One tool frequently recommended by dog training professionals is the treadmill. Especially useful during the Winter months, you can use a treadmill to make sure your dog gets enough exercise and burns off excess energy, all from the comfort of your own home. The treadmill is also extremely helpful for dog owners with mobility issues, who can’t physically handle the kind of walks and exercise some dog breeds require. But not everyone has the space or money for a treadmill. Sadie has not had a chance to try a treadmill yet, but she’s created her own daily exercise that makes me think of a treadmill every time she does it.

In these photos and videos, Sadie is playing with one of her little squeaky balls. She likes me to hide the balls so she can try and find them. One place I typically hide her ball is under a pillow. Sadie knows the ball is under the pillow and all she has to do is move the pillow to get it, but Sadie likes to do her treadmill exercise first. Every single time I hide a ball under a pillow, Sadie tries to frantically dig through the pillow to get to the ball. She gets some great exercise, working her little front paws for a few minutes, and when she feels like she’s done that enough, she just pushes the pillow aside and takes her ball. After a few good minutes of squeaking, Sadie will put the ball next to the pillow and stare at me expectantly, ready to start her “treadmill” exercise again.

This post is part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie, Love Is Being Owned By a Husky, and M.K. Clinton.

This post is also part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

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I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but sometimes I wonder if Sadie is part cat. This is especially evident in the way she plays sometimes. She’s very happy to play with a toy by herself, occasionally even taking the toy into another room if I try and play with her when she doesn’t feel like company. Sadie also loves to pounce on toys and people, and often bats items around with her paws. So when I was in the dollar store recently and saw a cat teaser for sale, I thought it might be something Sadie would enjoy playing with. And she had a blast! She immediately started chasing and bouncing and pawing at it as I moved it around on the floor. Then I started waving it up and down and she went nuts jumping and spinning and snapping at it. Whenever she caught it we played tug of war until I got it back and started all over again. This went on for quite a while and turned out to be really great exercise for Sadie. I’m not sure a toy like this would survive long with a bigger dog, but my little Sadie really enjoyed her new cat toy. Best dollar I’ve spent in a while.

This post is part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop brought to you by Ruckus the Eskie and Love Is Being Owned By a Husky.

This post is also part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop brought to you by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

I recently got Sadie a hula hoop to jump through for some fun exercise. We’re still getting the hang of it, but once we get going she has a blast. When I first take it out of the closet she is both curious and scared of it. If I hold it still, she will go up to it and sniff it. But the minute it moves she jumps back and barks at it. Once she’s used to the hula hoop being in her space, I start giving her the jump command and point at the hoop. Sometimes I hold a treat on the other side of the hoop to entice her through it. At first she tries to run around the sides of the hoop to get to the treat. Once she realizes that the only way to get the treat is through the hoop, she starts listening to my command and jumping. Another trick to really get her excited about jumping through the hoop is throwing something she loves through it so she jumps through to chase that item. I usually do this with tissues or paper towels because for some reason that really motivates Sadie, but I’m sure a favorite toy or ball would work with other dogs. Once Sadie is really excited and enjoying the exercise, she happily jumps back and forth through the hoop with her tail wagging and a smile on her face, proud that she’s accomplishing the task I’m asking her to complete. I love this fun activity because it provides exercise and stimulation for my dog, along with boosting her self-confidence.

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