May 10, 2013

FitDog Friday: Dogs Don't Do Pilates

Today we are once again joining SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place for the FitDog Friday blog hop.

Yesterday I asked Rita if she wanted to go do a cardio workout with me. Of course she did! We live at the end of a street that splits off into three separate deadends, each with a STEEP hill. Luckily we live at the top of the one deadend, so we don't have to always start our walk with a long uphill slog. But yesterday, I decided we'd hit the hills in each deadend, one right after the other. It was a good little 35 minute cardio workout and we were both panting by the end of it.

But Rita didn't really care about that - she just wanted to get out and GO! She doesn't give a hoot about cardio vs. strength training, and could care less about the latest fitness fad.

Don't get me wrong. She does cardio:
"I love aerobics, especially water aerobics! Gotta get the heart rate up!"

And strength training:
"More resistance, Momma! I need more resistance!"


Of course, she also makes time for stretching:
"You can make time for stretching by stretching & noshing at the same time."

And she knows that you need to recover after a hard workout:
"This is an important part of my recovery. Every athlete knows that!"

Abby even had a great core workout that she liked to do. (You think situps work your core - try digging on three legs!)

But Rita's not worried about getting in three hour-long cardio sessions a week, plus 2 - 3 strength sessions, or about keeping her heart rate at eighty percent of her max. She doesn't need a gym membership or any fancy equipment. She doesn't need a pedometer, a chronometer or an MP3 player. She just wants to move more, get out more, have more fun.

So, get out with your pup. Toss a toy around the yard. Chase each other around the dining room table. Move more, do more, enjoy more! It's good for you and the dog!

Happy FitDog Friday!


32 comments:

  1. We have at least 2 hours on the park each day and after that all we want to do is sleep and dream of squirrels. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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    1. Wow - 2 hours at the park is pawesome! Rita is jealous. She usually only gets an hour.

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  2. Woof! Woof! I would LOVE to go work out with you. But I you can't blame Rita for liking the beach. Oh I do like the way she stretch with a Tasty bone. Oh I sure missing digging (ooops don't tell that to my mom). Happy FitDog Friday. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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    1. Digging is good exercise - but we only encourage it at the beach of course!

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  3. Yep, that's all they want, and really all they need.

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  4. thats what was going on at our house last night too...long walks!
    stella rose

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    1. Long walks are great. Whenever I start to feel a little bored with the walking routine, I try to remember how much Rita loves it and go with that!

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  5. Great workout - hills are high intensity! Good advice too - you don't need any of that fancy stuff for yourself, or for your dogs (even though our App is a grea tool to help gauge feeding requirements & exercise). LOL at Abby digging with her nose. Our dog Tino - who had a bad back leg used to dig with his nose! Thanks for joining our Hop and reminding everyone that movement (any kind) is the key to health.

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    1. Well, yes - the SlimDoggy app would be great for measuring exercise! Wish we had a smart phone, but I just have a dumb phone. I'd love to know how far we go on our walks. Pretty sure we're getting in a marathon a week at least.

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  6. Great post! Wilson and I chase Jimmy around the pool table in the basement when the weather doesn't cooperate. I'm sure it looks quite silly but we all have fun!

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  7. I like her style! It's great when dogs and people have a natural propensity to activity and healthy movement. Mine is more toward being a lump, which is not good!

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    1. I've never had a dog that wanted to just be a lump. Sometimes, I must admit, I kinda wish I did... at least for a day here or there!

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  8. It's so great to see Rita running like the wind with no thought to having one less leg...Who cares? She's happy and healthy and fit and it shows :)

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    1. Oh, Rita has all her legs... It was our last dog Abby that was missing one - but she also ran like the wind and didn't care. She was AMAZING. (Miss that girl...)

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  9. Great lessons from our dogs- just get out and move! Hills always wear our whole pack out too.

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    1. Hills are hard to avoid in our neighborhood! We usually try to go the easiest route with the smallest hill, but we can't avoid them completely.

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  10. While I do enjoy some exercising I would SO like to enjoy it all the way dogs do.

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    1. Oh gosh - me too! Wouldn't it be great if we were chomping at the bit to exercise the way our dogs are??

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  11. So much we could accomplish if we only thought like a dog!

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    1. Yes! I try to remind myself frequently to be more dog-like!

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  12. I used to track and plan my workouts all of the time. Now that I am older I just focus on moving more and sitting less. It makes "working out" more fun. I still need to step it up a little bit myself but Chester and Gretel are at a perfect weight.

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    1. Me too - I used to keep track in a notebook, and take my heartrate and all that stuff. (Of course... I was also way more fit then...) But now I just try to "move more" - which was my NY's resolution. Or part of it - move more, listen more, enjoy more.

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  13. What a lovely & uplifting article on exercising your dog. It's so true that dogs are not caught up in all that guff like us humans. Living in the moment & doing just what feels good has its obvious benefits. I think that's what makes exercising with them so much fun........

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    1. They do make the best exercise partners, don't they?!

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  14. Great post and love those photos :-)

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    1. She does this one stretch that's so funny. Wish I could catch a snap of it. When she's up on the couch or the bed, she'll get half way down and do this big down-dog stretch while her back feet are still up on the sofa. So funny.

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  15. Love all the pix and the video of your dear little Abby too! Rita was up for any FitDog challenge! Loved the strength training too! ha!

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    1. I need to get a video of the other "strength training" she does - when we are at the beach, if we find a ball, she'll hang on to it while I pull her up and then we run along, with only her back feet on the ground. Pretty cute.

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  16. Looks like a great workout!
    We can learn so much from our pets!

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    1. Rita's always up for a workout - only it's not "work" to her - it's a "funout" I guess. :)

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