In this post:
- Taking it Slow II
- Sheba’s Bucket List #5 – Check
- New Fitness Trainer Cricket
Just last week I told you that we were”Taking it Slow” to get Luke back into swimming. I’m happy to report that he did it! Some of you saw my photo on social media later in the week, thanks for cheering him on! Now he didn’t swim for long, but he swam. It was a windy day and the water was pretty rough and noisy lapping against the shore, so he was just a bit nervous there. So again I just let him do what he wanted, which was mostly just playing in the water and wandering along the shore. But I was excited when he took just a short swim!
Next time I will try throwing a toy for him, just a short ways to start with. It wasn’t very warm out that day either, and I wasn’t willing to go swimming after the toy if he decided he didn’t want to chase it! Plus I just want him to take his time getting used to swimming again and don’t want to push him too much.
On the other hand, Sheba had a blast when I took her to the same place swimming. Her arthritis has been bothering her lately, and even longer walks seemed to aggravate it. So we’re trying to find the right balance of exercise for her.
Saturday morning she played ball for just a little while with her siblings, then I took her for about a 20 minute walk followed by 15-20 minutes of swimming. We walked the rail trail near our favorite new swimming place. The trail goes along the pond, and I was going to take her to the swimming spot we used last year, instead of the boat launch where I’ve been taking Luke; but the trail to the water we had used was closed off! The only problem with the boat launch is that you can’t walk to it from the rail trail, so we had to get in the car and drive there. Not a big deal though, and again the boat launch was deserted so we had it all to ourselves.
Sheba would have swam after that ball all day if I’d let her, but I didn’t want her to overdo it. She hasn’t been any worse the rest of the weekend so we did OK and next time we can try a little more. I have talked to our vet’s office and we’re giving her some Rimadyl, but only when we really feel she needs it. Our vet tech thinks it could be the changing weather aggravating her joints….summer can’t make up its mind to stay yet, and the temperatures have been up and down a lot. Yesterday’s high was only 54 degrees!
We also just got a ramp to help her in and out of the car which I hope will help as well, once we get her trained to use it. Sunday was rainy and cool all day so everyone got a day of rest anyway. #5 on Sheba’s bucket list was lots of walks, swims, and easy hikes (those will be on hold until we see how she does with her arthritis), so we’re making a little progress on her list!
I also posted a photo of Cricket on social media last Thursday, with the question “Does she look tired, or just proud of herself for running me ragged?”. You’ve seen the hands free leash that I now love for jogging with her (you can still enter to win one, but the giveaway ends today!) . We set out jogging early Thursday morning, and I let her set the pace. She kept me moving, and I got a really good workout! I was sore the next day….but only my legs, my back was not sore thanks to that Umbilical Belt. I just can’t quite believe that little beagle was so hard on me, but I needed it. I guess she’s my new personal trainer.
I think we’re off to a good start for the summer, and I hope we can keep up all our fun and good new habits! We’ll have to make some small adjustments to the routine if the weather gets really hot, but we’re used to making those changes along with the weather here.
This is our final entry for Multiple Pet Mania Month! I think it illustrates more how sometimes having multiple pets can complicate things a bit, if they all have different exercise and/or health and training needs. But we make it work and we make it fun, and that’s what it’s all about!
Be sure to come back tomorrow for Multiple Pet Day. We’ll be announcing the winners of the photo contest and the results of the Life with Multiple Pets Survey!
well, umm, hhmmmm-who lives right near here and could be invited, and/or you and the shotgun rider of the day, could stop by and say Hello??!! Love you all! 🙂 Thanks for the walk today, Sheba!
Of course you could come any time, Auntie Lynn, or we’d love to stop by and say hi when we’re over there. However, most of the time we go is during the week! 🙂 You need to take more vacation time!
I did see that on Facebook that Luke went swimming and I was so excited for you! All he needed was time and to build his confidence back up. 🙂 Good job on that!
We’re getting the hot and humid stuff right now so we’ve been doing a lot of wood walking. I don’t know of any places around here to go swimming (legally) with the dogs, except for one place that is full of goose poop and that is not a battle I want. LOL
Oh I do like to see happy doggies swimming!!
