I used to exercise my dog.
October 2010
In a perfect world I would get in a good workout while my daughter stayed content, my dog would go for a run with me and the baby, my husband would have a meal on the table, I would have hours to spend sitting on the floor giving every bit of my attention to my daughter, the laundry would be washed and folded, the counters spotless, the floors without a smudge of dirt on them and I'd be ready for bed no later than 9:30 and get plenty of beauty rest. In a perfect world......
Ok, if there is anybody out there who says this is a reality for them needs to come teach me a thing or two. And while you're here I may have to sock you one. ;) So I'm trying to get motivated, blah, blah, blah...that's obvious. While blogstorming (my new term for brainstorming) the other day it occurred to me that so far I've included my husband and daughter into my self-improvement crusade. I've been leaving a certain someone out of the picture though. What about my girl Emmi?
"Yeah, good question. What about me?"
I think if Emmi could talk to me she'd probably say something like this: "you are worried about your weight mom?!?!" Are you kidding me? Have you seen the weight I've packed on over the past 11 months?! I do still exist ya know! With these hips and thighs I'll never get a boyfriend."
11 months exactly since the day I stopped walking/running her regularly. Don't ask me how I remember this but I do. In the grand scheme of things I realize that not exercising my dog everyday is not the end of the world. But I started to ask myself why I stopped in the first place. Two reasons: #1 she's hyperactive and crazy when let out of the house and #2 she's hyperactive and crazy when let out of the house. I basically decided one day to quit taking her when she almost ripped my arm off while chasing a squirrel while I was pushing the stroller (rolling my eyes). BB (before baby) she was walked daily without fail and got to chase her tennis ball nightly in the backyard. Ok, so the tennis ball thing is easy to keep up with, right? Um, no. Not when the duplex you are renting has a yard 1/100 of the size of your old backyard. Her physical activity went from running/walking daily to walking occassionally to chasing balls in the backyard to running by herself in the backyard to NOTHING on the one square inch patch of grass and slab of concrete when we moved. I watched her day after day become more depressed and cooped up. While it broke my heart I really didn't have time or energy to do anything about it. After being dethroned as the golden child when Hallie was born, I'm sure she started to develop some emotional eating habits and packed on several extra pounds around the belly area. She was probably just worried her mom with a newly transformed "mommy brain" would forget to feed her or bathe her. My chubby Puggle is now about seven pounds overweight and in need of some serious physical activity and attention. It's so easy to forget about our canines well-being but here are some facts that I found about the benefits of exercise for dogs:
*An active dog will be less susceptible to depression and will live longer.
*An active dog is less likely to manifest destructive behaviors.
*An active dog has healthier bones, joints, lungs and heart function overall.
*An active dog rests more calmly.
When you really stop and think about it, a dog is the perfect exercise partner. I mean HELLO!?!? Don't we all want that exercise partner who is always raring to go and motivating us to get off the couch and out the door? Well look no further than your dog. :)
Guilt set it and I was feeling like a horrible canine mother. Why can't my dog get the opportunity to exercise everyday like I get to decide to? Emmi got the surprise of her life yesterday when I told her that we were going for a walk. Jumping and panting ensued as she reached a new vertical leap world record while waiting on me to strap Hallie into the stroller. We took off at full speed (I'm not joking) and didn't slow down for about ten minutes (again, not joking). She must've been releasing all of that pent up energy she'd been storing up lounging around on her behind all day everyday.
"This. Is. Awesome."
No arm jerking or running off to chase squirrels this time. She also managed to run the trails without getting her hind legs run over by the stroller ten times like usual. My furry baby is growing up I guess. As we rounded the last corner for home I could tell she was starting to look like me during a run on a hot day. She looked a hot mess so we stopped and she quickly made her way under the bench for some shade and some serious panting. I positioned the stroller facing me so that Hallie could see all of the action. She looked at me with the most content little eyes. It was like she was saying "thanks for bringing my friend with us." I swear, you can't make this stuff up people. ;)
It looks like Hallie and I just added another runner to our trail posse.
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