Always available, always ready for a workout, your dog makes the perfect exercise companion. You may not realize it because you're having a good time, but simple games and activities are fantastic calorie burning, cardiovascular workouts for both you and your dog. Just by walking your dog daily, you can lose an average of 14 pounds (6.3 kilograms) in a year [source: Zerbe]. Read the tips listed below and learn about how to exercise with your dog.
- Tracking Teaching your dog how to track items is not only great exercise, it's great training. Get your dog to stay while you walk backwards, showing it a reward. Make sure to walk slowly and hold the reward close to the ground to produce a strongly scented trail. Leave the reward on the ground and then walk back toward your dog along the same path. Teach your dog sniff out the reward when commanded to track. As your dog learns how to track, increase the path difficulty and patterns [source: Purina].
- Fetch This classic dog and owner game is surprisingly aerobic. First teach your dog to fetch over short distances. Allow your dog to see and sniff an object, and then throw the object a short distance with the command "fetch". When it brings back the object, reward it with a treat [source: Purina]. Once your dog has mastered the command, you can take it to the park, where you can throw longer distances. Incorporating a Frisbee will increase the workout intensity and the fun [source: Zerbe].
- Swimming Many breeds of dogs are natural swimmers. Take your dog to a calm body of water and see if it would like to swim alongside you. If your dog likes the water, you can play fetch in the water with floatable, brightly colored toys that will be easy for your dog to grab [source: Zerbe].
