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by awatkins from fox-26

Last Post 10 days, 17 hours Ago


long walks with long dogs
Apr 7, 2008 | 12:06 PM
Category: News
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i love a good long walk but i'm not sure about pickles and rocket! pickles is a year and a month old and rocket is 11 months old and they are finally enjoying going on walks... but "mom" is wiping them out.

but i'm curious if anyone else has been concerned about exhausting their small dog. honestly i've always walked labs and standard poodles, and there's no lack of energy there. but saturday we went for a walk along the bayou.. figured we'd be gone an hour so i took water and snacks for them. my family ended up coming along and we had a great time but soon it was nearly two hours later! rocket kept pulling me down to the water. he just wanted lay down with his belly in it to cool off. ok.. no prob. but after 5 minutes of that i needed to get going home and he refused to walk. just wouldn't get on his feet.. and he wouldn't take a snack anymore either. so i decided to carry him the last 25 minutes of the walk, all the while thinking it wasn't worth him having a heart attack or getting heat stroke. (pickles thank goodness kept walking. he's 14 pounds and rocket's 11. )

when we got back to the house i soaked them both with cold water from the hose. rocket found his legs again, and chasing pickles around the back yard

they're actually in pretty good shape. i take them roller blading too (i can't wait to get some pictures of that to put on here). in fact when we're blading i call rocket my "track star" because he runs and runs and runs without stopping pulling both me and pickles.

so what do you think? was i asking too much or was rocket just stubborn? anybody with little dog experience? (and pbmom, i'm sure you don't have the same problem but i know you've got alot of dog experience... )

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Member Comments Total Comments: 9
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Writing_With_Power read my blog view my photos
Apr 7, 2008 | 1:10 PM

I HAD A LITTLE DOG ONCE, NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT I THINK IT WAS A BEAGLE. I WAS 5 AT THE TIME AND SHE WORE ME OUT. DOGS ARE FUNNY CAUSE THEY ACT ON OUR EMOTIONS. THEY ARE OUR BEST FRIENDS CAUSE THEY ARE SENSATIVE TO OUR EMOTIONS. THEY DO AT TIMES LOSE THEIR WIND AND NEED A CHANCE TO GAIN A SECOND ONE.
I LOVED YOUR DOGS AT THE PICNIC, THEY WERE JUST CURIOUS ABOUT EVERYONE.
SallyMac read my blog view my photos
Apr 7, 2008 | 9:37 PM

Andrea,

I don't have a lot of experience with small dogs, but I've grown up around large dogs and am now "mom" to Logan the German Shepherd. Logan is so loyal (as are most dogs) and will stay by my side no matter what I'm doing: running, swimming, climbing a steep mountain, etc.. I enjoy taking him everywhere with me, but because of his size and heavy coat I usually monitor him and can pick up on how he's feeling pretty quickly. I see a lot of people who run three or four miles with their dogs everyday. Some of these dogs appear to be fine but really I think they're just running with their owner out of loyalty. From talking to experts, prolonged aerobic exercise is not healthy for dogs. It doesn't sound like you were asking too much from little Rocket (they are the cutest dachshunds I've ever seen, by the way!), but since last weekend was warm maybe he was having a hard time adjusting to the heat???
chassan read my blog view my photos
Apr 7, 2008 | 10:20 PM

Andrea,

Pickles and Rocket are so cute!

Yes, little dogs have to walk really fast to keep up with you, even though they have four legs.

Picture the 3- or 4-year-old child you may have seen been hauled through a mall or on a street by one of his parents. The child typically stumbles along with his small stride trying to keep up with his or her parent.

It's tough being little!
Booggymann read my blog view my photos
Apr 7, 2008 | 10:26 PM

I have had four little dachshunds in fact my last one was a longhair too, Those little guys can't handle long walks.
awatkins read my blog view my photos
Apr 8, 2008 | 10:22 AM

thanks for all your comments! it's good to hear from a doxie owner too, booggymann. ok... i'll cut them some slack. and i would imagine the black fur on rocket heats him up more than pickles with brown fur. i've still got to get pickles to lose another pound or so. he was getting pretty thick around the middle. but i'll stop trying to do that in one afternoon. ;-)
Booggymann read my blog view my photos
Apr 8, 2008 | 1:32 PM

Good luck trying to keep them thin...it's a full time job, everyone of my doxies got fat..Their a little on the lazy side,
PBMom read my blog view my photos
Apr 10, 2008 | 2:01 AM

I've been waiting for updated Pickles and Rocket pictures. I didn't get any notifications that this posted and I was just grazing to see what's been posted the last few days.

Maddie will go on a 2-mile walk in the evening and immediately want to go jump in the pool to cool down. We usually throw the ball to her in the pool so she can exercise different muscles afterwards But I'm not sure about little dogs.
awatkins read my blog view my photos
Apr 14, 2008 | 1:33 PM

oh i'd love to get pickles and rocket swimming. they do have webbed feet and i'm sure they'd love it.

booggymann, i know what you mean. it's funny. the two seem to have two totally different metabolisms. rocket always on the skinny side, pickles on the "mushy" side... lots of loose skin too. i have to say i have been successful getting pickles to trim down some. he has a waistline again, but i know it's a long battle especially as they age.
PBMom read my blog view my photos
Apr 15, 2008 | 2:11 AM

Maddie learned to swim in about a week. Better though at 2 weeks, but I was teaching her at 6 weeks of age. I can't believe she is going to be a year old next month! I'm trying to get some good pictures of her since we gave her a bath this weekend, but so far, no luck.
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awatkins

i love reporting the news... and the bright side of reporting before the sun comes up is that i can keep my cool! no melting in the houston heat at that hour. if you're up and about and tuning in, e-mail me a comment on the story i'm doing. we love to get your input. watkins@fox26.com

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