Physical vs mental exercise

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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 19th, 2009, 6:57 am

Every morning I take Inara for a 20-30 minute walk before I go to work. She's more interested in meandering along, sniffing and peeing on all the rocks that she has claimed as hers. I'm more interested in the physical exercise.

Which is more beneficial before being stuck in the crate - physical exercise or the mental stimulation allowed by sniffing?
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Postby mnp13 » August 19th, 2009, 7:25 am

I don't think sniffing is "mental exercise" :| If she was tracking it would be, but the way she's doing it it's kind of like you reading People magazine instead of Tolstoy's War and Peace.

If you want to give her mental stimulation, do some obedience work with her or 5 minutes of teaching a new trick or some clicker training work. Something that is making herthink

And "stuck" in the crate or not, all they do is sleep all day anyway :|
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 19th, 2009, 8:00 am

That's kind of what I figured, too. I like getting her out in the morning to stretch her legs (and mine) a bit. People always think I'm so mean because I don't let her stop to pee while walking, but when we're walking, we're WALKING.

And I know she sleeps all day - as soon as we go in the door after our walk she runs straight to her crate to lie down (though she then hops up and starts drooling when I break out one of Erin's treats for her).
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Postby mnp13 » August 19th, 2009, 10:34 am

Teach her a pee command. I make Riggs and Ruby heel, then I let them sniff and pee, then they heel for a while, then they get to sniff and pee, lather, rinse, repeat.

If they stop when they are not allowed to, I just keep on walking and drag them along. then once they start walking again, I release them to sniff and pee.
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 19th, 2009, 11:10 am

That's exactly what I do, too. "Go potty" is her potty command, and she knows that then she's allowed to wander off and sniff and mark.
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Postby iluvk9 » August 19th, 2009, 11:14 am

Inara isn't a "morning person". That's all. :debby:
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Postby mnp13 » August 19th, 2009, 11:16 am

pitbullmamaliz wrote:That's exactly what I do, too. "Go potty" is her potty command, and she knows that then she's allowed to wander off and sniff and mark.


Then once she's done with that, it's time to walk.
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Postby TheRedQueen » August 19th, 2009, 11:19 am

I actually have a cue for walking...it's "Walking!" (really) I say this to them when I want to go somewhere, and they're poking along sniffing.

Ripley hates that cue...he much prefers to sniff and dawdle. He's a toodle-r...
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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 19th, 2009, 11:56 am

If she's dawdling, I say "C'mon!" and she trots right on. Normally. Sometimes I have to drag her away if it's a particularly fantastic sniff.
"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

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Postby pitbullmamaliz » August 19th, 2009, 11:57 am

iluvk9 wrote:Inara isn't a "morning person". That's all. :debby:


You have so obviously never met my dog! lol You can ask Michelle - Inara is a "anytime of the day" dog. 24/7 she's raring to go! Erin will get to experience that soon, too, as will Jody. Lucky them. :wink:
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Postby Malli » August 19th, 2009, 12:32 pm

yep, just make her walk.
When I take Oscar, we have 2-3 minutes at the beginning of the walk, he has a pee and a poop, and then we walk.

I'm glad to hear I don't have the only dawdling dog - in Oscar's case I'd wondered if it was an indication of discomfort, and though I'd pretty much decided against that, this just confirms it :)
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Postby SvcDogSawyer » August 19th, 2009, 1:23 pm

I've never had that issue with Sawyer. The damn dog won't go potty when he's with me and he gets pissed when I stop moving. If he starts thinking about pottying and he hears the scooter click those thoughts just disappear.
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Postby Malli » August 20th, 2009, 2:47 am

wow!

come to think of it though, its only really when you want them to go that they don't, isn't it? :|
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Postby TheRedQueen » August 20th, 2009, 8:57 am

pitbullmamaliz wrote:
You have so obviously never met my dog! lol You can ask Michelle - Inara is a "anytime of the day" dog. 24/7 she's raring to go! Erin will get to experience that soon, too, as will Jody. Lucky them. :wink:


I think it's an Inara thing. And be glad you don't get to experience MY Inara... :shock: She's not for the faint of heart!
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