Getting Fit with a German Shepherd

We have decided to get more fit this year.  So we purchased Fitbit activity monitors to help track our progress and motivate us.  They seem to be working well so far.  Both of us have lost about twenty pounds and our activity levels have greatly increased!  Yay!  The bonus is that Bodie benefits from this also.  He gets daily walks no matter the weather.  When you have a huge backyard it is easy to get out of the habit of walking the dog, especially when Bodie does laps around the yard [he monitors the activity on the trail :) ]. 

 



Bodie before his walk.

 

German Shepherds are Smart!

New Command

 

I am constantly amazed at how smart German Shepherds are!  Bodie is learning a new command, one I made up myself: “Come Help Me”.

 

Let me explain.  Part One: I have a physical condition that is constantly getting worse and it makes walking painful.  Occasionally, my knee completely gives way and I almost fall.  Part Two: we recently started using a harness on Bodie, a Kong harness with a handle.

 

I noticed that when I took Bodie outside, holding onto his harness really helped me going up and down the steps to the backyard.  I started saying “Help Me” as I went up and down the steps.  Pretty soon, all I had to do was say “Bodie, come help me” and he will come up to my left side so I can hold onto his harness as I walk.  Smart Boy!

Indestructible

Bodie is really, really good at destroying toys.  Many toys don't last very long at all.  In just minutes, Bodie can rip a toy apart.  We got him a new toy just last week, the KONG Scrunch Knot Squirrel.  The squirrel has no stuffing; instead, it has a knotted rope toy inside and a squeaker in the head.

This is how it looked like when it came home.

Bodie loved it!  In a couple of minutes, he had removed the ears.

You can't tell, but both ears are gone.

About five minutes later, Bodie had removed the squeaker.

The squeaker is in a bag.

  Then he proceeded to remove the rope toy.

Bodie discovered the rope toy.

 Now, he has two toys - a road kill squirrel and a rope toy!  He is a happy boy.

Doesn't he look pleased with himself?

 But there is one toy that has been indestructible - his Jolly Balls.  This is his indoor ball, the Bounce-N-Play.

This is what the Bounce-N-Play looked like new.

This is what it looks like after two years of hard play.  Indestructible!