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Hi--Some of you might remember me and my Pit-Boxer mix, Naima, from when I adopted her in Florida the summer before last.
Naima is now a little over two, and smart, sweet, and in love with every person and dog she meets. I got lucky the day I walked into the shelter and saw her with her sister, peeing happily on the floor while she waited for dinner (she weighed only about 12 lbs. at 4 months; she and her sister had been abandoned and had been on their own for a while, apparently).
Last October we moved from FL to NJ. It was quite a new experience for her, with all the new sights, sounds, smells, crowds, dogs, etc. It was like taking a kid to a carnival at first. I practically had to re-train her to walk calmly on the leash again, but we're just about there now.
I had noticed this to some extent before, but I now realize that exertion in the heat is dangerous for Naima. She's mostly Pit, but I have a feeling that the little bit of Boxer in her makes her more prone to heat exhaustion. I don't make a habit of taking her to the dog park, but she LOVES it and I would feel bad if she never got to run flat-out sometimes. She's super fast, and just really seems to need to do it every so often to blow off pent-up energy.
However, after flying around the park for a mere five or ten minutes in temps over like, 60 degrees, she is worn out. She's too excited to notice it when we're still in the park, but afterwards she needs a LOT of water, and has to stop several times to lay flat out (frog-dog) on the sidewalk in the shade to rest and cool off on the way home.
I'd planned to have her as a partner on the long walks I like to take, but even that is too much for her if the temperature is slightly warm. And it's not likely that I'll get up before dawn, or take her for long walks at night.
Sorry for the long post--I'm just looking for suggestions on ways to help keep her fit and exercised under these conditions. She's a paradox---a VERY energetic girl who needs to get her ya-ya's out, but doesn't have the stamina to sustain exercise. I don't want her to get fat, bored, and out of shape, but I don't want to kill her either.
I do throw a toy down the stairs for her to retrieve a few times indoors, and she likes that, but it doesn't seem like enough on the warm days when we have to limit her time outside. I'm wondering if several shorter walks (15-20 minutes only on hot days, and even that seems like a stretch, judging from her behavior) can be as good as one really long one for exercise. And can five minutes of flat-out running every few days be beneficial at all (aside from being her favorite thing in the world to do)?
Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. She weighs 50 lbs., by the way.
Naima is now a little over two, and smart, sweet, and in love with every person and dog she meets. I got lucky the day I walked into the shelter and saw her with her sister, peeing happily on the floor while she waited for dinner (she weighed only about 12 lbs. at 4 months; she and her sister had been abandoned and had been on their own for a while, apparently).
Last October we moved from FL to NJ. It was quite a new experience for her, with all the new sights, sounds, smells, crowds, dogs, etc. It was like taking a kid to a carnival at first. I practically had to re-train her to walk calmly on the leash again, but we're just about there now.
I had noticed this to some extent before, but I now realize that exertion in the heat is dangerous for Naima. She's mostly Pit, but I have a feeling that the little bit of Boxer in her makes her more prone to heat exhaustion. I don't make a habit of taking her to the dog park, but she LOVES it and I would feel bad if she never got to run flat-out sometimes. She's super fast, and just really seems to need to do it every so often to blow off pent-up energy.
However, after flying around the park for a mere five or ten minutes in temps over like, 60 degrees, she is worn out. She's too excited to notice it when we're still in the park, but afterwards she needs a LOT of water, and has to stop several times to lay flat out (frog-dog) on the sidewalk in the shade to rest and cool off on the way home.
I'd planned to have her as a partner on the long walks I like to take, but even that is too much for her if the temperature is slightly warm. And it's not likely that I'll get up before dawn, or take her for long walks at night.
Sorry for the long post--I'm just looking for suggestions on ways to help keep her fit and exercised under these conditions. She's a paradox---a VERY energetic girl who needs to get her ya-ya's out, but doesn't have the stamina to sustain exercise. I don't want her to get fat, bored, and out of shape, but I don't want to kill her either.
I do throw a toy down the stairs for her to retrieve a few times indoors, and she likes that, but it doesn't seem like enough on the warm days when we have to limit her time outside. I'm wondering if several shorter walks (15-20 minutes only on hot days, and even that seems like a stretch, judging from her behavior) can be as good as one really long one for exercise. And can five minutes of flat-out running every few days be beneficial at all (aside from being her favorite thing in the world to do)?
Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. She weighs 50 lbs., by the way.