Need Exercise Help/ideas

[Roo]

Tessa is almost 6 and has been retired from racing since she was 4 (broodie for a couple years), but she doesn't seem to know she's retired She needs to run. I've been taking her on walks a few times a day (some 1/4 mile potty trips and longer 1 mile walks in the morning and evening) but it's just not enough for her (and my normal walking pace is speed walking for most people, so it's not like we're taking a calm stroll).

 

I don't have a fenced yard (and even if I did, I live in a townhouse so the space wouldn't be big enough for a good run!). She is most definitely not a candidate for a dog park. I'm sure I could find a fenced area nearby to let her run in, but whenever she runs on grass, she dislocates a toe and I get the GSOD when I pop it back in - not pleasant for either of us! I'm thinking about having the toe taken off when she's under for a dental in a couple months - ordinarily I wouldn't jump to this but she LOVES to run and if it would enable her to run more comfortably for the rest of her life, so be it.

 

I bring her to PRH every Saturday when I volunteer and let her zoom in the sand lot, but it still doesn't seem to be enough and she gets antsy again in a couple days.

 

The obvious solution is to take her to the kennel for sand lot romps more often, but they're 20 minutes away and it just isn't feasible for me to do it too often.

 

I was planning to take up jogging so that we could jog together, but my chiropractor told me I wasn't allowed to until my herniated disc heals more, and that could be another two or three months.

 

Biking with a dog makes me nervous (especially given her prey drive!). I thought about getting my Razor scooter out of retirement and scootering with her (since that's easy to just step off of if she spots something and bolts). I suppose that's still an option - I have a spook harness for her that I'd use.

 

She likely needs more mental stimulation, too, but I've had a really awful couple of months and have a lot of medical bills (with more on the horizon for me [months of twice-weekly chiro and potentially surgery] and Tessa [dental and potential toe removal]) so I can't afford training classes or food puzzles, and she won't play with toys yet (she's still working on coming out of her shell). Clicker training is out for now - the clicker terrifies her. I'm happy to do some basic training in my own at home, but need ideas as to what to start with - I've seen her sit but haven't been able to capture it since it's usually when I'm driving, and she won't really lay down outside her crate yet, and she really doesn't stop moving long enough for a "Wait" or "Stay" - there's just so much to investigate still!

 

Any ideas on how to tire this dog out would be greatly appreciated!

Edited October 19, 2017 by Roo

[dmdsmoxie]

The obvious answer is you are on the wrong end of NC. You need to sell your house and buy a place on the water. Then fence in your beach and let her run.

[Roo]

The obvious answer is you are on the wrong end of NC. You need to sell your house and buy a place on the water. Then fence in your beach and let her run.

 

I wish! I'd love to live at the beach.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Is your yard big enough to use a lure pole?

[Roo]

Is your yard big enough to use a lure pole?

It's really not much of a yard - I have a cement patio and maybe two feet of grass. There's a big grassy area next to my unit (I'm on the end) and I guess I could get an extra long leash and try the flirt pole that way, but I'm worried she'd dislocate her toe while running on the grass. I live alone and while I'm willing to pop it back in, it's not easy to hold her still and pop her toe back in at the same time, plus it's painful for her. If the toe comes off in a couple months, though, the flirt pole is a great idea! Thanks!

[Scoutsmom]

There are cheap mind game toys that you can make--try searching on Pininterest. One I know of is to take a muffin tin (thrift store find), put a little food in each section, then put a tennis ball on top. She needs to figure out how to move the ball to get to the food.

[XTRAWLD]

Can you get her a treadmill?

[greysmom]

You don't need a clicker to use clicker training. A word will work just as well - you could even say "click" if you wanted. The sound is just a marker, so you can use anything.

 

You can play games with her - hide treats around the room, use Ruth's idea with the muffin pan above, one of those rolling treat balls will keep her busy, you can probably google "DIY dog toys" or something like that for other ideas.

[Roo]

The muffin tins idea is a great one! I'll see if I can figure out Pinterest - never have gotten the hang of it.

 

Can't afford a treadmill, and have no place to put one. I'm also pretty sure she'd be too afraid of it for it to do any good

 

For some reason I didn't think to Google My mind has been elsewhere lately. I'll do a bit of Googling!

[smurfette]

You can train her on a long line with a harness. This way walking is

combined with mental stimulation. But you need an area where you can walk undistracted - at least in the beginning.

