The modern canine, left home alone most of the day, is getting fat, bored and miserable – and some owners aren't much fitter. A new kind of workout knocks dogs and owners into shape, writes FIONOLA MEREDITH
IT’S A DOG’S life for the modern canine. Left alone for most of the day while their owners are out at work, dogs are getting fat, bored and miserable. Often the owners lead stressful, demanding lives, leaving them fit for nothing in the evenings but slumping in front of the television, snacking on crisps . . . and getting fat, bored and miserable.
The pharmacological route is one solution, with anti-depressants increasingly prescribed for both humans and their pets. Dogs can have their own beef-flavoured version of Prozac. But instead of popping pills together, why not take part in a fitness activity with your four-legged friend? A growing band of dog trainers and dog sports enthusiasts say that exercising alongside your pet, whether competitively or just for fun, will bring all kinds of health and happiness benefits to both dog and owner.
One of the classic sports is agility training, where the owner guides the dog around a specially-constructed course made up of jumps, poles to weave around, see-saws, dog walks and tunnels, all in the fastest possible time. When you see agility displays, it appears that the animal is doing all the work – scooting, dipping, leaping and scrambling over obstacles – as the owner calls out encouragement. But as I discovered when I took my seven-month-old liver-spotted Dalmatian, Rudi, for an agility work-out with trainer Michael McCartney, the human partner has to put in a fair bit of physical and mental effort herself.
The secret of success in the agility ring is total obedience. McCartney – one of Ireland’s most successful obedience and agility handlers, who recently led a gold-medal-winning team at Crufts – says he never lets a dog begin proper agility training until it has completed a full obedience course. Otherwise, he says, “it’s like giving an 18 year-old driver the keys to a Formula One car – it’ll just end up in the hedge”. And, since their bones are still forming, young dogs can’t formally compete until they’re 18 months old. Still, together with his own dog, Laser – a champion red and white border collie – he’s willing to show me and Rudi the ropes.
While Laser never takes his eyes off McCartney’s face, every muscle tensed to instantly obey his every command, my untutored puppy gazes around, snaps at a passing fly, chews his lead and jumps up to lick the photographer. Clearly, this is going to be a challenge.
Michael demonstrates the course with Laser first, varying the sequence of jumps, tunnels and frames each time. Laser never misses a beat, moving like lightning from one brightly coloured obstacle to the next, weaving effortlessly through a series of poles and ending up neatly at the end of a see-saw, waiting for his reward – a tennis ball.
McCartney says it’s important never to forget who’s in charge. “Always remember the pecking order – owner at the top, dog at the bottom. After all, a trained dog is a happy dog.”
NOW IT'S TIMEfor Rudi to tackle the course. Although Laser evidently performs for the sheer love of it all, I've taken the precaution of bringing along some leftovers from last night's dinner, in the hope I can bribe Rudi into some semblance of obedience. "Not bribe," corrects McCartney. "Food should be a reward for good behaviour."
Our first task is to persuade Rudi to run along a tunnel. He’s reluctant to go in until he spots me calling him at the other end, waving a tasty morsel of steak – then he’s there in a shot. Result. A few minutes later, McCartney has Rudi successfully scrambling over a two-metre-high A-frame – similarly steak-induced – and leaping over some embarrassingly tiny jumps. You start the jumps off small to encourage the dog to leap low and fast, not high and wide, thus gaining valuable seconds.
“Not bad at all – for a Dalmatian,” praises McCartney. “Dalmatians were bred for stamina, to be carriage dogs, not to be smart. But he’s greedy, so that helps. Greedy dogs are always easier to train.”
He recommends soft, smelly treats like sausage, cheese or liver, rather than crunchy dog biscuits, because they slip down more easily as the dog whizzes round the course.
Flushed with his limited success, Rudi celebrates by jumping wildly on top of Laser, who has been lying watching the whole thing with a calm paternal eye. Covered with smears of mud, and with sticky, greasy fingers, I take a moment to catch my breath. Agility training is surprisingly strenuous for the human partner, as you charge alongside your dog, calling out instructions and urging him along.
“You really need to shift yourself incredibly fast,” says Michael. “You’ve always got to be one step ahead. When the dog’s in the tunnel, you’ve got to be at the next stage. There’s no time to hang about.” But it is exhilarating to work so closely with your dog, and the feeling of achievement as you reach the end of the course together makes it all worthwhile. Well, that’s how I felt; I suspect Rudi did it purely for the meat.
Agility isn’t the only option if you want to exercise with your dog.
Sled-dog sports are growing in popularity across Ireland, and you don’t need snow to participate. Collectively known as “mushing”, these are dog racing events where owners jog, cycle or scooter while attached to their dog by a bungee cord or a harness. There’s a tamer, non-competitive version, known as “cani-walk”, for those who prefer to stroll. Here, the dogs wear backpacks, carrying their own food and water, and there’s plenty of time to take breaks along the way.
But most enthusiasts prefer the thrill of the chase. Donna Dunne, of the recently formed Tails’n’Trails Dog Adventure Club in Co Louth, says that the group came together “to find alternative ways to exercise our dogs – whether it’s because our dogs need more exercise than just a walk, or that we see the benefit in socialising our dogs with other people and dogs, or because we humans need some exercise too.”
Mandy Hynes of the Irish Federation of Sled-dog Sports says “it’s only as strenuous as you want it to be, and most participants go to these events simply for the fun and the social day out with fellow dog lovers who want to get fit”.
A willing team of huskies, while a bonus, is far from essential. “If you want to get involved in any of these sports, no matter what kind of dog you have, you can do it,” says Hynes. “To get started all you need is a musher belt, a canicross line and a harness for your dog. It’s not expensive, it is serious fun, and there are lots of other people getting involved too, so you won’t be short of company.”
Hynes, who lives on the Galway-Roscommon border, says that mushing is strangely addictive for her and her dogs. “After talking to some experienced mushers in the UK and Scotland, I spent more and more time with my own dogs, teaching them to at first run alongside me, then slowly encouraging them to pull ahead. In the beginning I used to go out on my mountain bike, with one or two of my dogs pulling on ahead. Then I bought a three-wheeled rig (like a tricycle with no saddle) and headed out to the local trails on my own with three dogs.
I now have 15 Siberian huskies, and five Alaskan huskies. When we are out on the trail, whether it is with one dog or three or even 10, the dogs just put their ears back and run. At first they are all excited, but after a couple of hundred yards they settle down and find their comfortable pace. Some days we fly along at a good speed – other days, we just go at our leisure. But as soon as they see me getting the gear together they go crazy, mad to go out. Both me and my dogs just love it.”
Whether you choose to go running, biking, hiking or agility training with your dog, it seems that the presence of a canine companion is a powerful incentive to get fit. Just be prepared to get sweaty and dirty.
And don’t forget the bag of meaty treats.
