Running with my dog?

Munro

I am kickstarting a new fitness regiment this summer, and I am thinking about taking my dog with me on runs/jogs whatever. She really likes to get out of the house and since I spend a good amount of time running, she'd get to spend more time out and about than she would if I just took her on walks and let her chill in the backyard. She's not fat, or unhealthy... she doesn't really need exercise or anything. I'm just trying to ask anyone else that has a pet whether or not they might like a short jog each morning.

Tucanwarrior13

Dogs usually take to running pretty well. Although some are easily distracted and will suddenly stop for something jerking you with them. ha.

Gabriel_Pitt

I took my dog running all the time. Especially if it's a larger dog, it's going to love getting out, and it's not like more exercise is a bad thing.

Ruckus

Most Medium to Large sized dogs take to running fine.

I would not, however, attempt to take my roommate's chihuahua running.

Tucanwarrior13

That would be a terrbile run. Although you'd be walking and the dog would be at a pretty much all out sprint. blaaaaaah.

What kind of dog do you want to take running?

Rook

My Jack Russel will always try and run with me if possible, and we had a scottish deer hound that loved doing it too. I think it's going to be pretty obvious if they're enjoying it or just plain not interested

Munro

I have a yellow labrador. She's a bit under-sized for her breed, but she isn't small by any other measure. I'd guess that she clocks in at around 70 or 80 pounds.

METAzraeL

I have a dog whose pedigree is roughly half bear and half table. He loves to go on walks, but barely makes it back. I'm hoping to get him up to running status in the next...few months, if the vet rotters ever get back to me on the thyroid testing. Your dog will love running with you. If it hasn't gotten too much exercise recently, work your runs up from shorter times/distances. Oh, and try and run when it's cool out, evening or morning, so the dog's pads don't get burned up on hot cement (assuming you're doing street running). Water is another consideration.

EggyToast

Dogs are fine going on runs; they can usually run longer than their owners. The trick is to have a very well-trained dog. A well-trained dog is one that looks ahead, keeps focused on running, and doesn't stop to be distracted by every different smell or sight.

A dog that normally doesn't go running is going to require some training to get it into that mode. It should be possible for basically any dog, as long as it's actually received some form of training at home. Is your dog well-behaved at home?

The thing that strikes me the most about running with a dog is that the dog is going to get a lot of energy running, and is going to be a little hyper. That's where training is key. When you stop for a light, or when you take a break, or when you pass other runners, you want your dog to stay with you. You don't want it to run into traffic, or yap at other dogs or bark/nip at other runners.

TheCanMan

Ruckus wrote: »

Most Medium to Large sized dogs take to running fine.

I would not, however, attempt to take my roommate's chihuahua running.

Although I think a chihuahua might make a better running partner than my bulldogs.

Nima

Unless you run very fast, your dog should trot along with you just fine.

However, my brother took my dog running, and reported it was annoying as she stopped every now and again to sniff things, and weaved back and forth and was generally a pain. This stuff isn't much of an issue when walking, but obviously becomes so when you start running, so as the others said, try to train your dog to walk smoothly beside you first.

Ferrus

As some other people already mentioned: Your dog will need some time to learn that running means running steadily at your side... And not through some hedge or towards that other dog across the street. At first, one of you will be yanking the other around I fear. I don't know about your dog but from what I recall, Labradors are bred for hunting. This could turn out to be a problem, depending on where you usually run because untrained hunting dogs are even more prone to "follow their nose" than normal breeds.

Blake T

Dogs enjoy running, it is a bit of a no brainer.

You do however need to train them when they run outside to remember to stop and sit next to every road they come across, it teaches them not to run across roads willy-nilly.

Gabriel_Pitt

I suppose the most important question is how well trained the dog is. I would loathe to go jogging with anything larger than a spaniel if it didn't know how to both heel, and sit.

X5

Ruckus wrote: »

Most Medium to Large sized dogs take to running fine.

I would not, however, attempt to take my roommate's chihuahua running.

This is an accurate statement for the most part, depending on the length of your jog.

I've jogged with a Dachshund, and Beagle, And a Labrador. I am tall and have big strides, Larger breeds can keep up with a good run for longer in my experience.

One important thing to keep in mind is the climate of where you run.