Great job swimming Luke. Great exercise for all!
Taffy and I are running mom ragged with out different personalities and pace. She doesn’t see how you do it! Luke seems to love swimming I don’t think there should be any concerns there. And Sheba well she’s a very active mature girl! Love Dolly
I am catching up from the weekend. LOL on both of us doing posts about swimming. I think you are on the right track with Luke. We were at a barbecue at Storm’s breeder’s house on Saturday. They have two old females which were in the house. One is 12 1/2 and one is 13 1/2. I was surprised at how thin he keeps them. No ribs showing, but they are definitely leaner than our seniors. He said he has found (over 36 years of breeding) that keeping them lean really helps with joint issues. Don’t get me wrong they use meds when needed and acupuncture too at times but he said weight is the number one thing he watches. I told hubby we are going to have to cut our seniors dogs back more.
I agree that keeping them slim is probably one of the best things to do for their joints. Luke is super slim and his knees have been doing well lately. Sheba is actually pretty slim, though I never think she is….it’s so hard to tell with all that fur. But when she gets wet I can definitely see that she is! I don’t know any place to get acupuncture around here but there is a place that does cold laser therapy and I’m thinking about looking into that for her. I hope lots of swimming this summer will help too.
Oh I would definitely say proud of herself! haha!
Swimming is probably so nice for Sheba with the arthritis. Takes the weight away, so I imagine how soothing it must feel for her. I hope I can get my other two huskies in the water this year!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I think swimming is probably one of the best things for her too. That’s why I keep telling my hubby we need a pool…then she could go every day! 🙂
She looks a little tired but also super proud of herself!
That’s great that you are taking it slow with Luke so he’ll enjoy swimming. Sheba looks so happy! Cricket reminds me of our beagle, Bailey. When we’d walk, he’d just want to sniff and dork aound and it wasn’t exercise at all, but when we would jog, man, she could go and go!
They all looked like they really enjoyed themselves. Good going, Luke, for getting back into the water!
That swimming looks like a lot of fun! I’m a little jealous, as we don’t have any water-based recreational opportunities here. Only fast-moving rivers and oceans that aren’t ideal for dog swims!
Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie
We are very lucky to live in an area full of lakes, ponds, and rivers. It’s not always easy to find places where we can take the dogs though.
Good for you Luke! You’ll have fun and stay cool once you’re used to it.
That is one beautiful place to take your pups. So elated for Luke (and you!) that he had a great day. They tell me swimming is a great form of exercise for dogs suffering with arthritis – so I know Sheba felt better once she swam a few laps. Didn’t you just want to get in there with them? It sure would have been tempting for me – that’s for sure!
I just might go in there with them one of these times, but so far it hasn’t been hot enough for me yet!
I’ve always been fascinated through many years by how some dogs just seem to be part fish and others hate going near the water.
I would love to let the boys swim someday. We don’t have access to any lakes or streams that they can get in around here. I think it would be fun though!
Luke it was great to see you swimming… I wonder if dogs close their eyes when the put the head in the water or if they can look around “under the sea” like Flipper or Nemo :o)
I wonder too! He certainly seemed like he was looking for something under there!
A group of happy pups! Swimming is such a fun summer activity 🙂
You guys sure had a good workout
Lily & Edward
Looks like everyone got to have some outdoor fun! Our summer is taking its sweet time deciding to stick around, too. It never got above 63 here yesterday–and I had to wear a light jacket on our evening walk!
now that I see the picture on my computer, I see that it is Tewksbury Pond. Is there only 1 boat launch there where the road is very narrow to get there?
Yes…I hope I never actually meet another car on that road, because I’m not sure there’s room for two to pass! It’s very rough too. It’s about half way between our house and Lynn’s, and the road is easy to miss too.
Tom and I have kayaked there and seen a few people and I’ve also seen fisherman in the past when we accessed the pond from the rail trail.
But I haven’t seen anyone at the boat launch yet the three times I’ve been there now, other than a car leaving one of the cottages that is right there. I’ve been going late morning/early afternoon. There might be more fishing boats in the early morning and evening; and I wonder if it will be busier this weekend with the holiday.
Good job getting them all out there. Where is that boat launch? Is it usually pretty quiet?