3 Tips for Exercising Your Dog Indoors on Rainy Days!

It's raining, it's pouring.. the dogs are sort of snoring... Oh and it's flooding and we have a giant sink hole across the street, too. I know..... I know..... I'm terrible at poems. Sorry! Anyways, Happy Fit Dog Friday everyone! We've been having the worst rain ever this past week and it's not going to get any better. So what is a fit dog to do when a fit dog can't run outside because she's a princess and hates the rain?

Note: The following things are in addition to our regular training sessions. :)

Phoenix with her Buster Cube

Puzzle Toys!
Seriously puzzle toys have been our saving grace. I have a bunch of different kinds of them but the ones that roll and really get the dogs moving are the best kind for indoor fitness. When the weather is really bad, the dogs will get all their meals in puzzle toys. Having to work for their food really keeps them busy. It's also really fun watching them work the food out of them!

Phoenix with her Tiger Toy

Tug and Fetch
Luckily you can play tug anywhere and it's another great exercise and dogs love it. Phoenix is a huge fan of playing tug and she also loves fetch. They are both super easy to do and if you play the game with rules, it also becomes a training session so you work the mind and body. With tug the rules are as follows: the dog must not take the toy until they are given the cue (get it), the dog must out (drop it) when asked and the dog must not bite my hand. 

We are lucky that our apartment is a decent size for fetch.. Our place isn't huge but we do have a long hallway so I can stand from one end of the apartment and toss the toy down the hall. Fetch is fun and I like to play it with rules, too. Sometimes I will ask for a sit before I throw the toy, or I will even ask for some impulse control (making the dog wait before dashing off after the toy). 

Phoenix on her wobble board. Check out our DIY tutorial and make your own!

Wobble Boards and Other Conditioning Equipment
A few years ago we made our own wobble board (link is in the caption of the photo) and it was one of the best projects we've done. The wobble board is great for indoor exercise. It works their leg muscles and their core. My dogs love their wobble board and we use it all the time. It's also great if you want to get your dog into agility training because it helps the dog to get used to standing on stuff that moves. After using the wobble board, Zoe in particular, was not afraid to learn the teeter. With our wobble board, we practice balance and position changes, like going from sit to stand or sit to sit pretty.

We also have a fitness ball that I will put the girls up on and it works their body very similar to the wobble board but the texture is different and it helps to provide some variety in our conditioning exercises. 

What is your favorite indoor activity for your dog?

Exercise Ball & Great News About Phoenix! Fit Dog Friday

I am so excited to tell you guys!! Phoenix let one of the workers at Home Depot pet her!! She has NEVER let a random stranger touch her, ever! We actually had two great incidents of her greeting people this week, but I screwed the first one up for her. We went into the office at my apartment complex to pick up a package and the girl brought my package out and asked if she could say hi to the dogs. I said: "Sure, but the one in the purple collar is a little skittish." Phoenix had been the first dog to go up to her and the girl jumped back like three feet and didn't want to interact. Oops. My bad. I am definitely going to continue to let her great people if she wants to and I'm excited that she is not being as skittish as before.

Now onto the Fit Dog Friday post!

So I've been wanting an exercise ball for the girls for quite a while but we didn't get one because there just wasn't room for it when we were staying at the inlaw's house. The other day my husband was at the thrift store (he likes to treasure hunt) and he found a brand new one! He bought it and brought it home and we inflated it and then realized there wasn't a valve plug. So we ended up leaving the pump attached and we are going to get a valve plug for it later. It works just fine the way it is, though!!

A short clip of their exercise routine. This is their third session on the ball.
If you want to see a longer training session click the link:
14 minute Exercise and Training Routine - 2nd Session 

The exercise ball is really good for strengthening their core, back and legs. It's also awesome for teaching them balance and body awareness! We do additional exercises, like squats (as seen in the video above), too! I threw in some of their normal tricks as well to keep things interesting. I also stretch them out after each session.

I really like to do these sorts of exercises in between their free running and hiking out at the park and on days where it's raining too much to go for long walks. We do training sessions like this at their breakfast or dinner time so they are not getting extra treats.

Do you have any indoor exercise routines that you do with your dogs?