Exercise Exercise Exercise!!!

The first question I ask every client who calls with behavior issues is "How many minutes a day of structured exercise does your dog get?" Here are the top three answers.

1. We have a big back yard and he has a dog door.

2. We have 2 dogs who play together all the time.

3. The kids play ball with him almost every day.

Every one of these is nice...but NOT structured exercise and so does not count. When I tell them that their dog is at 0 minutes a day they are shocked.

So what is "structured exercise"? It is an activity that you start, you stop, and drains your dog physically and mentally. A daily walk MUST make up a large part of this. Your dog needs this for many reason. The simplest is to get out of his normal surroundings. Just like us, dogs get house bound. Your four walls and fenced yard get boring quickly. Dogs need to experience the outside world. Period.

Another reason is for the bonding. Your dog is relying on you and your leadership while on a walk and nothing bonds you quicker if you do it right. Which means, you need to have the walk at a heel down for this to work. And obviously the physical exercise is steady and constant on a walk, as where ball playing is amp up and then stop.

In addition to the walk, or jog if you and your dog are higher energy, you can add in obedience training, agility training, fly ball training or pulling activities. The ball playing is fun but does not require the amount of concentration that other activities do. It is like recess for kids.

How much exercise does your dog need? Well, that varies on breed, energy level age, health etc..

Most healthy dogs will need a MINIMUM of 70 minutes a day at least half of which should be walking. It seems like a lot, but you can split it up. 20 minute walk before work, 30 after dinner and two 10 minute obedience training session somewhere in between. If you have more than one person in the house it makes it even easier to split up.

Keep an exercise log because what seems like 30 minutes may actually only be 15 or 20. I have found that some dogs will even get a mental drain from simply going on a car ride and experiencing new sights, sounds and smells. I try to take my dog with me on as many errands as I can and as weather permits (don't leave a dog in a car in hot weather). It is a mental drain for a dog to wait patiently in the car while you run into the bank, or how about taking the dog into the home improvement store with you. Think about how tired you are after spending the morning running around town... you and your dog will both be ready for a nap!

If your dog is having any kind of destructive behaviors, up his exercise and you'll be amazed at the change!

Aggression Ignorance

My family and I were out walking our dogs this evening when we passed by a fence with a large dog on the other side. The dog was lunging, snarling, and throwing himself at the fence. Several of the boards were loose and one was missing from this routine behavior from the dog.

The owner of the property was out front so I mentioned to him that his fence was breaking and his dog was displaying serious fence aggression. I told him that who ever the unlucky person was walking by when the fence broke would be attacked by 100 pounds of pent up anger from his dog. The owner just laughed and said his dog was well trained and wouldn't hurt a fly, "It's just harmless noise" he said.

This really bothered me because it is this kind of ignorance that gets people killed. When an animal is displaying aggression of any kind it is not "just harmless noise". It is, in fact, a warning that you need to take action before something tragic happens. My guess is that this dog is a very sweet dog when he is with his owner and so the owner feels that he has nothing to worry about. The truth is, when the owner is gone the dog has taken the job of fiercely guarding the property line from anyone walking by. He is not getting exercised enough and is able to release his energy by overreacting to strangers.

This owner is not unlike many others out there. He simply does not want to believe that his loving family pet could be dangerous, but the truth is any dog can and will bite if not trained properly. Knowing commands and how to retrieve is not enough. Dogs, especially big dogs, have to learn the difference between a real threat and normal activity. What this owner needed to do was correct his dog at the very first sign of aggression towards something on the other side of fence and continue to work on it. His dog also needs a lot of daily physical activity so he does not release his energy in this dangerous way. Unfortunatley, simply ignoring the behavior and passing it off as harmless is going to get someone hurt.

If you see a dog showing aggression like this at a fence you need to contact animal control so they can investigate and asses the danger to the public. And, if your dog shows this kind of behavior you need to act NOW to correct it before someone gets hurt.

*Remember, there is no such thing as harmless aggression. If your dog acts aggressive do not be foolish enough to assume it's just talk with nothing behind it. And if you encounter a dog showing signs of aggression call and get some help before it is too late!