Exercising your Doodle

[Valerie and Cody]

So, I'm wondering if anyone has any great advice about exercising doodles. Cody just seems to have an infinite amount of energy. I'll walk / run with him for about 45 minutes in the morning, again at night, and sometimes in the afternoon. He often gets to go to the park / dog park, and I try to take him as many places as possible. Plus, we do agility once or twice a week. Still, though, he has sooooo much energy. Maybe I'm asking for too much, but I really want to just see him pass out for a little while. He's only 2, so I'm sure it's still a lot of puppy energy, but he seems to have more energy now than he did a couple of months ago. Does anyone have any ideas as to some new, fun, and exciting things I might try with Cody? I love spending the time exercising with him, so I'm hoping to avoid doggie day care. Thanks to anyone who replies!

[Tammy & Gracie]

Gracie was that way until recently (she's 1 1/2 now). I love to spend time with Gracie too but with work I can't spend all day with her. We used doggie daycare 3 or 4 days a week to help wear her out. Luckily she has calmed down now so we just go there 1 or 2 days weekly. She still likes to go play with her friends there. We also do agility classes 1x weekly and I have constructed a pvc agility course for my backyard for daily practice. On days she does not go to daycare, we try to visit the dogpark. Seriously, the treadmill is a real idea. Look up some of the dog whisperer stuff, Cesar uses treadmills regularly! I also agree that swimming is a great exercise. We go to a different local dogpark every weekend for a few hours of free run in fields and swim time!

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

LOL..Doggy Treadmill...hook him up and watch him go...or you might also want to invest in a backpack and allow him to carry it around the house when you are cleaning...or teach him to fetch your cleaning materials ....keeps him active.

[Valerie and Cody]

Oh, I like the idea of teaching him to fetch my cleaning materials. We're working on a forced retrieve. I've tried the treadmill, but Cody's not taking to it very well. Unfortunately, he had a nasty little spill one time when I was on the the treadmill (I guess he thought it was ok to run with me), and now it's taking a lot of work to get him back on it.

Thanks to all the ideas, though. I think I'll take him to the river tomorrow. He loves to swim even though he's kind of terrible at it!

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I was also going to suggest some swimming. Dexter barely lasts an hour at the dog beach...swimming totally tires him out (Kirby will not go anywhere near the water).

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

Since Cody seems to be getting plenty of muscle exercise, try adding some brain exercise. Clicker training tricks really will make him think. I have fun using the clicker system described under spring training. Also when you are walking Cody make him do part on the "heel" command, including learning automatic sits, down and down stay, etc. If you have not taken him to obedience, do that in place of two days of agility. Learning with his brain really will soak up the energy. My Roo is very high energy too. From the first possible swim weather he plays fetch in the pool an hour a day. If you don't have a pool or access to a river or dog beach this won't help you much. Roo is has to play only with the other high energy dogs, huskies and goldens and labs at doggie day care, because he has so much energy. He is only in day care about once every three weeks when he gets groomed. He comes home very full of energy, so I don't think day care helps him much.

[Kelli, Fenway, & Dustin Pedroia]

I think you've had some good suggestions. I have one active doodle and one super duper lazy doodle. The active doodle does not tire when we walk (she's not old enough to run yet) either. It actually seems to key her up more because of all the really cool things to look at and smell. The two things that work every time and absolutely wipe her out are training and fetching the tennis ball, which have both been mentioned by other members. Having another doodle around for her to expend some of her energy on has helped too, but then comes all of the other issues both good and bad with having two dogs! Wouldn't trade it for the world though. Good luck!

[Sandy]

We walk Toby 2-3 times a day - half an hour a time. But the thing that really tires him out is the dog park. Running free with other dogs just wipes him out! He's still tired from our trip yesterday. He will usually pick out one dog as his play partner and have a blast. Yesterday it was a 10 month old, 95 pound bull mastiff!! Very well behaved play buddy, and an excellent time was had by all!

[Adina P]

I feel ready for a nap just reading all his activities. When you say he STILL has energy to burn after all that...do you mean that he's naughty and gets into trouble or that he's pacing the house or something else?

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

I know that doggie day care isn't what you want to hear, but it might help if you take him there just once or twice a week. We play fetch a lot with Timbow and also let him wear himself out at the dog park. It seems like you're already doing those things though so good luck!!!!

[Crazy Doodle Lady]

I got the WalkyDog for Bear and it's GREAT! Bear loves to go for a bike ride with me and has a blast. He is so exhausted afterwards. It's the one thing that really wears him out and doesn't take all day. He can't pull me around and never gets too close to the bike. Best thing I've ever bought for him.

[Ann & Reggie]

What is that?

[Valerie and Cody]

Is that a bike leash? We do have a bike leash (sits low on the bike, dogs can't run in front of the bike or pull you over, etc.), and I hope to use it again soon. We just have to get the bikes out to where we just moved. Also, did you have any trouble with Bear's paw pads getting torn up? Whenever we'd take Cody for a ride, his paws would just rub raw. Then again, he has a tendency to run sideways, so that may have something to do with it.