Overview
These daily dog exercises were taken from the Dog Training Planner.
Dog exercises are crucial for your dog’s well-being. Your dog has physical and mental daily exercise requirements. If you tire your dog out, you will have a happier dog. A tired dog is also a more well-behaved dog. A tired dog is easier to train. A tired dog is easier to socialise with other dogs. A tired dog will settle down in your home quickly.
Below are our top 10 daily dog exercises…
Video
The Daily Dog Exercises
If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see that I’ve written out all the steps from the video for you. I know. I know. I really am that nice (lol).
Videos are great if you’re a visual learner! Most people learn dog training drills best by first watching a video tutorial, and then having the written steps available during the training session, so they don’t get confused (Hey, if you want to completely avoid confusion, you might like to get your paws on my Dog Training Planner).
One Step At A Time
I’ve done you a huge psychological favour by hiding each step (except the first one). Complete a step before opening the next one. This one-step-at-a-time philosophy dramatically increases your chances of completing all the steps.
Exercise 1: Tuggy Game
Voted the most-liked game by 87 dog breeds
Step 1: One Toy
Designate only one toy for tugging.
Step 2: Put It Away
Don’t let your dog have the tugging toy whenever they want (put it away) You decide when it’s time for tugging play. This makes the toy special. When you’re done playing the tug game, put the toy away.
Step 3: Eye Level
Get at your dog’s eye level and encourage him to start playing.
Step 4: Tug
As soon as your dog holds onto the toy, gently move it around and encourage them to tug.
Step 5: Stop Tugging
When you want your dog to let go, keep hold of the toy but stop tugging and talk to him. The reward for letting go is getting to play some more.
Step 6: Let Go
Tell your dog to “let go” just before you stop tugging. Say it only once and be patient. Eventually, your dog will understand that to continue the game, they have to let go of the toy. As soon as your dog lets go of the toy say “good boy” and continue the game with a cue (e.g. “OK”).
Exercise 2: Woodland Walkies
Find a few special “woodland walkies” for your dog.
I have several “wood walks” that I can take my dog. When he gets within a few miles of the walk, he recognises where he is and starts getting excited. Use your dog walks as inspiration to find new and exciting (for you and your dog) walks in the woods.
Exercise 3: Coastal Walkies
If you live near the coast, collect a bunch of “coastal walkies” that you can go on.
I live near 30 minutes from amazing coastal wales (in West Wales). We love them and so does our collie. Use your dog walks as inspiration to find new and exciting (for you and your dog) coastal walks.
Exercise 4: Beach Walkies
Our dog prefers going walkies on coastal paths, but there’s a very large beach that is very popular with dog walkers a 30-minute drive from our house. It’s a great way for our dog to socialise with lots of other dogs.
Exercise 5: Beach Walkies With Swims
Most dogs love swimming, especially if they are older and have stiff joints.
Swimming is the ideal low-impact exercise (also for humans with stiff joints). You can even get a doggie life jacket to help your dog stay in the water longer for an optimum cardio workout.
Exercise 6: Rollerblade Walkies
If you have a cycle path near you, and you enjoy rollerblading, take your dog with you (don’t go too fast so that your dog can enjoy the walk).
Exercise 7: Fetch The Toy
Make sure your dog has access to a variety of toys and ensure they are well exercised, particularly before they are left on their own for any length of time.
Fetch may get a bit boring for you, but it will almost certainly be the most exciting activity for your dog. To keep your fetch game interesting for you and your dog come up with lots of different fetch games such as “retrieve a ball”, “throwing a ball into the sea”, “using a frisbee”, “using a tennis ball”, “using a soft ball”, etc.
I personally love the frisbee, and so does our dog, because they don’t ever get lost on walks, unlike tennis balls. You’ll save a fortune!
Fetch Tip: Throw the item on the ground next to them, as if you want your dog to fetch it. As it hits the ground say, “Leave it” and get your dog’s attention with a treat. If they give you their attention, reward them and give them an appropriate toy to chew. Repeat with a variety of household items and increase the value of the items when you are confident your dog won’t chew them. These steps will desensitize your dog to household items and encourage them to chew on their own toys.
Exercise 8: Obedience Dog Training
Obedience training reinforces basic commands and offers mental exercise, as well as physical exercise. You can also teach your dog fun new commands such as Lie Down, Sit, Cover Your Eyes, Dog Training With A Clicker, and the Close The Door Trick.
Exercise 9: Agility Dog Training
Agility is an amazing way to exercise your dog physically and mentally. Having your run through a dog agility course involves passing over and through a variety of obstacles.
Exercise 10: Flyball
Flyball is a fabulous way for dogs to get their daily exercise needs.
It includes all the exciting activities that dogs crave: running, jumping, fetching, and competing to please their owners. Any dog can participate in flyball no matter what the breed.
If you’ve never heard of “flyball” before, it is a dog sport where teams of dogs race against each other from the start to the finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad.
And one more for luck…
Exercise 11: Rally
In Rally, a dog and its handler move together through a course made up of up to twenty signs. Each sign displays a skill to perform such as turns or behaviours (e.g. sit, down, or stay).
Final Thoughts
Daily dog exercises shouldn’t involve cycling.
Cycling with a dog on roads is dangerous. Forcing your dog to keep up with you on your bike is dangerous for them, even if you think you’re giving them enough rest stops. Even if your town has a lovely cycle path, please avoid taking your dog with you. Even if your dog is an energetic collie, like mine, don’t take them cycling with you.
If, however, you do take your dog on bike rides, please give them plenty of rest stops, and go at a steady pace. Don’t push your dog to keep up with your fast pace.
Before you go, read on to discover the secret sauce to dog training success...
Loving Leadership
Have a philosophy of loving leadership when training your dog.
As a loving leader, you should be constantly working on the communication pathways with your dog. At the bare minimum, your dog should also have some basic commands such as the lie-down command, sit command, and stay command.
When your dog knows a few basic dog obedience commands he or she will feel loved because they know what you want and have no anxiety or fear about what they should be doing and when.
Once your dog has a few commands under his or her belt (I mean, collar), practice behaviour dog training, command dog training and tricks dog training regularly to ensure your dog is physically and mentally healthy. As you are probably acutely aware, untrained dogs have a way of taking over the control of a home if not taught otherwise (which can be a nightmare). A trained dog, however, will bring years of doggie love to your household.
Pssst. Don't tell anyone, but you can become a loving leader by getting your paws on my Dog Training Planner. You can get my Dog Training Planner for a limited time at a 70% discount.
