Outbound Hound - Travel Unleashed

Last week when the temperature crept over the 50 mark, it made me dream of spring and hikes in the mountains! Ahhhh. And that was the perfect reminder – am I in shape for the first hike of the season? More importantly, is my dog?

It’s easy to forget that while you may be hitting the treadmill in the winter, your dog relies completely on you for exercise. I don’t know about you, but when the weather is yucky I have been known to shorten a walk or opt for the backyard potty to avoid the elements or the dark.

Which is fine, of course, but it means that your dog will need to get back into shape before you do a three-miler with a grade change of 600 feet! Karma and I participate in other doggie activities year round but even agility runs aren’t the same as a few hours in Shenandoah National Park.

So what’s a team to do?

• Take advantage of the rare warm(er) days and double the time of your walk.
• Look for even slight inclines and small hills in your neighborhood and walk up and down them to work different muscle groups.
• Build both stamina and strength in your dogs – sometimes walks can be about duration, sometimes strength.
• Use a doggy backpack to make your dog think about what he’s doing and to build strength. A dog should be able to carry 1/3 of his weight but not right away! Start with a small bottle of water on each side of the pack (if you have a small dog, don’t fill the bottles all the way).
• Vary your dog’s pace to build cardio strength – chasing balls, fast walks, etc.
• Look at the calendar and work backwards. If you were to sign up to run a 10k in say, June, you would start training accordingly. Treat your dog the same way!