This Summer, Exercise with Your Dog in These 5 Ways
With the warm weather finally here, it’s a great time to get outside and exercise with your dog. This benefits you and your dog’s physical health, enhances your mental well-being, and strengthens the bond with your dog.
While it may be challenging to find time for regular exercise on busy days, it's crucial to prioritize it for you and your dog. This is because regular exercise can help prevent many health issues, ensuring both you and your dog's longevity and well-being.
Best Summer Dog Exercises
We have put together a list of activities that can be perfect for exercise.
- Take a Walk: Of course, the easiest method of exercise is to take them for a walk. Ideally, walks should be a daily year-round activity. Try to keep things exciting by occasionally changing the route or tackling some uphill terrain for more exercise.
- Take a Hike: Hiking some trails with your dog is an excellent summer activity. This helps to get you both out in nature and offers more difficult terrain for better exercise.
- Go for a Swim: Swimming is a staple activity during the summer months. It offers amazing exercise for you and your dog, and even better, it helps keep you both cool on those hot days. As a side note, not all dog breeds can swim, so make sure this is doable for your dog before taking a swimming trip with them.
- Biking: If you’re looking to step up the speed of your exercise, you can try biking with your dog. If your dog hasn’t done this before, just start slow to get used to being on the leash while you bike.
- Fetch: Fetch is a classic when it comes to exercising your dog. This is an especially great activity for the summer as it can be done outside or inside for those really hot days.
Tips for Safe Summer Exercise for Dogs
While staying active in the summer months is important, you also need to stay safe in the heat. Here are some tips to help you both stay safe during the hot months.
- Stay hydrated: Bring water everywhere for you both to stay hydrated during exercise.
- Avoid hot pavement: Hot pavement can be dangerous and painful for your dog’s paws, so try to avoid it.
- Take breaks: Remember to take regular breaks so you both can rest.
- Pick the right time: Choosing the right time for dogs to exercise can help ease discomfort from the heat. Try exercising in the early morning or late evening to avoid the hottest part of the day.
As always, Get Joy is here for any health and wellness needs for your dogs, including Health Services, supportive Supplements, and Fresh Meal Plans.
