Help Wanted: Personal Trainer

Seems like my whole adult life, I've always weighed about 10-20 pounds more than I'd like to. So my usual New Year's resolution, along with 90% of the American population, was to lose weight. I'd set the goal of trying to exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY, just for the month of January. I knew it wasn't realistic to keep that up for an entire year, but I felt that for 31 days, it was possible.

Usually, although I might only end up having exercised for 20-25 days out of the 31, I felt it helped me set a pattern of more regular exercise. Doing this for the past several years, I've gotten to the point that if I don't exercise for 2-3 days, my body feels miserable, begging me to stop being lazy and get moving.

But in 2009, I didn't have to make my usual exercise resolution! With new puppy Cabana in our home, I HAD to take her for walks every day. I'm a firm believer that a tired puppy is a good puppy. Because it's not good for puppies' joints to run alongside us (it's considered "forced exercise", as opposed to being able to start and stop at their own will) until at least 12 months of age, I went for multiple short walks with Cabana instead.

I've heard the formula for puppy walking is 5 minutes for every month of age. So a 5-month old puppy can walk for 25 minutes, while a 12-month old can go for an hour. Of course, this is just a rule of thumb and would depend on the puppy and the breed.

In the past year of walking Cabana and more recently jogging with her (almost daily; my husband gives me a break 1-2 times a week), I have lost about 7 pounds, without making any other changes in my diet (heaven only knows since I love to eat--a lot) or overall lifestyle. Yippee!

Recalling what Katlynn shared in her post about Focus, Cabana's half brother, when he was career changed, the trainers said, "Focus is a dog that needs a job – a job to this dog would be to go jogging every day...."

When I read that, I thought about how alike Cabana and Focus seem to be, and how jogging with me every day would be a great job for Cabana! She makes a fabulous personal trainer, pushing me to go faster and further, loving every step, motivating me to get my butt out there, regardless of season or schedule. (Plus, Cabana runs on leash SO much more politely than when she walks.)

I hope I'll be able to lose the other 3-13 pounds in 2010, now that I've got my personal trainer at full tilt. And I encourage you all to get out there with Cabana and me! Our dogs need the exercise every day, and regardless of weight, we humans do, too!! Happy 2010 to everyone!