Are there any suggestions on ways to wear a dog out faster, lol?? I'm still not crazy about walking in our neighborhood (re previous posts) and I try to wear my guys out playing fetch in the back yard (the ball hog), or doing circuits around the yard (the foodie), but my yard isn't that big. Thirty minutes or so of fast paced fetch will wear Jake out, but I'm getting bored with walking Dixon around the yard for 30 minutes, lol. Any suggestions to make things more interesting for Dixon instead of the circuits around the yard? We go around and around with a series of sit, down, stay (working on stay), but I can only keep him interested for about 15 min... and realistically these are way too long for actual training sessions (I think he's doing well to last as long as he does) not to mention my own attention span.

Can we set up some kind of obstacle course? The problem is that while Jake is running full tilt for those 30 min, Dixon is just trotting along. Dixon's idea of fetch is, 1)pounce on the ball only if it bounces 2)carry it off and chew on it. I think he's just not a fetch-kinda-guy. I thought about a weighted vest or something but wasn't sure if that would be too hard on his joints (he's around 2 1/2 yrs old now).

As a side note, I do take them for +/- 1 hour walks a couple of times a week when I have time to drive us there. We've been going downtown lately and its been fun introducing them to all the new stuff (who knew fountains could be scary ). The only hard part is convincing some people that petting the dogs is not cool even when dixon is wagging his tail like you're his long lost best friend, lol.

Any ideas?

AGILITY!!!

Invest in a pieces of equipment and I swear you will not regret it.

Agility is the only thing that mentally and physically wears my girls out. It works their mind, their bodies, and your partnership.

Check out the website http://www.affordableagility.com for their stuff...I recommend the Agility In A Bag

(If you didn't notice, I really like agility!)

Can you start agility even when a dog isn't completely obedience trained? we're working on it but definitely not "trained" yet, lol.

Thx!!

 Quote: carolyn pike

Can you start agility even when a dog isn't completely obedience trained? we're working on it but definitely not "trained" yet, lol.

Thx!!

I'd say yes, absolutely. We bought a 'cheap' plastic set from a pet supermarket here, 2 jumps a 'tyre' and a tunnel. Teagan loves them, and it's something new too.

I'd suggest having a trainer do one session with you if you've never done any agility before so you know the basic idea, then just have fun!

Rob

how long do your sessions last when you work together?

 Quote: Carolyn Pike

how long do your sessions last when you work together?

They last as long as Shalini can keep running about! We tend to mix it up a bit, as Teagan isn't training for Agility competitions. It's more for fun at the moment. They play fetch/tug, bit of jumping and just have fun. When Teagan lays down panting, that's kinda enough! However, these are generally fairly short, as it's in addition to her daily walk.

An absolute yes to starting before they are completely obedience trained...just need to have the recall under control or keep the dog on the leash...

My time is always limited unfortunately so I squeeze in agility whenever I can. I keep weave poles on my patio and do those once a day for probably 10 minutes (both of my dogs alternating). Sometimes I get up on a Saturday and head out for a 1/2 hour (in my pj's if I want!), sometimes I can only work in 10 minutes, sometimes I grab out one jump and work on it while we play fetch (hey, chase the ball over this jump!), sometimes I spend hours running the dogs and planning courses. There is no set time....though 15 minutes tires my maniac GSD out lol.

Oh and have you looked into Rally Obedience? Another back yard option...good for obedience training

Another aility fan here. You can build a lot of the equipment yourself out of pvc. I have an agilty course set up here for Jerri and the only think I have bought is the chute and tunnel. Built the jumps, tire jump, A-frame and dogwalk ourselves.


Lisa

How about a scooter something your dogs can pull you around. You will need to teach your dogs a few commands such as left, right, fast, slow, and stop. I was looking for a job for dog and I got a several excellent tips from other forum.

If you scroll down
http://www.dogpoweredscooter.com/

http://www.dogscooter.com/

Cool video to watch

http://www.dogscooter.com/Videos.htm

And other stuffs you can do with your dogs
http://www.dogplay.com/