Running with him

[LaceyB]

Hello. Sorry if this has been asked before but I haven't figured out the search feature for this site (even though everyone mentions it in thier replies) Anyway, I'm thinking of taking Ali running with me but I don't think he gets it. I tried once and he kept running in front of me and stopping or criss crossing in front of me and I accidentally stepped on his foot and he went down (luckily he knows the tuck and roll and was back on his feet right away still smiling). However I would rather run with him where he doesn't run in front and I don't have to worry about stepping on him. So my question is: How do you train to run with him? I've been working on loose leash walking and the stopping when he pulls works quite well...Nonetheless that doesn't seem practical for running. So what's the proper training technique for running? Thanks!

 

[Net45582]

How old is he? You don't want to take younger dogs on long runs until their skeletal growth is advanced.

 

[LoveOdin]

I like to run with my dog Odin as well and sometimes he likes to try to run off in front. What I do is basically the same thing I do for walking. Odin runs on my left side, I hold the looped end of my leash in my right hand and try to keep the slack taken up in my left hand. When he pulls ahead, I drop the slack in my left hand, put the the loop of the leash around my right thumb and make sure you clamp your hand in a fist around it (you don't want to rip your thumb off). Put your left hand around your right fist so you have a double hand fist with the leash firmly grasped. Then turn 180 degrees to the right (not to the left or you'll trip over the leash. . I've done that before!). When you turn, say "Doggy HEEL" or "Come!" or whatever you use. You don't have to speed off in the opposite direction, but just jog slowly. The dog will receive a correction when he reaches the end of the leash and realizes that you are no longer trailing behind. The dog will realize that you are the pack leader, you dictate the direction, wherever you go is where he must go. When he catches up to your left side again, "Good doggy!, Good heel!" Sometimes you may have to turn 180's several times, but he'll get the point.

P.S. . . the above post is also a good point. . .my dog is still young to be going far or vigorous. . .we usually jog/walk and only at the most a couple times a week and at the farthest probably 2-2.5 miles. GMacleod says that growth is done between 14-18 months. After that, you can get your dog up slowly to quite some distances!

 

[courtney323]

I realize that this doesn't exactly address your question, but I see that your pup was born on 9/5/05, which put him at 7 months old. At this point, he is waaaaay too young to go running with you, I am afraid to say.

Pups should be atleast 18 months of age before they do any sort of forced exercise ("forced exercise" means any exercise outside of their normal day-to-day puppy activity). This is because your pup's growth plates are still open (they do not close until about 18 months of age) and you risk doing some serious damage to his bones and joints if you take him running with you before then.

All of his exercise at this point should come from Boxer play and running around that he does on his own. This allows him ample opportunity to stop and rest on his own timeschedule.

Hope this helps

ps - the "search" feature is in the upper right hand corner of the webpage. You can click on it and simply type in "running", then hit "enter" for more threads on this subject

 

[LaceyB]

Thanks for such fast responses. Yes he is almost 8 months old. I actually don't run far or much but I was mostly thinking of having him run around the block with me to start with so that when he gets bigger he'll do it without pulling me down or what not. Thanks for the search help too! that's great!