather is warming up, we really need to try a new route – once I can get back to walkies. Great post, girls!
New routes or doing a normal route backwards all make walking more interesting.
You three are the most fit and prettiest canines we know!
Thank you. We try our best to stay fit and healthy.
Great instructive post! I’ve noticed Xena’s waisteline has just about disappeared and have cut back some on the fattier meats. Now that the weather has gotten nicer, we’ll be out walking a whole lot more.
Mom always says diets are temporary, but a good fitness routine is for life. Enjoy getting out for your walks.
We love seeing pictures of you guys working out! You are such gorgeous and healthy dogs!
Cinnamon is in great shape (so says the vet). Mom used to work in the big city and was not around a lot. Now that Mom is back in Midway, Cinnamon has been getting much more exercise with Mom and the vet is furry happy with the change in Cinnamon! She is eating better food (Mom makes her food), getting way more plays and walks. She has way more energy (and we thought heelers had loads to begin with) Now her nick name i ever ready.
That is great to hear about Cinnamon. Being in shape makes everything better! Way to go for your mom and Cinnamon!
You always have such wise advice!
We just like doggies to be healthy.
Great post! We love staying fit and mom always loves all your tips. Mom is wondering if my brother might like some agility or fitness class. She’s going to do some research! We have fat cousins which always makes mom sad. And glad we aren’t fat! have a good day. your friend Lilly
I bet he might have fun in agility. Taking a class to see how it goes would be fun for him and your mom. Working on a sport as a team gives a dog and their human a whole new understanding of each other. Sorry about your cousins, that is sad. Being overweight is so normal in society today, many people don’t see it as a big deal for themselves or their dogs, but it is and dogs can’t do anything about it without humans helping them. Have a fun day!
I sure needed this! We are getting warmer weather. I wish I had someone to walk with. But we live close to an open spaces and the walking trails are wonderful . The hubby and I use to walk around the two lakes up there. Then we started to get too lazy. I am encouraged by your post and grateful for your visits too. Thank you. Hoping you all have a wonderful day.
Thank you. Our mom loves to walk and run but no one wants to go with her because she goes too far and too fast. She has us pups and we are the ideal workout buddies as we do whatever she wants to do and we all work out!
Luke is still in really good shape! His favorite things are walks in the woods, and romping around the house with toys. We chase him, and he dodges us like a pro football player! 🙂
He really enjoys being an only dog we think. We are happy for him!
thank goodness Levi LOVES taking walks! He and I walk every morning for approximately an hour. When his Dad gets home around 3pm he walks him again. There are days that Levi has about 5 walks!! He started doggy day care once a week (5 hours) to socialize with other dogs and he is getting training there too. Need to get him some more brain games but we’re on the right track!!
Sounds like he is a perfect fitness buddy for you and his dad. Get out and explore new places and enjoy your walks.