I am physically sore after trying my hardest to figure out Kairo's exercise needs. I know they are high - no matter what I do, she still spends the entire day pacing the house and staring things down for hours.

Kairo is a horrid puller. I have her on a Sensational No Pull harness and my arms and legs are still sore from trying to keep her under control. I am not the most fit person (I have a slight build none-the-less), and I really detest running. However, I will pick it up for two months if it helps this pup out.

That being said, I cannot physically start out at her level of tolerance. I also know that with her being half my weight, if she darts off in any direction mid run, I will be getting hurt.

I also have to be really careful not to create a super athlete. As she does belong to a Marine who sometimes can work up to 12 hours a day, I cannot create an expectation in her and give him back a destructive dog if he fails to uphold what I started.

I unfortunately live in an apartment complex. This is not terrible as she actually lives in a town home, so she's used to tight quarters, though not quite this tight. I have witnessed her pacing and inattentive staring in her own home.

I will gladly accept any ideas or suggestions you guys might have. Ember does not keep up with Kairo's energy and does not provide enough play to tire Kairo out in my stead. I also really like the sticky thread about letting her run with me on some form of wheels somehow, but again, she has no leash sense whatsoever and I really fear getting hurt.

You might benefit from a prong collar - that's what I use on Ami and Archer.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t14123-prong-collar-should-i-use-one?highlight=prong+collar

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t3462-am-i-really-so-bad-for-wanting-to-try-a-choke-collar?highlight=prong+collar

There are more threads on here re the prong. Some people will try to make you feel like a torture person but you can just ignore them. The horrors story pictures you may come across were from a puppy whose prong was left on all the time and became too small. I'm in a bit of a rush right now, but if you have more questions, I can answer more thoroughly tomorrow morning.

I hook my two to a belt to save my arms. I have a riggers belt I carabiner clip their leashes to. My two are pulleys also and the both of them combined outweigh me but they can't outpull me, especially when they are pulling at my core. If you have a strong belt that's leather or sturdy canvas you can use it too. Just slide the belt through the hand loop on the leash then tighten it down to your body. It works better if it's tight to you. If the belt can rotate it makes it a little easier for the dog to pull you sideways, but tight you hardly know you're walking a dog, or in my case, two.

Amy, thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately my brother has tried both prong and slip, and Kairo choked herself on both until she gagged and turned blue, but continued to pull anyway. She coughed until she threw up after every walk (that I witnessed).

I will see if I can try the belt idea. I actually don't have one as I haven't needed one in years, but it may be time to buy or borrow . Or make.

I actually got through her thick skull tonight. Every so many steps I would stop and plant my feet, and just wait while she sniffed around. I would give her an occasional "sit" command, to which she mostly ignored. She would try to move forward but I would stand my ground. Finally, when she did sit, I immediately stepped forward.

After about twenty minutes of this, I had her sitting every time I paused almost consistently. By the time I got her home it was without command. Towards the end of the walk, if there was any tension on the leash, I paused and she sat. I would give her a few seconds and move forward.

If she wanted to progress, she had to quit pulling.

By far the best walk yet, but still needs a ton of work.

I know the problem is that this is a new area and I am a "new" person (she knows me, but has always had "dad" to fall back on). I'm asking a lot of her too as I keep thinking she's way better trained than she really is.

So, here's the current question:

I can keep a power walk pace up for about a mile pretty steady. She keeps this pace and actually doesn't pull so terribly (a little - it's the quick diverts left/right that wear on my muscles). How many miles is acceptable without creating a super athlete?

I am not familiar with that harness you use. The harness I had to get for "Mr. I-will-pull-you" has the clip ring on his chest. I found that if it was on his back, then he just pulled away like it was a contest. However, once I got the harness with the clip on his chest, it DRASTICALLY stopped his pulling.

I think you are worrying too much about creating a super athlete. She is already a super athlete as is displayed by her behavior. Right now you are witnessing what a super athlete is like when their needs aren't being met consistently. Huskies need miles of walking every day especially when they are young. Many people here are covering at least three miles a day. Others are covering 5+. I would focus on meeting the distance she needs and when your brother comes back maybe he will be impressed by how good she can be and will want to find a way to keep up with it. At the end of the day he got a husky and Huskies need to be exercised vigorously and often.

Mark, that is the harness The one with the ring on the chest.

I will work on getting us up to 3 miles. Right now with the stop-go pull training, it's hard to really go anywhere, but she's picking up on it fast so I'm aiming for a few laps around the neighborhood tonight (1 figure-8 lap is about a mile).

I met a woman once on Alki beach in Seattle who had TWO huskies like Kairo.
She had a big truck tire that lay flat on the sand with chains attached.
She hooked both dogs up to the tire and the dogs pulled it across the sand.
The woman just walked beside the dogs encouraging them.
But the dogs didn't need any encouragement; they were into it.
She said that it was the only way she could tire them out.

I use a skijor belt when I walk Bodhi.
You can get one here:
https://nordkyn.com

jalepeno wrote:

I met a woman once on Alki beach in Seattle who had TWO huskies like Kairo.
She had a big truck tire that lay flat on the sand with chains attached.
She hooked both dogs up to the tire and the dogs pulled it across the sand.
The woman just walked beside the dogs encouraging them.
But the dogs didn't need any encouragement; they were into it.
She said that it was the only way she could tire them out.

I use a skijor belt when I walk Bodhi.
You can get one here:
https://nordkyn.com

I LIKE that idea!!! The woo woo woo creature is at this moment want to go...

I've bookmarked the site! Thank you! I do love the tire idea too!

Daniel (my room mate and youngest brother) has a long board for skating around campus. We want to use this to let her pull us around - but again, I'm really nervous of her ADD-like demeanor. She darts all over the place and I know she will take off after a cat if she thinks I am letting her.

HOWEVER, today I decided to jog a little of the path. We actually went right past a cat in the grass that I didn't see until too late - and apparently, she never saw either. I saw this "must go" mode in Kairo's brain. It was pretty cool!

How do you go about getting her ready to pull you on a skateboard without risking limbs?

Is there a dog park around where you live? (I know some don't like dog parks). My two get tired out the most at the dog park. All the new people/dogs/smells to interact with seems to do the trick. As long as you know Kairo is friendly with other dogs that might work

As for the pulling, you could try the gentle leader. I found that works better than the no pull harnesses though dogs dont like the gentle leader at the beginning. The trainer we go to did say that a fast pace is best for keepng the dogs focused--which supports your observation.

KairoAndEmber wrote:

How do you go about getting her ready to pull you on a skateboard without risking limbs?

Invest in a full suit of medieval armor?

Mark Grubbs wrote:

KairoAndEmber wrote:

How do you go about getting her ready to pull you on a skateboard without risking limbs?

Invest in a full suit of medieval armor?

I put pup on the walkydog bike attachment last night for the first time since last fall... puppy thought I was trying to kill him when he stepped away from the bike before I got on (this time, I had my hand on the bike and the other holding a "back-up" leash...not like the first time when I walked away 3 feet to get my gloves...) and I thought I was a goner when we approached a kitten who ran up a tree...

I would put a weight on the skate board, puppy on a leash, walk and jog in that configuration while you teach commands...like WHOA being an important one

I was trying to come up with something that would be protective but couldn't - *that* seems to be a workable solution, though. I couldn't picture putting one of the skateboards I've seen on a husky - All I can picture is "hup-hup!" and ending up either on my head or my teakettle when dog takes off.

This thread already makes me giggle So awesome!

I will try working with the commands. We have the sit on stop working pretty well now. Speed definitely makes a huge difference.