Terri adopted Lola from the Humane Society. To exercise Lola, Terri takes a 2 mile jog with her at 6:00am four days per week and also walks 1 mile every evening with her 6 year old Beagle Buddy.

In Lola’s first year of life, she was kept in someone’s backyard, she did not know how to walk on a leash when we adopted her. She pulled and fought us every step of the way. This was a way for me to teach her how to walk on a leash, how to heel and at the same time, keep her busy and in shape. She is a working dog and when she is not exercised regularly, she gets into trouble! She needs daily stimulation just like we do, this keeps us both healthy in our body and mind. – Terri

Because Lola didn’t know how to walk on a leash when Terri adopted her, they had to start gradually:

I would start walking with her short periods, teaching her she had to stay on my right then increase to a mile then 2 miles. I had to use the pinch collar for about 5-6 months as a training tool, she is very aware of her surroundings and gets distracted easily. She had zero impulse control and would literally drag me to see people or other dogs in our path. – Terri

Terri and Lola

Once Lola learned how to walk politely on a leash, Terri started jogging. She taught Lola to move off of the sidewalk and onto the grass when other people and dogs pass by them and Lola now does this naturally without Terri having to give her the “over” command.

I asked Terri if she had any advice for people with larger dogs who pull like Lola used to when they’re starting out trying to jog.

I guess my advise would be to start slow and be consistent. Your dog will learn the routine, make it fun for them praise them as you go, scratch them on the head, talk to them. – Terri

Jogging with your dog is a great activity to take up for both your dog’s and your own fitness. Big thanks to Terri for sharing her dog exercise experiences and tips with us!

If you’d like to submit your own story about exercising with your dog or dog fitness in general, please e-mail 1 Fit Mutt at info@1fitmutt.com

How often do you exercise your dog, really? And I don’t mean taking a walk around the park or tossing it a ball a couple of times per day. I mean real exercise that wears your dog out – the type that, when you’re all finished, sends your dog straight to its sleeping spot for a restful, satisfied nap.

In this day and age people don’t seem to pay much attention to whether the breed of dog they’re interested in getting suits their lifestyle or living space. You see German Shepherds in tiny apartments, Boxers in cramped backyards, Australian Cattle Dogs in two bedroom houses. It’s great that we have the option of getting any breed we desire. After all, why should it be a problem? You get a Border Collie, you feed it and bathe it and play fetch with it when you’re free. You even take it to puppy school and maybe more advanced Obedience classes. The dog gets to laze around on the couch all day. You’re taking care of your pet, right?

Well, not really. While you seem to be taking great care of your dog, you may notice some underlying issues below the surface. You come home to a destroyed couch, so you lock your dog up in a crate or in the backyard when you leave next time. But then you come back to a crying, howling dog and maybe some not-so-kind words from your neighbors about the noise – oh, and maybe a few freshly dug holes where your garden used to be. You decide that your Border Collie is getting out of line and hire a personal dog trainer to fix your pet, which doesn’t seem to be much help. Then, you maybe start noticing that your dog seems to be getting a bit chubby around the waist and that you’re having to take it to the vet more often with little (or big) health problems. Your dog doesn’t seem as energetic and full of life as it was before.

Do you want to know one possible reason why your dog may have been exhibiting destructive behavior and chewed your couch to bits in the first place? Boredom and excess energy. And the reason your dog may have been crying and digging holes in the backyard all day? Boredom and excess energy. The dog trainer probably didn’t help because your dog’s only problem isn’t with training – it’s with, you guessed it, boredom and excess energy. Of course each dog is an individual, but we see too many dogs and their owners falling into this type of pattern. Just about everybody has known somebody who has complained about these types of “behavioral” problems with their dog despite extensive training efforts. If you asked them how many times they exercise their dog, you likely would have heard something along the lines of “Oh, we let him out to go to the bathroom every day.” or “Oh, we toss the ball for him in the yard”.

Too many owners leave regular exercise out of the equation. They think that a walk around the block is all that any dog will ever need. This simply isn’t true. A pug may be happy with such a walk, but the aforementioned Collie will go nuts with boredom and excess energy if this is all the daily exercise it gets. All dogs were bred to do a certain job and some of these jobs require dogs to be more energetic than others. Your Border Collie, for example, was bred to herd cattle. This requires it to run around after cows and sheep and other livestock for hours on end. It requires a great amount of endurance and drive to work. It doesn’t matter that your particular dog has never seen a cow in its life – herding and working is in its blood. Your Border Collie is craving the type of physical activity it was bred to be good at and it is your job to provide it with said exercise. Our dogs rely on us to keep them happy and healthy and keeping them fit is a huge and essential part of their needs.

Here at 1 Fit Mutt, my goal is to help dogs achieve optimum fitness and happiness levels through regular exercise sessions. I realized that too many dogs don’t get the exercise they require. This lack of an essential outlet for dogs’ energies manifests itself in behavioral problems such as excessive barking, destructive tendencies, hyperactivity, and even aggressive behavior. On top of this, dogs who aren’t given the exercise they need can become overweight and develop all sorts of other health problems.

So right now I dare you to go outside with your dog and start running. See if you can make it to the next street and keep going.