I recently babysat my daughter’s dog while she went on her honeymoon for ten days.
- The dog is a 60 pound, two-year-old airedale terrier.
She has an incredible amount of energy. She would prefer to be played with every minute. She wants to play fetch, tug-of-war and just have me chase her around the living room. My daughter regularly takes the dog on long runs. I decided this could be a perfect way to tire her out. I maintain good physical shape. I jog, ride my bike, kayak and jump rope on a daily basis. I assumed that running with the dog would be no problem for me. However, as soon as I snapped on her on the leash, the dog took off at full speed. She dragged me down the road. I couldn’t keep pace with her. I thought the dog was going to tear my arm right out of the socket. She is used to running with my daughter at a much faster pace. My daughter is 5’10” tall and in her twenties. I am around 5 feet tall and in my fifties. I had to force the dog down to a walking pace. After we’d walked for three miles, I saw that she was looking a bit tired. I gradually increased our speed up to a comfortable jogging pace. She was good with the slower jog and we ran for another five miles. It was a pleasure. By the time we made it home, the dog and I were both tired and panting. We were thirsty as well. We both drank a lot of water and rested a bit. I ran with the dog nearly every day during her stay with me.