Staying fit is a lifestyle commitment and can be somewhat of a challenge if you have a busy schedule.

We stay active and fit a variety of ways.

One way is using moving puzzle toys for meal times. The puzzles are not only mentally stimulating because the dogs have to think through how to get the food out of the puzzle, but the dogs are also actively moving the puzzle around the house as they ‘hunt’ for the food pieces and are getting a little physical exercise.

One of our most favorite ways though is to go walking together, because it gets all of us moving. Walking anywhere in an off leash area that is not highly trafficked is our absolute favorite. It takes a lot of training and practice to walk together off lead. Many fosters drag a lead as they learn to stay with us, keep an eye out, and learn to come back when called. Terra has learned to check in and keep a watchful eye on where we are. Playing hide-and-seek and switching directions has taught her to be aware and stick around where before she would just go off on her own and disappear for long periods of time. Bella and Kronos have never wandered super far and they’re always aware of where I am or where I’m going. We do occasionally see people, cyclists, runners, or other people with dogs. When that happens I call everyone back and we either sit and stay until the person has gone by, then release back to our walk, or we leash up, walk by, then release back to running around.

Just walking three or more dogs on lead is not hard. What’s tough is when they all want to go sniff different things in different places at the same time. Then it’s tangled leashes and pulling in all different ways. Try that with ten or more dogs. It’s easiest just to walk straight ahead. Being able to walk in places where the dogs can truly run free also provides at least twice the amount of exercise that walking together leashed does.

However, we do still enjoy our leashed walks around the park, walking around the pet store, and when attending events.

Even if we only go for a short walk it is better than nothing, although we periodically go for longer walks to balance out the days when we may not go for a walk.

A few other ways we stay fit is playing on the fitpaws equipment, agility, and learning various tricks. Sit up is a great core strengthener and dancing is good to work out the hind legs.

Here are a few pictures from our walks around the block:

How are some ways you stay fit with your dog?