The importance of regular exercise for your furry buddy

Everyone always talks about the importance of personal health by eating right and exercising, but what are you doing to keep your pets healthy? Regularly exercising your pet is just as important as exercise for you. Health benefits range widely, but include helping hip joints, reducing digestive problems, and keeping your dog and cat at a healthy weight, which decreases the likelihood of developing other health problems.

Exercise also helps control behavioral problems. Pets that are not given outlets for energy may develop destructive habits like chewing, scratching, or digging, be hyperactive, jump on people or start raiding your garbage bins. By doing daily activities with your pet you can prevent these behaviors from starting and keep your home a happier one.

Dogs and Exercise

In order to maximize the effects of exercise on your dog’s health there are a few things you should keep under consideration when it comes to your dog:

Breed – Certain types of breeds such as one with brachycephalic (short noses) like Boston Terriers, Pugs, and Shar Pei’s can have some difficulties breathing and may have a harder time with the heat, so may not be able to handle vigorous exercise.

Age – Really young dogs, while they have lots of energy, are still growing so exercise like sustained running may be bad for their bones. Senior dogs, on the other hand, may need to start taking things slower and may not be able to handle activities like long jogs or hikes.

Size – If your dog is currently overweight, starting exercise is excellent, but you should start out slow, giving your dog time to adjust to a little exercise at a time as they may find it difficult at first and are prone to overexertion in the beginning stages.

Your Cat and Exercise

Just like dogs, cats need to participate in regular exercise as well. Apart from causing behavioral issues, a lack of exercise can cause obesity in cats, which may lead to diabetes, arthritis, or breathing problems. Similar to dogs, it is also important to keep your cat’s age in consideration, as kittens will have more energy as compared to older cats and exercise will need to be adjusted accordingly. The key to cat exercise is finding an activity they enjoy, try using laser pointers, jingly balls, and stuffed mice on sticks to encourage their natural chase instinct or invest in a scratching post or cat trees, for independent exercise for your cat.

Benefits of Hiring a Professional Dog Walker

You lead a very busy life… Working day in and day out at a stressful job, plus taking care of the family, you are only able to squeeze a little bit of time with Fido.

Whether it’s waking up an hour early before work, or taking time out of your social life, you try to give your pooch your time the best you can.

Unfortunately, that quick walk before work or game of tug-a-war at dinner time, just isn’t enough.

Your dog needs companionship, love, exercise, stimulation and a social life. Don’t blame yourself. Our busy lives just don’t give us enough time in the day for lengthy dog walks.

If you are struggling to find time for your pooch and are concerned about your dog’s well being, keep reading to find out what the benefits are of hiring a professional dog walker.

Peace of Mind:

When you aren’t home, your dog is home all alone and worry sweeps your mind. You begin wondering what your dog is up to, if he is desperately waiting to be let out to use the bathroom, if he’s lonely and about a thousand other brain scrambling thoughts.

With a dog walker, you know your dog has been checked in on, taken outside, walked, fed and watered. You can put your mind at ease knowing you are giving Fido the best care you can possible give, even if you have to work late tonight.

Stimulation & Socialization:

Dog walks are so much more than just walking a dog, your dog is stimulating his senses.

Hearing new sounds, smelling new smells, feeling and seeing things he doesn’t experience lying around the house. We take these stimuli for granted, but to a dog, experiencing all these new things makes their day.

Plus, a part of embracing new stimuli includes meeting new dogs and people, which is a great start to socialization.

The more your dog gets accustomed to seeing new people and other pets, the less likely he is to act aggressively towards them in other social occurrences.

Health:

The most obvious reason your dog needs his daily walk is to fill his physical exercise requirements. Don't allow your pooch to suffer obesity and lack of exercise.

The main reason for this is because their owners just don’t have the time or energy after work to take our dogs for a lengthy walk.

Sure, your dog might be able to run around the yard, but dogs need to engage in physical activity at least three times a day for 20 minutes each time.

A dog walker could fill in those two or three times a day you aren’t able to walk him.

Behavior:

Unwanted behaviors such as chewing up furniture, soiling the carpet, barking and digging are all indications that your dog is not receiving enough daily stimulus.

Think back to a time when you were injured or sick, being at home all day with nothing to do. You get bored and so does your dog.

Poor behavior is usually brought on by your dog looking for something to do to pass the time.

However, if you hire a dog walker, your dog has something to look forward to doing each and every day. Plus, a daily walk or too can make a dog pretty tired, and a tired dog is a well-behaved dog.

The benefits of hiring a dog walker are clear. If you think hiring a professional dog walker would make your life easier and be beneficial to both you as well as your dog, take the first step.

Call Lush Pet Care on +61 418 760 232 for a quick chat.

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