Even without a gym you can easily keep yourself fit and healthy. Especially in summer, the mild temperatures, especially in the morning, can be used wonderfully to get active. And what better way to motivate yourself than together with your four-legged friend? Fitness for dog and owner is fun and literally bonds together!
Of course, for all exercises, you and your dog should be fit and healthy. Avoid exaggerations and adapt the training to your fitness.
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Overview
Warming up and cardio
Even if it is perhaps already a little warmer outside, it is still necessary to warm up the body to keep the risk of injury low. If you got up quite early so that it is still below 20 degrees Celsius, you can start with a relaxed jogging session. Give your dog the opportunity to sniff and get loose before you do this. If it is already warm outside, you should avoid cycling or rollerblading, as this can quickly underestimate the effort required by your dog.
Swimming
An optimal possibility to warm up is swimming together with the dog. Surely you also have a lake near you, where you are also welcome with your dog. Inform yourself at home about a possible dog ban and the water quality of the lake, especially regarding the danger of blue-green algae, which is especially prevalent in summer with high temperatures. If there are no reasons against bathing, you can start. Swim a few laps and lure your dog into it as well. Just five to ten minutes are enough for him at first, because swimming is very exhausting for him. Increase your time only slowly.
Planks
Find a quiet meadow to be able to do the exercises on soft ground without problems. Lie down flat on the floor and now angle your arms so that your weight is on your forearms. Your body is completely tense and straight, your lower body rests on your toes. Try to hold this exercise as long as you can to strengthen your trunk muscles. You can lure your dog from left to right underneath you and let him crawl back again, which also strengthens all his body muscles.
Wall sit
For this exercise you need a house wall or a suitable tree. Lean against it with your back and slide down with your upper body until your legs form a 90 degree angle. Be careful not to make a hollow back, but also to look for contact between your lower back and the wall or tree. Now you call your quadruped and let him sit next to you. You can either lure him under your bottom or let him sit and call for ” male “. ” Male” strengthens the back and the spine and demands a good portion of balance from your dog. Depending on which signals your four-legged friend knows, you can vary and let him for example also simply change between “sit”, “lay down” and “stand”. The main thing is that he stays a little bit in motion and with his attention with you.
Abdominal exercises
Find a soft surface and sit on the floor. Now you can start with classic but effective sit-ups. Let your dog sit next to you and motivate him to alternately give you his paws. The paw giving strengthens his forehand muscles. You can also give him the signal to do the “servant”. This should look like the game call among dogs, so that he presses his upper body to the ground but keeps his bottom in the air. Let him hold this exercise while you do Bycicle Crunches. To do this, lie on your back, put your hands on the back of your head and now touch alternately left knee with right elbow and right knee with left elbow.
“Dips” or also bar support
This exercise trains your upper arms intensively and you only need a bench. Sit on the front edge, place your hands to the left and right of you, now stretch your legs, slide forward and let your bottom down just above the floor. Now push yourself up again with your hands to lower your body again shortly after. Your dog can jump over your outstretched legs during this exercise or – depending on the size of your dog – sit on your lap as additional weight.
Repeat the different exercises after a short break and calmly get creative while involving your dog. He will certainly enjoy the shared activity and will participate enthusiastically. Maybe one or two treats will motivate him in case of doubt.
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We hope you enjoyed our How to Improve A Dogs Intelligence and Behavior article. We also hope that you learned a bit more and we would appreciate if you would share this article with other dog owners. Also read our article 10 good gift ideas for a dog
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