Nanook LOVES to run and is incredibly strong for how small she is. I've been rollerblading with her since she was 4 months old. going at her own pace. but now she is SO strong that she takes off and it's just pull pull pull. I'm rather small, under the 120 weight range and he can easily pull me on the roller blade. unfortunately i know that she is a bit too young to be pulling just yet. and I can't keep up with her on the blades to prevent her pulling. Needless to say, she took off and I ended up trying to grab onto something to slow her down and I ended up falling to the ground so unbelievably hard that i have swelling the size of a softball (quite literally) just under my butt closer to the outside of my leg and my wrist is all scraped up. (butt pads anyone?) She just loves to run so much and i'm not sure how to exercise her any other way. my knees wont handle running and the season is almost over for biking where I live so it would be pointless for me to go out and buy a bike..

please give me suggestions? I dont think my poor body could handle another fall like that. i'm already contemplating heading to the ED tonight because of the massive swelling and pain.

I am a firm believer in Biking... when I was a teenager I biked everywhere, even in the snow.. but it is preference and how much you can take really... But another way I have heard that is somewhat successful is training them to use a treadmill.. It is the lazy-mans route but if you are looking for a crazyness curb, that will do it for the most part, but you may see some cabin fever, so still make sure to go for long walks.

You could always see if there is a sledding team around that you can be apart of, just say you don't want to go competitively that you just want your dog to have some exercise and gain some pack mentality. Good soul food really.

I just posted this in another thread and thought it was somewhat relative in your thread too, so instead of retyping it all, I just quoted myself:
 

counter wrote:

Yes, look into Bikejoring, where your dog runs and pulls on a line out in front of you on a (mountain) bike, similar to sled dogs pulling a sled in the snow. I take my 3 dogs out daily for 6 miles average. It's enough to keep them under control. I can ride the brakes to add resistance when needed. Since we don't get a lot of snow here, there's nothing better than seeing a Sibe do what it's been bred to do, and that's PULL, snow or not. Look into bikejoring, scootering, carting, etc. It's what I had to do when Paw Paw was younger, as my very long walks were not enough (and would take hours), and there was no way I could run fast enough to wear him down. See if there are local sled dog clubs in your area. They will be able to help you find the necessary gear and fit it properly. Check out sleddogcentral.com too, as I believe they have a list of clubs around the US. I was in your shoes at one point, but bikejoring solved all of my problems. It saves a lot of time, as a 6-mile ride takes us under an hour, and it's enough to calm them for the rest of the day. They will still run around our 1/2 acre yard and play and wrestle, as if they didn't run 6 miles at all, but I can tell the difference compared to a day where they get the day off to rest and recuperate. Good luck!

Here's 2 of my 3 dogs, back when we first started, so you can get an idea of what it looks like:

 
Like someone else mentioned, find a local sled dog club, since you mentioned no running and no biking. There is also skijoring, since you already rollerblade. I've never skied and probably never will, but I've also never rollerbladed. Skijoring might be right up your alley in the winter seasons. It also sounds like you might want something with a braking system so you don't fall. I know my 3 dogs can pull me on my mountain bike, even when I brake the bike so hard that the wheels lock up. It's pretty scary. This only happens when they see a coyote and are chasing it. I've been working on their WHOA and ON BY commands to get passed this. Good luck. Hope this helps!

your pup is still to young to be working it so hard, i dont know how long you are blading but at 6months she is still growing and you dont want to mess up her joints. do you have a dog park to take her to to let her run in dirt at her leisure? what about just LONG walks with mental games mixed in? play-dates with other dogs wears them out just as much. sorry you got all banged up.

jbealer wrote:

your pup is still to young to be working it so hard, i dont know how long you are blading but at 6months she is still growing and you dont want to mess up her joints. do you have a dog park to take her to to let her run in dirt at her leisure? what about just LONG walks with mental games mixed in? play-dates with other dogs wears them out just as much. sorry you got all banged up.

 
 
And yeah, I missed the 6 months old part. I agree! We waited until the pups were over a year old to start running with them, and didn't get into bikejoring until we moved from VA to OR, when they were 2 years old. They're 5 now, almost 6, so we've been bikejoring daily for 4 years and it's a ton of fun and great exercise for them when they're old enough to handle it.
 
