What's a good way to exercise a Boxer?
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Skaiflaya (#15154)
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Agh. So I have a German Shepherd, Boxer mix, and he is just a bundle of energy. I swear you could play with him all day and he'd still want to play. I'd love to go hiking or running with him, but I live in a city, and there's no good places here to take him to that aren't very far - (especially with the weather getting warmer, I don't want to go off too far).
It's usually rather difficult to run with him; whenever I run a lot with him, he starts attacking my feet. He even almost tripped me earlier today when I was sprinting. (I ran into a trashcan though. No falling for me.)
I was thinking about bringing him across the street a ways to my highschool, and play fetch with him or something on our stadium football field. (We have dogparks here, but I don't want to have to worry about him getting in a fight with another dog, or getting any sicknesses.) The field is fenced in well, so there's no way he can get out.
Anyways, back to my main point; for all those Boxer/Boxer mix owners out there, are there any effective ways you have to tire them out? I'm running out of ideas. :p
It's usually rather difficult to run with him; whenever I run a lot with him, he starts attacking my feet. He even almost tripped me earlier today when I was sprinting. (I ran into a trashcan though. No falling for me.)
I was thinking about bringing him across the street a ways to my highschool, and play fetch with him or something on our stadium football field. (We have dogparks here, but I don't want to have to worry about him getting in a fight with another dog, or getting any sicknesses.) The field is fenced in well, so there's no way he can get out.
Anyways, back to my main point; for all those Boxer/Boxer mix owners out there, are there any effective ways you have to tire them out? I'm running out of ideas. :p
Forgetme-not (#33227)
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02-19-2014 at 4:56 AM
If your dog is up-to-date on his vaccinations, you shouldn't have to worry about him getting sick. Besides, dogs can pick up illnesses without going to dog-parks (for example, all it takes is one dog with parvo shedding the bacteria somewhere along a path or the grass for an unvaccinated dog to pick it up). <br /> <br /> Have you thought about training him to pull/drive? I've seen people on rollerskates in the park where I live, having their dogs pull them in a harness along the paths. It looks like it'd be wicked fun, and a great way to wear your dog out. I've also seen variations of this for the winter (called skijoring) where the dog pulls a person on ski's, and another variation which has the dog pulling the owner on a bicycle. <br /> <br /> Or, you could totally try hooking him up to a bike and going from there— they even make attachments for bikes specifically for the purpose of attaching a dog leash in a manner that if the dog pulls won't crash the bike. <br /> <br /> <br /> As well, we have used treadmills with some success when we've wanted to exercise our dogs but couldn't get outside. The bonus is that when they're done, we can use them as well. <br /> <br /> You could also consider training him for some kind of dog-sport. Agility, flyball and carting are all sports that people train their dogs in, that gives the dog a "job" to keep them busy with mentally and physically. It is also fantastic for building a solid bond with your dog. <br /> <br /> Perhaps the simplest solution would be purchasing a back-pack for him, and putting weights in it (like waterbottles!) (but make sure you introduce any weight gradually!!) and taking him for his daily exercise. We use these with our boxers when we go hiking in the mountains, and they carry all sorts of things for us, from condiments to their own waterbottles. Adding a weight filled backpack to any exercise you do with your dog will help tire him out more quickly, as well as keep him in shape and build muscle. <br /> <br /> I can't think of any more off the top of my head at the moment however....<br /> Good luck! Hope some of my suggestions were useful!