Tips for conditioning my Corgi?
My Corgi isn't fat but her muscle tone sucks. I wanna get her in shape because then she's less likely to have hip or back problems down the road. She has been given the green light by the vet to start an exercise program (so long as I don't push her too hard, too fast and it doesn't involve jumping) I just don't know what I want to do.
I'd love to take her swimming but I don't have a pool.
I'd love to take her jogging but she's lazy and won't go faster than a fast trot (which isn't enough to keep up with me when I'm jogging.)
I'd throw toys for her but it's rare when she's in the mood to chase them.
Long walks are an option (she has yet to actually quit on me during a walk) but I was hoping to find some other things to do so we have variety. :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by susan on
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Definitely start with walking. As she gets in better shape, she might be able to jog for short stretches with you. Do you have a place you can go hiking? Or, a beach where she has to walk in sand? Either of those would be great.
You can build toy drive in her maybe, to chase a tennis ball. Start with just a few throws, not very far and have a big party when she retrieves. Just never over do it. Always leave them wanting more. If its just one throw, then ok. Maybe next week it will be two.
If you have another person you can do recall games between you. Its great exercise and it builds recall reliability. Again, don't over do it so she always want to run at you with break neck speed!
Swimming is an excellent exercise. In my area there is a doggie aquatic center that you can pay to use. Maybe you have something wherever you are? Herding is another sport that builds endurance.
All fun stuff! :)
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Permalink Reply by Starry on
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That recall game sounds useful. She loves food and I often have food when I call her so she comes running at a fast trot or slow canter. Maybe I can get somebody else in my household to participate so we could call her back and forth.
Hmmmmm *rubs chin* so you think that if I got her where she could easily walk with me for a couple miles that she might become more interested in going faster? (Well I walk, she trots so her short legs can keep up with me.)
On the subject of play, one time, I was playing with my mom's dog (basically just dangling the toy in its face while it playfully nipped it over and over) and Madison came up like she was interested so I threw the toy and she chased it enthusiastically and retrieved it to me a bunch of times. I've tried to repeat that scenario but it's doesn't always work. Madison's like a car that's hard to start. Hard to get her going but once you do she'll play until I get bored xD lol! I'm wondering what else I can do to excite her.
Where I live is sort of a country area so we don't have fancy things like dog aquatic centers :( I'd probably have to travel at least 45 miles to find one.
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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on
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Doggy walks. Might try for a mile or two a day. Ball-chasing, if she'll do it. Child-chasing? Got a neighbor with a little kid or puppy who'd play with her?
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So, my goal should be to make it so she has the endurance to do a two mile walk? I think that's doable.
Unfortunately, I don't know anybody with a kid or puppy for her to play with and I'm not sure she'd want to play with a puppy seeing as if my mom's dog tries to play with her she's not interested, but still thanks for the suggestion! At the very least it's food for thought.
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As long as the weather's cool, two miles is as nothing for these dogs. That's assuming there's no back, hip, or leg pain in the offing.
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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Besides walks, I definitely second the idea if you have a place to either hike or go to the beach. We bounce a tennis ball off our front door or wall for Noodles and he enjoys this for a while. Also, Noodles loves playing Frisbee in our backyard.
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Hmm, there are some regional parks like 20-30 miles from me that have hiking. That might be something I could do every once in awhile.
I think you have to do some preparation before going hiking, right? Like doesn't Madison need to have a certain amount of conditioning? How do I know when she's ready? And how do I know how long to hike with her before I've pushed her too hard?
I suppose it depends on the difficulty of the trails. I have no idea what the trail difficulty is but if they're not easy-medium I'm going to go somewhere else.
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Where do you live? Depends on the terrain.
Walk the dog on the sidewalks (or streets, if you don't have sidewalks), working up from a block to a couple of miles or more, to toughen up the foot pads. Train her to heel so she will not lunge off after things.
Take plenty of water and something like a Sierra cup or other small unbreakable bowl that you can use to dispense water to the dog. Be sure to bring enough water for yourself AND the dog.
Pack a first-aid kit with gear for yourself AND the dog. This should include a pair of tweezers for removing stickers.
If you live in an area with rattlesnakes or other venomous critters, be sure to keep the dog on a leash at all times and use it to prevent her from sticking her nose under plants and rocks. If you live in a region that hosts deer ticks, apply protection before going out.
If you live in an area where it gets warm, stay off the trails when weather hits 85 or 90 degrees; in my observation, corgis don't seem to tolerate warm weather very well. In the desert, temperatures can be significantly higher on the ground than they are even a foot or two higher, so what seems tolerable to you may not be to a short-legged dog.
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Very interesting about it being hotter on the ground! I did not know that. And yeah I noticed that she likes the cold. If it's above 75 in my house she pants. I used to think that maybe she was getting a fever (I've had dogs that wouldn't pant until it got to like 90) but when I'd take her rectal temperature it was always 99.5 which is actually on the low end of normal. So I guess 75 degrees just makes her FEEL too hot. Nonetheless, it's uncomfortable for her.
In other news, I just got back from a walk that was according to Google maps was 80% of a mile. I think this is the longest we've went without me stopping to give her a break. She seemed to tire but she never went slower than a slow trot (except for the like 5 times she stopped to poop or pee). So maybe it was a good workout.