In Colorado, I can run with my lab on a normal day until I am tired. However, In places that are hotter and more humid, you will want to run earlier in the morning, or around sunset. A dogs coloring, and coat can affect to a large degree how long they can go. If I'd go running much past 9am in south Texas, my lab would overheat before my run was done. Just keep that in mind and plan your run accordingly.

Munro

She's well trained, but I have never trained her to heel or to run in place with me. She's not a puppy anymore, but she's not really old either. At the same time, I really haven't trained her to do much of anything in the last four years (She turned six on April the 28th [I'm not one of those people, but I had her since she was a week old]). I don't really remember how I taught her to sit and fetch and whatnot, and she's older now so I'll have to be more patient. There's no real getting around that fact, but if I have an idea of a good approach, at least, it will be more painless for both of us.

Actually, if it's legal, I wanted to ask another (long, training related) question...

My dog has had an electric fence since she was very young, probably since about 10 months, but when she was around four years old it broke and wasn't replaced for a period of maybe 5 months. (She has a radio collar and it's the little shock kind. She's a real big dog and I've felt it shock me through my skin, sans long thick fur, so it's not terrible). During those months we would just let her outside for short periods and once she figured that the restraint system was gone, (It used to beep a little when she got near her boundaries, and she figured that she needed to wander nearer to the house when she heard that) she'd roam a bit past our yard sometimes (We're not allowed to put up any sort of actual fence in my suburb). When we replaced her fence (with an identical make/model), I was entering my freshman year of college. I was always the one that had taken time to train her before, and since she was reluctant to go outside with her fence collar (The one that delivers a mild shock), neither my mother nor my brother has bothered to try and get her back within this electric fence system. Now she knows she can roam without the collar and she won't even step outside with her collar on. This makes it hard to let her out whenever she wants to go out because I have to watch her outside and call her back every couple of minutes so she doesn't end up down the block chilling in a neighbor's yard.

I want to try and force her back into this fence system this summer, for her own good, but as I mentioned it's hard to even get her to step outside when I put her collar on now. It worked for her for years, but now she's scared and very untrusting of the stability of the fence's boundaries. Is this something that I still have the opportunity to correct? Can anyone help me out as far as ideas are concerned? I want to help her so that we can let her lay out in the backyard more on sunny days, because she wants to go out walking at all hours of the day and night during the summer and though I love to oblige her maybe once or twice a day, the current situation where she can only go outside for a minute or two while I'm watching her from the inside isn't working for anyone, especially since my little brother and my mother tend to just let her out and forget she's out there, in which case I'll be awoken or put off from what I'm doing so that I can patrol the block and find our dog...

If I can get her back to being alright with the idea of the electric fence, she'll be able to go outside more, my mother and my brother won't be unleasing her on our entire community anymore (Though she is friendly and harmless, I'd like to respect the kids around here that don't really like dogs, and I don't really want anything to happen to her around the kids that do like dogs), and the situation would improve for everyone in the house, including her. She is very resistant to anything involved with the collar (She won't go outside wearing it, and she won't leave the patio if I'm holding it), but I'm hoping something can still be done if I'm diligent and patient.

Edit_edit: Is there still a way to change the title of your topic, or was that removed?

EggyToast

Try putting the collar on her when she's already outside. You say that she won't go off the patio if you're holding it, so try a two person approach -- get her into the yard, and then put the collar on.

What you could also do is use a harness for running and see how she takes to that. You know, the kind that go around the upper torso of the dog, rather than around the neck. As it sits in a different place and I'm sure feels different for the dog, she may not associate it with the electric fence.

Once she's outside and is wearing something, she will likely be more open to the idea of trying on the electric fence collar, as well. Worst case scenario, though, is that you have an easy ability to get her outside for play and running that she hopefully won't associate with the fence at all.

As for working only with the collar, how does your dog play? I mean, if you had a lot of patience and didn't mind looking funny, you could always get down to her level and put the collar on, say, your arm, and move with her to see that you don't get shocked. She may not associate the two things, so you may want to try just putting the collar on her back, not actually attached to her. She's afraid of the collar now, rather than the fence, which is why she's reluctant to put it on. Rather than associating her boundaries with the "electric fence," she now thinks that it's only the collar giving her shocks, and that it would do it semi-randomly. She's forgotten about the beeping, but she should pick it up again almost immediately once she hears them, since she was trained with it before.