[nagdu] Exercising with Your Dog

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Abigail.
I have taken my dog with me when swimming at an indoor pool.  I tied him
to a large table several feet from the pool, and he was fine.  He does not
really care if other people pet him, so I wasn't worried about that. I
would not tie him to a chair, in case he got excited and dragged it in to
the water and drowned.
I had a classmate who swam regularly at the Y.  I think he was going to
leave his dog with someone at the desk while he swam.
I recently went to an outdoor pool, where I did not bring my dog, mainly
because I didn't know how much shade there would be.  Also, it's a less
controlled environment than inside.  Some fool could untie him, for
instance.
HTH.
Tracy

> Abigail,
>
> Once upon a time I did go jogging with my guide dog.  It worked out
> fine, but there are some definite things to avoid to make it work.  When
> I went jogging with my guide I used a specific path meant for
> hiking/biking.  It was a long smooth cement path that was well
> maintained.  there are only gentle curves, no steps, overhead branches
> or obstacles of any other variety.  The only thing to be mindful of is
> other people using the paths.   I think a track would work just as
> well.  I knew for me, moving at the faster pace there was going to be
> less reaction time for me to stop or turn when my dog stopped or turned.
> Jogging on a path that was meant for the purpose allowed me to just
> follow without worry of being able to react in time or her missing
> something at the faster pace.
>
> Welcome to the list!
> Julie
>
>
>
> On 7/22/2011 1:18 PM, Abigail Lanier wrote:
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> I should probably start by introducing myself, as I am fairly new to
>> this
>> list. My name is Abigail and I have been working with my black lab,
>> Alexa,
>> for a year and a few months. I received Alexa from Guiding Eyes for the
>> Blind.
>>
>> My topic of interest for writing this e-mail is that I'm interested in
>> what
>> types of exercise other guide dog users do with their guides. Alexa and
>> I do
>> a lot of walking as it is, that just being my main mode of getting
>> around.
>> She also tags along when I attend a yoga or pilates class at the gym on
>> the
>> campus of my university. The school I am enrolled at is in the mountains
>> of
>> North Carolina and there are lots of hiking trails near by that we like
>> to
>> go on. Some of my friends have even claimed that Alexa is better at
>> navigating the trails than people.
>>
>> Does anyone like to run or jog with their guide dog, and if so, how does
>> this work for you? I've attempted to run with friends before, while
>> working
>> Alexa, but she seems very concerned at this prospect. I suppose it's
>> because
>> when we are moving at a drastically faster clip than we would be walking
>> she
>> doesn't have time to alert me to obstacles. Additionally, I've become
>> very
>> interested in swimming, and not just as a means to cool off. The few
>> times
>> I've been to the pool at our student rec. center I've left Alexa at
>> home.
>> Being a lab, she really loves the water, and I'm afraid that if I was to
>> leave her in a down stay, tethered to a chair or other object, that she
>> might try to pull said chair or object into the pool because of her
>> excitement. That or that other patrons would begin petting her with out
>> my
>> knowing.
>>
>> I'm curious what other people's thoughts and suggestions would be.
>>
>> Abigail
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>
>
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