When we were in VA, we would go to softball or baseball fields that were fully fenced in. I would take their leashes and wrap them around the gates so no one would open the gate and accidentally let my dog out. That way they could "be free" and sprint and run at their own accord in a much larger area than our yard. Plus, it was someplace new and different, so they would run around and explore and have a blast. That's how I was exercising them when they were younger. Oh, and tennis courts too! Anyplace that was fully fenced that allowed dogs. Paw Paw does not do well with other dogs, so we couldn't go to dog parks. Sports fields were our alternative. He would chase birds and falling leaves, etc and run around and make a fool of himself. Here's some pics (wow, a blast from our past...I haven't looked at these pics in years):

Missed the 6 months part as well......

Sorry you got hurt. Maybe time to take a few steps back.

My puppy is 7 months and 2 25 minute walks a day or 1 50 minute walk is good enough for him to be manageable along with some time running around back yard. He is on the calmer side though such as even in training classes and dog people indicate he is very calm with the small amount of exercise.

We just ordered him his first back pack so he can get use to wearing it and will start adding weight around a year. We also have walked him next to a bike and gotten him use to a bike so next spring when he is ready to run with bike he will be use to it. We just started researching sled commands as well since we are interested in bikejoring once he is old enough.

Loki can get exhausted by short training sessions too. The mental exercise helps calm them down as well at this age. I also notice when I have him walk heel and do commands like sit and touch as we walk he seems to get worn out faster then just a free walk. On days where he acts up, I have a food ball I'll put his kibble in and it seems to keep him busy too. My hope is working on simpler commands on walks will help get him to listen better when we are running/biking as he gets older.

I hope you feel better soon! That sounds just awful

I definitely agree that mental training equals a tired out dog, making them really concentrate seems to drain their energy a lot. My boy is a tad older than Nanook and firmly in the teenage stage but at the moment he gets two 45 minute walks daily, 2 training classes a week (rally obedience and a tricks class) at least one good puppy play date a week and of course daily crazy zoomie backyard playtime and training time. The nights when he is quietest is after classes - he just comes home and practically passes out  

The other thing is have found useful is teaching him to find things, I hide stuff all around then tell him to find each item - he'll spend ages getting everything then he is usually pooped its great. The really funny thing about this exercise is that in typical Husky fashion once he has everything he will usually go and re hide the good things to save them for later lol so he expends more energy finding the perfect place to stash the things he just found... silly boy

I agree with just walks. Yuki's 15 months and I still haven't even run her, I was told I could run at 12 months but I'm a big worry wart. She may join Link and I in the next month though. Yuki has learned a lot of tricks over the past few months, mental stimulation was/is my best friend. I'm not in the best shape either so it was more fun for both of us. One thing that helped was practicing tricks outdoors, more distractions for her and harder for her to focus, so it seemed to tire her out pretty quickly keeping her attention.

thanks for the advice everyone. i know 6 months is way too early for her to be pulling. i used to be able to keep up with her. this was the first time she's really taken off and i couldn't keep up. Unfortunately I ended up in the ER last night with a softball sized hematoma massive swelling and bruising and a sprained hip. so i'm off my feet for the next 5 days.

We do have a dogpark nearby but ive been terrified to bring her because the last time we were there she was attacked by a relentless pitbull (pits arent even allowed in the park) and her neck got all cut up.

as for rollerblading with her, it's always been at her pace. If i walk with her, she pulls so hard and i end up with a pulled muscle in my shoulder. I'm not a very strong person at all with minimal upper body strength. I've tried the gentle leader and the no pull harness and she still pulls. that's why i figured letting her run with me on blades would be a good idea. My yard isn't fenced in yet, although we have an acre of land, i cant just let her run out back. The fence is going up in the spring though.

I really just wanted ideas to exercise her, not necessarily something that would make her pull. i fully understand that she is much too young to pull. ( And i certainly don't want her doing that again anytime soon!)

Pulling is not to be done until 18 months yes, but they're not even supposed to run until 12 months, and I'm sure she runs when you guys rollerjore. That's all I was getting at

Do you have any state parks around that have rocky trails. I take Kenzi to a state park not far from me to walk and run her and some of the trails follow a rocky bluff (not super steep or dangerous), but climbing up and down the larger rocks slow her down and make her use her muscles. Always wears her out faster than me just walking her on flat ground.

What about the flirt pole? That was an idea that I got from this site, and works great. Exercise and training all in one.

what is a flirt pole?

Here's the video. Forgot which post it came from.

http://vimeo.com/26279876