We are participating in the K9 camp challenge again this month! The challenge is hosted by You Did What With Your Weiner, Peggy’s Pet Place, and Kol’s Notes. This month’s challenge was to try one new activity with your dog.
One of the suggested activities for the Kamp was to walk a brand new route. We took that option and added just a bit more to it. One of our favorite blogs, SlimDoggy, had a great post this month “Exercise Alternatives for Senior Dogs“. One of the exercises listed was “Walk in Water” for strength. Here’s what SlimDoggy had to say about this activity: “Using water as an exercise tool is smart and provides many benefits to your dog. First of all, water provides buoyancy and thus, as your dog enters the water, they are de-loading and effectively reducing the weight on the joints. Needless to say, water is great for older and rehabbing dogs because it allows for movement with less stress on the body. Water also is an effective resistance tool and can build strength and work the muscles in ways that are often neglected. The water actually makes it harder to move the limbs—almost as if there are weights strapped to the legs. Have you ever tried walking or running in the pool?”
As I’ve written about recently, Sheba has had a limp, so we’ve had to make some adjustments to her routine. We’ve done some swimming, and since her limp has mostly gone away, we started doing some longer walks also.
So for Kamp we decided to take a different walking route, and we walked to a river where she could cool off a little as well as walk in the water. Since our weather had been a little cooler, I didn’t want to get wet taking her swimming, so this worked out great for us!
We headed in the opposite direction that we usually do on the rail trail from our house. I’m not going to lie and say we’ve never walked that way before, but it’s been years, probably when the dogs were older puppies, since I’ve taken them that way or to the river. It provided a change of scenery. It’s about a mile to the river, and we went late on a Sunday morning. The trail goes by a local ball field and there was a softball game going on, and kids playing near the river. Two very polite young girls asked if they could pet Sheba, and of course Sheba loved the attention. She walked back and forth through the river for several laps. I’d say she really enjoyed it!
I enjoyed the change of scenery too. Our weather got very hot again, so when it was my next time to exercise with Cricket, I decided not to run with her but to do the same routine as with Sheba. We got out early enough that it wasn’t too hot yet, so I did some short jogging sprints just to break things up a little. Once we got to the river, Cricket was a bit more difficult to get in the water, however! She was far more interested in smelling things on the shore. Next time I will have to wear my water shoes so I can go in with her (or bring a ball to toss perhaps). I got her in there some, and she didn’t get as many laps as Sheba but she did OK and also seemed to enjoy it!
It may not seem like a big deal, but trying this new routine really broke up the monotony of walking or running the usual routes. Both of the girls do love the water so I know it was fun for them. I think it was good to try some new things. As the girls are both getting older I know we’re going to need these lower impact exercises more and more!
Thanks to our FitDog Friday blog hop hosts: SlimDoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place, and To Dog With Love.
Please visit their sites and others through the links below!
Walking in water is a great idea! Our senior dog Shiloh use to swim in the water and I know that helped her arthritis. I wish I could get Scout in the water
🙁
I wish our Summer was longer so we could swim more. Yeah, our Kobi won’t get in really either. Since he’s the oldest, it would probably do him the most good too!
What a beautiful walk! My senior dogs love any excuse to get into the water. Unless it’s the duck’s pond. They do NOT want to anger the duck.
Our beagle Kobi is the only one who doesn’t really like water much. Ha ha, we haven’t seen any ducks yet, but we’ll watch out for them!
It sure looks like a pretty walk. I like the idea of walking in the water for exercise. 🙂
We are lucky to live in a pretty area. I think the water adds just a little something more to a walk, stepping it up just a bit. I probably should get in there myself too!
I love to change up our routes often and I know the boys do to. Wilhelm and Brychwyn both swam for the very first time on our trip(s) last week! I was so pleased but I think it was a rare and special, very warm sun and water, occasion. I hope Sheba keeps on improving!
The dogs only get to swim when it’s warm enough out for me too, because invariably I always end up getting wet too!
Unfortunately, Sheba’s limp just won’t quite go away, so she’ll be seeing the vet this week.
Wow that looked like a great walk! Too bad I won’t get my feet wet! Love Dolly
The girls say you don’t know what you’re missing, Dolly! 🙂
A different route is such a great way to make it seem like an entirely new adventure. Sounds like a lot of fun!
It was fun, thanks, Sage! I don’t know about the dogs, but this Mom gets bored very quickly with doing the same old thing, so even if we get to break up the monotony in small ways, it’s a big help!
Last summer taking Küster to the lake saved our sanity! He had pano really bad, and was supposed to be on total crate rest, but you just can’t do that to a working puppy, so we took him out to the lake on a regular basis and it did wonders for him. I’m glad it’s been good for Sheba, too!
I just wish our warm season lasted a bit longer around here, because it won’t be too long until it’s just too cool for swimming. We’re trying to take advantage while it lasts!
What a simple, yet great idea to try somewhere new! I wish we had more places with water s to walk our crew. We have access to the beach, but the areas that are dog friendly near us aren’t so nice. (rocky, swampy). I’d love if we had a nice lake to bring them to.
We are so lucky to have lots of places where we can get to the water. We have a lot of lakes around, but we can’t get to all of them with the dogs, so I’m glad we’ve found at least a few different places where we can.
How fun to try a new route, especially as you got to go in the river!
Have fun
Your pal Snoopy 🙂
We are lucky to have a lot of different places to walk just from our house, Snoopy. Hope you are having a fun weekend!
Thanks for the shout out to our article on Exercise Alternatives for Senior Dogs. What you guys did was so very smart:
1- changed the walk which provides extra mental stimulation for the dogs and humans
2- used the water as resistance to develop strength
3- used the water as a coolant
Great job!
Thank you! You are always giving great advice and inspiring us to get out and do more.
Pretty area, we have one of those tunnels too and I love to walk through it! The water looks wonderful! Like the Beagle, I love to get in and lie down to cool off, my sister prefers to walk around. Happy Labor Day Weekend!
I always think it’s funny that Sheba, who loves to swim, will never lie down in the water to cool off! You and Cricket have the right idea, Emma. Hope you are having a nice weekend too!
Oh, what a lovely walk! Rita is jealous! She loves any walk that involves a visit to the water. She loves to get wet – although hates to swim!
Thanks! Kobi is our only one that doesn’t like water, though he will now at least get his feet wet.