Exercise in the snow

I live in a home with over an acre to play in. You might think that would be enough exercise for a Doberman, but while free play is fun, it isn't real tiring exercise.

The streets around my house are salted. Mom thinks this isn't good for my feet and the town might not be using salt at all but chemicals. Mom hates chemicals on the street, so she refuses to walk me on the street. It doesn't help that she gets home after dark either which makes walks dangerous.

So we've started checking out parks every weekend. During the week we get exercise by going to agility class, obedience class and weekly playgroup. Well, that's three times a week. Better than nothing. Now Mom has added Saturday and Sunday walks in the parks.

First park we went to was Rocky Woods in Medfield. This was tons of fun. When I came home I was too tired for puppy testing but man did I feel good. Yesterday we went to Noon Hill and had the place to ourselves - except for some animal that seemed to be tracking us! I was nervous but Mom stayed cool so I figured hey - she's the alpha dog, let her protect me and I followed her lead. Guess what? We never saw whatever was making me nervous. It may have helped that Mom decided maybe I knew something she didn't and turned around. We'd been walking for an hour so she wanted to get to the car before sunset anyway.

I like parks.

Oh yes, and I did find something that is definitely Doberman safe! I'll blog about that tomorrow so Mom can upload a photo.

Winter in New England. I think Mom and I are getting the hang of it. (Just as it turns 50 degrees! Think I've been inside all day? You must not have a Doberman in your house!)

Its a long, cold winter.

Temperatures in the single digits and the Dobe wants to lie in the sunlight streaming through the slider. The sun is warm inside with the furnace on. Dark brown fur is warm in the sun spot, but short hair doesn't provide much protection outside where wind puts the wind chill factor at 4  below.

So what is a Doberman to do?

How about taking out pent up energy on your dog bed?

While mom and dad were at work, the doberman went after her crate bed. With the stuffing strewn around the kitchen floor, she next went after her Orvis donut bed. She ripped a small opening, but then resisted further damage.

It's been a long cold winter. The kind that is tough on Dobermans. And their beds. 

Snow tires out a Dobbie...

Alma's toy for Christmas (or one of them at any rate) was a new frog toy that "croaked." First, the frog made a recorded frog sound everytime Alma chewed on it which thrilled her. Then, with the determination possessed by every Dobie I've ever owned, Alma went after the device sewn into the frog to make the noise.

I never the left the dog alone with this toy knowing full well she couldn't resist chewing open the frog to get at the noise maker. Of course, this toy came with a guarantee that dogs could not rip open the toy.

Probably works for most dogs too, but the frog has been removed from the non-existent list of things Doberman's cannot destroy and joins the ranks of things that are not Doberman safe.

At first, I had false hope. Unlike the rest of the Christmas presents, the frog lasted about 2 weeks. The long tailed fox, (also guaranteed not to be chewed open,) lasted 3 days. I figure Alma just wanted to lure me into a false sense of security or maybe she liked the croaking and didn't want to ruin the toy. Curiosity prevailed and within an hour of the urge to find out what was making the croaking, the frog was reduced to a flat piece of ripped terrycloth.

You know where this is going...yes, the frog croaked - for the last time.

Walking the Doberman in the dark on cold nights

The sun sets about a half hour before I pull in the driveway from Monday through Friday. The air is cold with the smell of snow chilling my lungs when I throw the door shut and sprint from the Volvo into the house. A fire usually greats me with the smell of burning oak mixed with a warm dinner on the stove as the family has usually already finished eating by the time I arrive home.

My Doberman needs exercise. I know this. I knew this when I got a Doberman puppy, but I had forgotten about freezing January nights. The warm dinner beacons but the Doberman is desperate. Let one night slip without a walk and we all pay.

Today was my daughter's birthday. Last night she had a house full of friends spend the night for a sleepover. Last night I didn't walk the Doberman, being sidetracked by all the activity related to the early birthday celebration. We paid.

This morning we found a bra chewed into bits of shredded foam. It belonged to one of the girls sleeping over. I had to wake her with the bad news. Of course, it was her favorite bra.

"Don't worry," I volunteered. "We'll go to Victoria Secret and I'll pay for a new one."

The offer was accepted with no hard feelings, thank goodness. The cost of a replacement bra: $42.00.

I arrived home from work tonight to find my husband holding a handful of shredded plastic. The remains of the Sony TV remote control. Yes, we paid.

So what did I do when I entered the house and saw the handful of plastic? I put on the dog's sweater and coat and leach and backpack and took the dog for a walk. She was beside herself with joy. I was freezing but soon got into the training myself. Every day we seem to make a bit more progress on getting Alma to walk beside me rather than in front of me.

When we got home, Alma still had energy left. So we did some obedience training. Alma is learning to carry and drop newspapers in my lap. We then played for a while. Today being my daughter's birthday my husband, daughter and I went out to eat. We were all a bit fearful of what might greet us when we got home.

We peered in the door to see what new disasters might be found. There in the middle of her bed we found a tired, happy Doberman with one eye open who slowly rose, stretched, yawned and collapsed back down, her eyes closed as soon as her head hit the bed.

Exercise. You really can't skip it if you have a Doberman puppy. If you do you'll pay.