[Roo]

You can train her on a long line with a harness. This way walking is

combined with mental stimulation. But you need an area where you can walk undistracted - at least in the beginning.

I have yet to find something that doesn't distract her Leaves, birds, cats, noises... This pup is always alert! Even inside. Maybe we'll work on long line training in a while, once things aren't so new and distracting for her.

[fionasmom]

When my pointer Nessa was a puppy I thought I would never be able to burn off the crazy energy. I would walk her for an hour and she still ran around the house like a nut job. Our solution was to have her wear a back pack with some weight in it when we walked. The added work load really helped burn off the craziness. Also, I never fed her from a bowl. I divided her kibble into three treat dispensing toys so that she really had to work for her dinner. I highly recommend the tug-a-jug toy for that.

[Roo]

When my pointer Nessa was a puppy I thought I would never be able to burn off the crazy energy. I would walk her for an hour and she still ran around the house like a nut job. Our solution was to have her wear a back pack with some weight in it when we walked. The added work load really helped burn off the craziness. Also, I never fed her from a bowl. I divided her kibble into three treat dispensing toys so that she really had to work for her dinner. I highly recommend the tug-a-jug toy for that.

 

The backpack is a great idea! Thanks!

[XTRAWLD]

Our solution was to have her wear a back pack with some weight in it when we walked. The added work load really helped burn off the craziness.

Yes, I totally forgot about this. I looked for one years ago, but I had a really hard time finding one that would fit a greyhound body! Waterbottles in each pocket would do nicely!

[Roo]

Yes, I totally forgot about this. I looked for one years ago, but I had a really hard time finding one that would fit a greyhound body! Waterbottles in each pocket would do nicely!

Did you ever find a good one for a grey?

[locket]

What about a big nice bone, mine often get very tired after a good gnawing session!

Or play hide and seek. You make her lay down and stay (Oh look, two things you can practice! hahaha) and then call her to you (recall training also? Fantastic! ) That used to be lots of fun for Jack

[AnneGTS]

Brain games don't have to be expensive. I usually shred some newspapers and let the dogs search for treats. Or get a big carton box, fill it will all kinds of small carton boxes and let the dogs find the treats. Another fun game is to get an empty egg carton and some toilet paper rolls, fill the toilet paper rolls with kibble, fold the ends a bit and place the rolls into the egg carton.

[FiveRoooooers]

Similar to what Anne suggests above, Noseworks is fabulous. It tired out Paddy Mayhem like no ones business, and the dogs are so thrilled when they give you the right answer. This is a no-cost low impact exercise that can be done on or off leash. Use high value yummy treats that the dogs get only when doing Noseworks.

[greysmom]

RoughWear has great hiking harnesses.

[ambpersand]

Some easy things to try might be to switch up your walking route a little bit so she can see some new things or find some new smells, or you could take her on a quick car trip once or twice a week while running errands if she does well in the car?

[Roo]

I'll definitely look into noseworks! Sounds like the kind of thing I can definitely handle and she would definitely enjoy an activity that involve special treats

 

Sadly, there isn't really a way to switch up our walking route as regularly as I'd like - I live in a neighborhood with one street and a little dead end road. That's our main walking route and while I change up the order, it's always basically the same. There's a neighborhood across the street that I'm planning to take her in once it's reliably cooler and I can figure out when traffic is at its lightest. I also take her to my parents' house and walk in their neighborhood and the woods near their house. There are a couple nice parks fairly close by, but I need to get more of a handle on her "If it's small and fluffy, I must chase it" prey drive - one park has poorly behaved small fluffy dogs and the other park is next to a lake and is full of ducks and geese!

[Sundrop]

Bring her to Charlotte and let her play with Kira once a week? (Seriously, Kira has A LOT of energy!)

[Roo]

Bring her to Charlotte and let her play with Kira once a week? (Seriously, Kira has A LOT of energy!)

I might just take you up on this! I'm sure she'd love a sibling but money is tight - maybe a weekly playdate with an equally energetic hound would help!

[fionasmom]

Not sure about fit for greys but chewy.com has outward hound harnesses

[EllenEveBaz]

Milo has an Outward Hound harness but even with a lot of adjusting it's a slightly loose fit, and he's slightly more barrel-chested than a full-blood greyhound. Also, the only loop for the leash is in the middle of his back, so it's a good thing he's not a puller because you have no control when the leash connects there. But having said that, it's time for us to go to the farmer's market so I can fill up those saddlebags on him.