We sorta kinda have sidewalks around here. There is a busy street close to me and it has an asphalt bike trail. Otherwise I just walk in the street or next to the street (if it's got places not covered in grass, grass has been making her sneeze).I'm not sure how to train her to stay at heel at all times. She never walks in front of me or pulls on the leash but she's always either beside me (yet out like two feet away from me) or behind me (sometimes so close that I gotta be careful I don't accidentally hit her in the face with my heel.) For most of our walks she's behind me. How do I encourage her into heel position? Just pull her forward and cease letting her walk behind me?
I do have a portable water thing for dogs :) It comes with a built in tray. I don't have anything for myself, though. I guess I should get something.
I've also been meaning to build a first aid kit. I should really do that.
Yeah, I'd definitely keep her on leash at all times. Who knows if she'd want to chase something or if I'd have to pull her away from something dangerous.
I think we do have rattlesnakes.
I don't think we have ticks but I can ask.
What would I put all this stuff in? A backpack that I wear?
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heh heh! Dogs will lead you into all sorts of new walks of life, eh? :-D
If she doesn't go too far forward and doesn't lag behind and you don't CARE whether she would win any prizes in the show ring, you're probably OK. If you want her to walk right beside you all the time, then you're best served by an obedience-training class, where the humans show you how to train her while the dog has fun. What you want is just that she not wander off the trail and you're enough in control that you can give her a little jerk to stop her from sticking her nose where it could get bitten. Never, ever let her off the leash in the sticks, no matter what anyone says.
A first-aid kit is handy to have in the car under any circumstances. And if it's small enough, you can carry it on a hike. But I have a little baggie -- nothing elaborate -- that has a few bandaids, some moleskin (stick-on stuff that supposedly helps with pending blisters, tho' personally I prefer a bandaid), a little gauze, a small roll of paper tape to hold gauze on with, some antibiotic ointment, a roll of that self-stick sprained-joint support tape stuff, and a pair of tweezers). Some people carry aspirin, or Rx painkillers if they have some left over from previous surgery. I'm allergic to the former and don't use the latter, so just have to gut it out if I break my ankle and must hop back to the trailhead on the other leg.
If you're not going far (say, a mile or two), an ordinary fanny pack will do, the kind of thing old ladies (like me) use to replace a purse. Don't do that...you'll look like a cranky old lady. ;-) I have one that has a couple of pockets to hold water bottles. Since I drink a lot of water on the trail myself, I'll carry two bottles, one for me and one to be sure there's plenty for the pooch, too. Usually don't use them both, but better to have too much water than too little.
Another option is a day pack. If you don't camp and you don't hike way to heck and gone into the sticks, an ordinary kid's school book backpack will do the job. If you get bitten by the outdoor bug (ya jog, eh? Every done any cross-country running? Now that's fun!), you'd probably like a decent day pack with pockets on the sides to hold water bottles and junk and then a larger zippered packet to hold clothes, jackets, food, soap, your camp stove, and heaven only knows what. These critters can be had at REI, Sportsman's Warehouse, Sports Authority, sometimes at Target, Amazon...if you're military or know anyone who is, you can sometimes find nice ones at a BX.
A Sierra cup is a stainless steel cup that holds maybe 8 or 10 ounces of liquid with a wire kind of handle that doesn't transmit heat from your coffee to your fingers and that (in theory) can be hooked onto your belt. Assuming you don't mind losing it that way. Any small plastic container will do the job for the dog.
Eight-tenths of a mile is not bad! Cassie the Corgi will start to resist at about a half mile. If I stop, sit or hunker down on the ground, and let her rest for just a couple of minutes, she'll start right back up again and keep zipping along the rest of the way. I walk faster than I can jog (yah...another function of old age!), so we're probably going about 1/2 to 3/4 as fast as you jog, if you're under about 50 years old. You should be able to get her up to a mile in another couple of days. No need to overdo: you have years to fool around with this.
I live about three miles from a "mountain" park (some out-of-towners would call those things "hills"). The trail up North Mountain is about 1.5 mile (maybe a little more) up to maybe 1500 feet. Among the infamous "Regulars," there used to be a couple who had a corgi that walked up there with them EVERY DAY. So for sure, despite the short legs, it's possible to condition a corgi to hike in the desert, uphill.
If you're in a public park, bring pooper-picker-upper bags so as not to leave any annoyances behind on the trail.
But watch out! Hiking is addictive...
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I noticed in your pics that she is very out of shape, so start slow. And every three or four days give her a day off at first til she builds some condition. Agreed with Vicky about being careful of paw pads getting sore.
Start out with a half-mile and build up slowly to a mile or two.
Off-leash hiking is ideal if you can find a place to do it.
One of the best ways to build condition is hill work; trotting up a longish moderate grade really works their hind end. Hind end muscles are very important because many Corgis have loose hip sockets and the strong muscles can protect the joint.
I also agree with recall games to get her running. You can either do this with a partner, or you can build a very strong stay and do it yourself by putting her in a sit/stay, walking away, and then calling her to you. Encourage her to run full speed in her recall; it prevents her from getting distracted by an interesting smell along the way.
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