It is essential to maintain a regular exercise routine for your pet to keep them fit and healthy. Whether your dog is young or old, they should stay as active as possible. Your dog’s breed, age, and energy levels will determine how intense the exercise should be, and it’s important to ensure that they don’t sustain injuries or exhaustion by overdoing it.
Taking your dog for a walk may be the most common way to incorporate activity into every day, but there are many ways to make their exercise more fun.
Here are 10 fun ways to exercise your pet.
1. Play fetch and chase games
Whether you have a large enough yard or you head to a nice open, dog-friendly park, your dog will love playing fetch and chase games with you. This is an excellent way for your pup to get plenty of exercise, especially in larger spaces. Throwing a ball or frisbee as far as you can and watch as your dog thoroughly enjoys retrieving it!
2. Create an obstacle course
Obstacle courses are a fun way to make exercise even more fun for dogs, and can be used for training, too. There are many options for creating obstacles, such as jumping through hoops, weaving between objects like stools, and jumping over and ducking under poles.
3. Play tug of war
Playing tug-of-war is an excellent way to bond with your dog while giving them a great workout. Using their muscles and jaws, dogs love to play at keeping hold of a toy or rope. If they have trouble letting the toy or rope go, have some treats handy to train them to release it on command.
4. Take a hike
If you enjoy nice long walks, consider taking your dog on a hike. So long as you stick to an appropriate difficulty level for both of your fitness levels and take a source of water with you, hiking is a fun way to get out into nature together.
