A recent conversation involved exercising our dogs.
A neighbor runs his dogs by letting them chase his car around the neighborhood each evening until they are fatigued. That reminded me of how they get hounds in shape for fall hunting. In the southern US, you tie the dogs to a rope or chain to the back of your pickup and drive around dirt roads for a while. If you did that around here you would probably end up in jail.
Up here, it's not unusual to tire a hyper-energetic hunting dog, before a hunt, by letting him run around the woods with a 5-6' length of chain on his collar. That can help an overly-exuberant dog focus on his task afterwards.
That's what we do in the gym each morning to ourselves so it is far from abuse. Years ago, I would run with our Lab each morning 5 or 6 miles. Being a well-trained dog, she needed no leash for road running. We had fun. And, of course, any dog loves a few hours to run free in the wilderness too. That's the best for them, going full dog. Dog-training snob that I am, I hate any use of leashes (except maybe on human children, pet Cheetahs, and dancing bears).
How do our readers make sure their dogs get the exercise they require every day? Don't tell me you "walk them" like a yo-yo. Walking is neither exercise for dog nor human being. Exception: people or dogs recovering from something.
