Pooch to 5k
Running with dogs
Introducing Linc, the Hungarian Visla who runs with El Fischer, from Queeensland, Australia. This isn’t his best look (look at those flying flews!), but Linc is a lean mean running machine. He’s had quite a bit of time off in the last 12 months, as his family has been adapting to life with new babe …
My Australian Working Kelpie, Guinness, is an entire male, and his life’s purpose is to pee on every vertical tree or pole that we pass on a run. As you can imagine, this can get a bit frustrating.
At what point do you stop your dog from doing this, and force him hurry along with you?
I think everyone will have a different point of view on this. Some may say that I’m the boss and when his bladder is empty, he shouldn’t be allowed to sniff and pee. I don’t quite agree with that.
The other week I took Sinner for a run while my daughter was attending Guides. It was a fine cool evening and on a nice hilly course the dog and I were just rolling along. We ended up running for an hour and a half, covering seventeen kilometres.
I must at this point emphasise that Sinner is four and has been running for three years with me. I started him running with a very similar program to the Pooch To 5 k. Thankfully, he’s never been unfit or obese so it has never been difficult to take him out for a slightly longer run than he’s used to. But that’s the key: The longer run has only ever been slightly longer than we’ve done previously. And where I’ve raised one criteria for the run, I’ve relaxed others. (more…)
I was looking at some of the alternatives to running with your dog. I came to the conclusion that not only are we helping you and your pet get fitter and healthier, we’re doing our bit to keep the family budget under control while it happens.
For instance, you could hire someone to run with your dog for you. This service is offered in Sydney, Australia, and many places overseas. The Australian service charges $20.00 per half hour, overseas they charge as much as $45.00 for a 45 minute run.
So even on the cheap side, using the Pooch To 5k program can save you around 17 hours of dog runner rental at $40.00 per hour = $680.00 – and that isn’t counting the cost of a personal trainer for you!
This is a race report from Jen Da Silva, owner of Girl.
Our first North Lakes run, and what an event it was! It’s great to see dog friendly runs out there!
Girl and I started at the back of the group and ran through a scenic 10km course along the North Lakes pathways.
We passed the Golf course and lagoons filled with bird wild life. The course had a nice feel to it with large pathways which were beautifully landscaped with bush and native plants.
The weather was great, a nice clear day although it did heat up quickly, Girl had stopped for a few swims along the way to cool off!
That’s certainly a provocative title, but it’s meant to make you sit up and take notice.
I have just read a summary of a research paper that was published in Preventative Veterinary Medicine magazine in May this year. The researchers surveyed over 200 dog owners, and over 150 veterinary practices in Victoria, Australia. The outcome was that only 3% of dog obesity cases could be attributed to dog specific factors such as genetics and medical conditions. Do you know what this means?
This means that 97% of cases of obesity in dogs occur because of their owner. Too much food, the wrong type of food and not enough physical exercise.
What does this mean for you and your dog?