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Erric

MH
Posts:95

11/24/2008 5:16 PM
Bella is about 4 months now and she's all puppy. I walk her at 5am about a mile to a mile and a half, they get walked at lunch time about a mile or so, at 5pm when I get home the same route and then depending on their energy level again at 9 or 10 before bed. It is starting to get cold around here, like 20-30 at 5am cold.....We have a pretty decent size home but I don't feel that as a puppy she gets enough exercise around here. How do you exercise your dogs in the winter when it is so cold out?

everbell

Kanata, ON

MH
Posts:3166

11/25/2008 4:25 AM
Ooo. Wait until the snow comes and that will do your work for you Bo was 8 months old when we got our first snowfall last year, and since it was an almost record year for snowfall, we had snow pretty much until April. He REALLY didn't enjoy walking in the cold since I couldn't walk fast enough to keep him warm. So we built a big snowhill in the back yard and played with him in the snow for an hour every night. (He was having so much fun he didn't notice the cold Now, he gets a 6 to 8 mile run every day, but it's snowing this a.m. and I have a feeling Bogey mountain will reappear in the backyard again.

Joce and Rich Bogart and Shiraz (GSPs) Roxane (RIP: 1995-2009) and Tiger Lily (Cats) The Everbell Adventures

bravepoint User is Offline

North Gower, ON Canada

MH
Posts:894

11/25/2008 5:58 AM
I find my dogs and my puppy in particular need more walks when the wetaher gets colder. They won't stay out in our fenced 1 acre yard as much when it's cold unless I'm there then they go crazy playing and chasing each other. I take my 5 month old puppy for about 45 minutes off leash run daily with her mother. This burns off way more energy that on leash walking. It's also a great opportunity to practice her recall. I also do daily obedience training sessions inside. She knows sit, down, stay, come, finish, heel and back up. I find this mental challenge also tires her out. We intersperse our training sessions with tug games to build drive for agility and flyball. Gail

Gail, Moka, Avery, Terra & Rayne Bravepoint GSPs

TessaGA

Georgia

MH
Posts:2387

11/25/2008 7:09 AM
Nothing wears my 5-month-old out like tracking. During the week it's mostly leash walks for her as it gets dark before we can get to the fields, with some check cord running. I throw a quail-scented tennis ball into the landscaping at UGA without Tessa seeing it and then have her find it. We do this in the field as well on weekends. She loves it. It's fun to watch her look for it, nose in the air and on the ground, running back and forth before zeroing in on it. That, combined with some fetch or just simply letting her walk/run/sniff at her own pace on a check cord tires her out nicely in a shorter time than a walk would, because she quarters a lot and basically covers 4 times the distance she would if on the leash next to me. This way, the pup doesn't have to be out in the cold too long.

To live without dogs would mean accepting a form of blindness. [Thomas McGuane]

Marie

Wisconsin

MH
Posts:2721

11/25/2008 8:01 AM
You can also do the tracking exercise like TessaGA described in your house. Have the pup "sit stay in another room ei(bedroom) while you hide the pheasant scented dummy in the kitchen or livingroom. After hiding the dummy come back, give the 'release" word saying :hunt it up." Have an indoor tennis ball retrieve place. Clear an area so things won't get broken. Our place is in our Basement for Rocky. I have and chair and a small table, where I can toss the ball for Rocky and fold laundrey at the same time. If you don't have a basement hallways work well too. For kids with a long hallway, you can set up plastic Pins and have them bowl. the puppy can chase the ball too and have fun knocking down the pins. Pins can be empty soda 2 quart plastice bottles and the ball can be any safe ball you don't care of the pup bites into.

Marie and Rocky, a tall, high energy GSP http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab18/Annette_Merryfield/100_0285.jpg?t=1287205231

Dwayners

Toronto, ON

MH
Posts:271

11/25/2008 8:08 AM
I dress her up warm and we go for long walks. I have to be careful of the ice, though. Had a really bad day last March.

caroline_mae User is Offline

Clemson, SC

MH
Posts:102

11/26/2008 12:09 PM
I have two 5 months old and they both have little jackets, that are fleecelined and weather proof on top only 15 bucks at petsmart, that they where when we are out early in the morning. I catch some grief from people but when it comes down to 17 degree weather and the health of my dog is going to come before whether they might look a little goofy. Remember they are "shorthairs" and puppies at that, invest in a sweater. Also I took my dogs to a conformation play get together and just being somewhere new and seeing all new dogs got them all excited. After only an hour of working and socializing they were slap worn out! So I would try going to new places as well especially ones where she can interact with other dogs.

Rugergundog User is Offline

Saginaw Michigan USA

MH
Posts:395

11/28/2008 9:47 AM
as cute as that shirt is on that dog....my buddies would kill me if my dog had to wear that.

Saginaw Michigan Brittany- Ruger GSP- Kilian