Staying fit

[Nikki]

Hello,

I would like to know how many activities do you do with your dog? And how difficult was to put some muscles on your dog?
My dog started developing in weight when he was almost 2,5 year old. Before he was so skiny you could see all his reebs and bones.
I work a lot with him in IPO (obediance, tracking, defence), so that does take a lot of energy and stamina. I used to do agility but now only if we have time. Besides that I run him with bicycle, when I go horse riding I allways take him with me, or hiking. Since he never shows that he is tired its really hard to know how much is enough.
So my daily ruitine is:
mornings: we are out for 30-40 min, tracking and playing.
afternoons: out for a quick walk 15 min
evening (18 p.m. when I come home): we usually train, but if we dont we go out with a bike for 1 hour up to 1hour and half.
late evening: out for a quick walk up to 10 min
on weekends I take him with me when riding for about 2 - 4 hours and usually we have a long training session on Sunday.
So how about you?

regards,

Maja

[Saskia]

Dear Maja,

In the books it says that you need to excersise a BSD between 1 to 2 hours a day.

During the week he stays with my parents during the day since I have a job which can have very irregular hours.  In the morning I take him for a 5 min walk and in the evening for a 15 min walk just before we go to sleep.  During the day my father takes him for a 1 to 2 hour walk (depends on the wheather). On Wednesdays I have obedience training for 1 to 1.5 hours.

During the weekend I take him 3 to 4 times a day for 15 min. walks and on Saturday we have a 1.5 hour flyball training (quiet intense since we train with only 2 to 5 dogs).  On Sunday we first have a obedience training (1 to 1.5 hours) and flyball (1.5 hours).

I can really see when Yentos needs a rest, he just stays close to me.

Saskia