The loose-dog cycle is upon us again in the neighborhood... a pack of 6 to 8 recently . trying to come up with something new to give dixon exercise in the yard mornings and thought I'd make a short post/request from you guys for new ideas.

He's not a ball-chaser or a tug-addict We go for walks some evenings on the new part of the riverwalk but it's still 95deg. and I'm afraid of overheating both dogs... Don't have a pool or lake that will accept dogs closeby either. I've been throwing the ball for Jake and just brushing Dixon and spending time handling him before work since we haven't been doing a morning walk; that's all good but he needs something energetic I think.

Just looking for something new to wear him out. Any ideas??

Hope ya'll are staying cool

hi
What about doing agility in your back yard with the dogs,i am in the process of making an Aframe,jump and tyre jump.There quite easy to make,i think theres a post on the site of someone doing agility with there dog and he made the equipment himself.
robbie

I have a three big kiddie pools filled up in the back yard, I do some training and exercise and then its pool time. works good.

You know I was going to try building some diy agility equipment over the winter but never got around to it... maybe I'll go see if petco has the cheap starter version at the store before I start investing in pvc...

Lol- If I was very lazy I could always buy dixon his own doggy treadmill! http://www.petco.com/product/115161/PetZen-DogTread-Large-Motorized-Dog-Treadmill.aspx (kidding!)

Good reminder about the pool... last year's had to be recycled, time to buy a new one!

Nothing lazy about a treadmill! It's a great way to condition dogs, and give them the exercise they need without compromising their lives (heat, extreme cold, lightening storms). Eventually *I* will stop being lazy and make my dogs one.

It is extremely hot where I live (BTW, I used to live in San antonio for a long time) . I do scent matching and play shell games and nose work games indoors with my dogs indoors. I also do training on things like, long down, position changes wtc that can be done in the shade.

Could you revise your schedules to sleep all day and train and exercise at night? <thinking outside the box!>

I have a jog a dog treadmill that I use in extreme weather conditions. But you still can't beat outdoors for exercise & good mental therapy.....except maybe by an indoor pool

What I do is to get out real, real early. I drive my dogs to a location to walk. have you ever heard of a flirt pole? A something (we have a stuffed squirrel) tied to a shortened fishing pole, and I drag it around and keep it out of each of the dogs reach and it really gives them a work out. We play search, I hide things and they find them. We go through their tricks, we too have a puzzle. We also go for a drive and use that time to put on and put off leashes (all three of them) when they are calm. My dogs do not like the pool unfortunately so we don't use that. It is very hot at our house too. My 7:30-8:00 it can already be 80 and head up to over 100 early in the day. So I understand your concern. In summer my schedule flips. I get up and out early, by 7:00 sometimes 6:30, or when it is light. And then by the time it is hot I come in and I do everything in the house, until night time and then sometimes I walk my dogs at night. I have had to go to shopping centers to walk my dogs because our neighbors do not know the value of keeping their dogs in either. So, you just have to work around the obstacles. You can do it, and I am sure they will love the new schedule. Sharon

My terrier growing up used to think the sprinkler was the BEST THING EVER....set it on the short burst rotating setting and go out there in water friendly clothes with a ball to throw around through the water and she'd run herself ragged and stay cool



With Ryuk I do nightwalks and jogs in the summer. If you have a confident dog night biking on known quiet roads are also fun. If you get some lightning wire and sew it to a harness and wear a blinking light on your bike and your back and front you'll stop a few cars (neon dog skeleton running down the road...to be super cool use the lightning wire on your bike in the shape a giant bat XD) but you'll be seen and it often solves the heat problem. Just make sure you ALWAYS have a cell phone with 911 on speed dial, a whistle, and if it's legal pepper spray (if it's not wasp spray comes in small size containers in this area ^_^ accurate and painful) my dog also knows a "scary bark" command since the creeps come out at night....