How do you exercise your dog during the winter?

[Haven]

We recently adopted a new pup who requires a lot of physical activity. We take her for long walks and runs, and we rollerblade or bicycle with her every day.

We live in the Chicago area, so this weather is not going to stay lovely for long. If you have ''em, how do you exercise your high-energy dogs during the winter months?

 

[trillionaire]

HAHAHA,

I have the OPPOSITE problem. I got my pupper in October, and was at the dog park throughout the winter enjoying 70 degree weather! However, the summer is so hot that she hasn''t gotten nearly as much exercise as she did in the winter. No one goes to the dog park when it is hot

Admittedly, I HATE being hot and in the sun, so I only do early morning or late evening walks.

How cold is it in Chi-town in the winter? Could you do short runs? Maybe a dog walking service so that someone else gets tortured

?

 

[Linda W]

Mazie, our Lhasa Apso, loves to play with her tennis ball. When it rains here in California, we roll the ball to her all over the house. HA!!! She chases it all over. Sometimes she will stalk us and that means she wants to play, then I will chase her all over the house. She really is a crack-up.

Linda

 

[Haven]

That is funny, Trillion.

Winters in Chicago are so cold that I''d often rather stay at work at the end of the day than go outside to get into my car. Really. They''re horrible.

I can''t run outside in the winter because my lungs burn so badly. But I am totally digging your suggestion to pay someone else to walk her. That would be worth every penny.

I will sometimes pay students in candy bars to run out to the parking lot and start my car about ten minutes before I have to leave at the end of the day. The funny ones will set my radio to a bizarre station and leave it blasting for me for when I finally go outside.

From Wikipedia:
The temperature in January averages about 29°F (-2°C) in the afternoon, and 14°F (-10°C) at night. Temperatures can be expected to drop below 0°F (-18°C) on 15 days throughout the winter season.

 

[indypitty]

Do you have a treadmill? If so, you can train her to walk on that in the winter!

 

[Aloros]

If you have a set of stairs, you can take her up and down the staircase - or you can play fetch on them.

 

[littlelysser]

Haven - Have you thought about doggie day care? It is a GREAT way to tire a pup out!

 

[justjulia]

Installed a flap pet door in the back door. Works great. But then, I live in a place that has a fenced yard. I realize everyone can''t do that. I wuv my pet door. They all hop out and frolic at will.

 

[gemgirl]

Date: 8/21/2008 9:50:42 PM
Author:Haven
We recently adopted a new pup who requires a lot of physical activity. We take her for long walks and runs, and we rollerblade or bicycle with her every day.

We live in the Chicago area, so this weather is not going to stay lovely for long. If you have ''em, how do you exercise your high-energy dogs during the winter months?

Haven, I have the same problem with my two. We live in NY and once December and January get here, they get really bummed. Winters are hard. We just try to play with them as much as we can in the house, but I know that''s not exercise.
My two are real outdoor lovers too. They LOVE their yard. We''re fully fenced in, so they have the time of their lives out there chasing birds and squirrels.

Instinctively though, they do slow down some in winter time.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 8/22/2008 5:33:07 PM
Author: indypitty
Do you have a treadmill? If so, you can train her to walk on that in the winter!

This is what I was going to suggest.

 

[Tuckins1]

We still take her running outside.
PS- We live in Michigan, so it does get awfully cold and snowy!

 

[diamondfan]

My dog is a dog that needs lots of exercise too. Right now we are at the beach in a rental and have a tiny fenced yard with no grass but a tiny pool. She is a water dog and freaks to go in the pool. I also walk her a lot and try to trot with her.

Winter is hard, she goes in our yard mostly, and runs and chases things. Not sure what to do in a city if the streets are icy or it is freezing.

Do you have pictures?

 

[merlinthecat]

Hey...we''ve just started getting Caesar Milan here in the UK!

He tends to put dogs that need lots of exercise on a tread mill.

 

[diamondfan]

Treadmills are great in the winter.

I also saw a very overweight dog in the UK lose 15 pounds in an indoor pool, he swam daily and lost the weight.

Keeping your dog''s weight down and activity at the right level is so important for a dog''s mental and physical health! Dogs can get naughty if they do not get enough exercise!

 

[laurel25]

I totally feel for you. I''m from Michigan, but am now living in Minnesota where it gets COLD - we had a week straight last winter where it was like -20 to -30 (actual temperature, not windchill) in the morning when we got to work and like -45 overnight. We just tried to play a lot of fetch with the dogs and let them run out in the woods like once a week for 10-15 minutes (we have an Amish farm that we''re renovating on the weekends, so the dogs have 18 acres where they can roam). During the week when we''re in at our house in town we just let them on their run line for as long as they want to be outside, which is usually not any longer than it takes to do their business. It gets so cold here that the sometimes get stuck in the yard and don''t want to come in because their feet hurt, so BF ends up carrying the 65 lb. & 95 lb. mutts & I carry in the Pug.