The physical training of a pit bull terrier dog is essential to maintain its muscles and help it channel its energy correctly. Like food or walks, exercise is one more of the care that we must provide for your well-being.
In this article on our site we will share with you 5 exercises for pitbull dogs that you can practice on a regular basis. Remember that it will be important that during all the sessions you have fresh water and a place of shade at your disposal.
1. Running
Running is one of the basic dog sports to work on endurance and keep the dog's muscles in tone. Running has many benefits to improve he alth, as it helps speed up metabolism, improve cartilage or regenerate muscle.
It is recommended to start exercising the dog on flat terrain, but later the difficulty can be increased, either in the sand the beach or with the hill climb.
At the beginning we will carry out short running sessions, between 5 and 10 minutes maximum, stimulating the dog and motivating him to associate this activity in a positive way.
Later we can increase the training time, always taking into account the level of fatigue of the dog, its resistance or predisposition towards exercise. It must be done very progressive.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that during the exercise the dog must have comfortable and suitable equipment. Canicross, for example, a mix between running and mushing, has its own equipment for training and competition, designed to prevent injuries to both the handler and the dog itself.
two. Ball and fresbee
Ball and fresbee games are highly recommended as they stimulate reflexes, mobility and help us practice collecting objects. Teaching our dog to fetch and retrieve the ball is not a complicated exercise and in return it offers us hours of fun.
Due to the powerful jaw that pit bulls have, it is highly recommended to bet on a very resistant fresbee as well as a hard and resistant ball also.
It is very important to carry out this exercise without excessively exciting the dog, since overstimulation can cause a negative increase in stress (distress), turning this game into an obsessive activity for him.
3. Tug of war
Unlike other exercises that consist of capturing without letting go, tug-of-war is a much more positive activity since it allows us to work on "let go", that is, teach the dog to drop objects. We can use a toy of the type biter or knot that we hold on both sides, while the dog nibbles in the center.
Discover how to tie a dog knot on our YouTube channel.
It is very important that during the practice of this game sometimes we let him win, but at other times we must win, something fundamental to prevent the protection of resources.
It is normal for some dogs to growl during the game, for fun, however, if they acquire a hostile attitude and mark us, we must end the game and carefully remove the toy (negative punishment: the withdrawal of a desired stimulus in the face of an undesired behavior) and work on "let go" before practicing it again.
4. Swimming
Swimming is an excellent exercise and very complete if the dog has a correct association with water, since it allows us to work the muscles until 6 times more than with other sports. If the dog is afraid of water we must first work on a positive association, we must never throw him directly to swim as we could create a trauma.
Swimming helps your body gain elasticity and mobility, improves joints and flexibility, and is also excellent for dogs that are overweight, since the impact of sport is not as aggressive as in running.
5. Obstacles
Agility is a very complete sport that stimulates the mind and body of the dog. Although more agile breeds stand out in this sport at a competitive level, such as the border collie or the Australian shepherd, the truth is that the pit bull can perform all tasks excellently if it is trained regularly.
The Agility circuit, whether at home or in a center, offers the possibility of stimulating the musculature of different parts of the body, either through jump fences, tunnel, slalom, catwalks or wheels. There are many possibilities.
Since it is a minimally complex route, the dog must learn how to overcome the different obstacles alongside its owner, which allows him to it helps keep your mind active and follow your guide's commands, a great way to enhance our bond and rapport.
Exercises not recommended
To finish we are going to mention two types of exercises not recommended, here we explain why:
Drag Training:
Drag training is totally inadvisable since the load of very high weights damages the joints and muscles of the dog. It can cause the appearance of injuries and even break bones in very extreme cases.
Hold exercises:
The prey exercise consists of inciting the dog to catch without letting go of a rope or bit. This is not a recommended exercise since, unlike the tug of war, does not teach the dog to drop objects, which can cause a very serious situation in case of fight between two dogs.
In addition, the dog is usually motivated to reach higher and higher goals. Due to its own constitution and weight, the impact of the fall can cause serious joint injuries that predispose the dog to developing certain diseases, such as arthritis and osteoarthritis.
Although it may be interesting to use it in the training of police dogs, among others, the truth is that if it is not supervised by a professionalis not a recommended exercise.
Remember that…
Apart from physical exercise, you must not forget the importance of stimulating the mind and sense of smell of your pit bull terrier dog. These two types of exercise promote relaxation and the animal's psychological well-being, improve its quality of life and prevent or improve various behavioral problems.
To do this, we recommend practicing seeding, which also teaches your dog to fetch or the use of intelligence toys or food vending toys, such as the kong. But if you are also looking for resistant and recommended toys for pitbull dogs, do not hesitate and continue browsing our site.
Tips
- Go to the vet every 6 months to ensure good he alth.
- Make sessions of 30 or 60 minutes maximum, always considering the welfare of the dog.
- Remember that the caloric needs of a dog that exercises daily are higher.
- Do not practice intense exercise with a puppy, it could cause different he alth problems.
