Running with German Shepherds is a very enjoyable thing. German Shepherd is a very violent dog. However, they can be petted very well. It is a pleasure for them if you walk with them. Likewise, you will also be thrilled to walk with the German Shepherd. The German Shepherd has earned quite a great reputation as a safeguard of your house.
But if you want to keep them doing the work properly, then you need to keep them healthy. And if you want to keep your dog healthy, then you need to put them into exercise. To have regular exercise, taking your dog out is a good way. This keeps the heart, muscles, and other body parts well. Likewise, no fat accumulates in the body.
Besides, they have to be trained also to make them do everything properly. There are many who do not know exactly how to run with the German Shepherd. We will give you a short tutorial on Running with German Shepherds.
Using it properly will make your job a lot easier. Let’s now know how to run with the German Shepherd. There are plenty of benefits that you can get from running with your German Shepherd. Here are some.
A Dog Parent’s Guide to Running with German Shepherds
To run with a German Shepherd, you need to follow some guidelines. Otherwise, he might even bite you. So everything has to be done according to the rules. So that he can understand that you are really coming to rejoice with him. In front of you, we have presented the dog parent’s guide to running with German Shepherds.
The Benefits of Running with Your Dog
- Running with Your Four-Legged Buddy Helps You Meet New People: If you are single, then surely your mind eagerly wants to mingle. Running with a dog can solve your problem. You would go far away every day with a dog. As a result, you will meet many people on the way. By getting acquainted with new people, you have the opportunity to make a life partner by choosing from those new people. It’s a great opportunity to mingle. The biggest thing is you will find someone who is a dog lover.
- It Keeps Your Buddy Healthy: German Shepherd needs to go through the exercise. If they do not do regular exercise, many diseases are caused to their body. As he runs with you, he will get a lot of exercise. He will not have any fat-caused disease. Running will reduce calories and make the heart, lungs, and other body parts very strong. Likewise, natural resistance will be created in the body.
- Running with Your Four-Legged Buddy Keeps Your Dog Tired in “a Good Way.”: German Shepherd loves a lot to do sports. If you run, he will always be active. It will keep his mind full of spirits. That’s a big point for you. Your German Shepherd will forget loneliness because of you. He will be happy to take part in all the work with you.
- It Helps to Keep You Motivated: German Shepherd will motivate you. The dog will teach you how to work hour after hour. He will walk with you without any tiredness. You will understand how to focus on work. In addition, the dog will motivate you in many ways. All of this will teach you how to shine in life. There is a lot to learn from a dog, too.
- Running Helps You Bond with Your Buddy: Running is also a very effective way to build a good bond with your dog. You should walk with him every day. And that will make a wonderful relationship between you and your German Shepherd. You will find that he is a very loyal companion to you and he will also consider you as a best friend.
Start Out Slowly
The first step to running is to start slowly. If you start at a very high speed, then there may be various problems. For example, he may attack you thinking like a victim. Apart from this, if you start running at a very high speed at the beginning when your dog is at the puppy stage, then it may affect a lot on the dog’s body later.
This can cause many problems for joints and bones. You also have to think that you should not run with the very puppy German Shepherd at all. If there is a slight development in the body of the puppy, then you should start running. You should start slowly. Then speed up after a certain period.
In this way, slowly reach the full accelerator. Following this way, you will not be tired, and your dog will be good at it. There is a saying, ‘Slow and steady win over the race’. In dealing with walking with a German Shepherd, you must adhere to the same principle.
Consult With Your Vet.
Before starting to run with the German Shepherd, you should consult the vet once. Even if it seems right in your eyes to run with your dog, you should start after discussing it with the vet. This is because a vet can accurately tell if a dog is suitable for running or not. Get the certificate from the vet and then start running.
If the vet prohibits you from running with your dog, then you should not start running by disobeying his suggestions. Doing so can be counterproductive. If the vet declares your dog as unfit, then take good care of your dog and then again take suggestions from the vet a few days later. Thus, do not start until the vet declares the dog fit. However, usually at the first meeting, the vet gives a certificate for running.
What Running Gears Should You Use?
You need to use some gears before you start running. Here are the gears that you have to take.
1. Harness and Leash:
Harness is a good way to control the dogs. Dogs can’t go far away if there is a harness on your dog’s neck. Fitting the harness on the leash, you can easily control the dog. No matter how violent the dog may be, he will not be able to do much. This is because his pulling or choking will stop at all. There are many good harnesses available in the market.
You can buy one from there. Besides, if there is a harness on the neck, it will not be able to hurt others. There is no alternative to a harness and leash for walking on the roads. To find out the best harness, you can check out our review of the best harness for German Shepherd.
2. Running Belt:
Running belt is an essential thing in a long journey. This is because both you and the dog will be tired. Many things may be needed then. Running belts can carry a lot of things inside. However, two things must be kept in the running belt. They are:
- Poop Bag: You must keep the poop bag. The poop bag will provide good support in the road so that the dog does not pee or potty on the road. If you have a poop bag, you will not have to face such problems anymore.
- Water Bottle: There is no need to say how important the water is when running. During running, there will be a lot of dehydration from the body. Then you have to drink water. You may face extreme thirst, but you will not find out any shops nearby to buy water. Then, the accompanying water bottle will provide great support. You can satisfy yourself and your dog’s water thirst from a water bottle.
3. Trekz After Shokz Headphone
Although it is not needed in the beginning, you will understand it the day when you have to go far. Then you have to run through many noisy areas as well. If you do not have aftershock headphones, then you will have to face many problems. Even your dogs can be lost. If it is fitted, then you will hear the jingle sound very clearly.
That will make it much easier to identify the dog’s location. The German Shepherd will be in your control. There will be no fear of getting lost in even an active cloud. So be sure to take it before running, especially in long-distance.
How to Train Your Dog to Run
Before starting running with you, your dog must learn some basic obedience commands such as sit and stay, down, come, off, don’t touch, and heel. Once your German Shepherd has mastered the leash-loose walking, they are ready for their first run. Then, the rest of the steps are described one by one.
1. The First Run
At first, you have to decide which direction you really want to run. The right side or the left side should be fixed beforehand. No matter which side you make it run, you have to train it from the front foot.
However, if your dog can learn heel command properly, it will be much easier for you to train him. Then you start walking after giving him the command. If he starts to walk behind you, then treat him to learn the basics of training. Keep repeating this way for several days.
The dog will learn to walk right behind you. But you have to remember one thing; do not let the dog walk in front of you. It will cause harm to you and your dog as well.
So always make the dog walk the dog behind you. When he manages to run perfectly, then train him to run on the other side in the same way. If he learns the running technique from both sides, then you can take it with you anywhere to walk or run.
2. Pick Up the Pace
After successfully learning to walk on one side, your job will be to increase his walking speed. That’s why you should run at a little speed. The dog will speed up the race along with you. However, you should also take care that the pick-up does not reach the full accelerator at all. For that, the dog can come from behind and attack you.
Spend a week through moderate mode pace. If you reach the end of the pace in one week, there is a possibility of multiple injuries. You have to avoid this. Your German Shepherd will be ready to run at a faster rate if you train patiently for a full week. As it will go through the process, there will be no health loss or damage.
3. Teach Your Dog Some Cues
You should teach your dog some commands while he is in the speed and distance build-up stage. These commands are taught through some verbal cues. For example, teach your dog cues such as “walk”, “jog”, “run”, and “stop”. Increase his speed with these cues. This is basically done to become mentally prepared and increase speed.
The reason is that you can increase the speed suddenly if you want. If you give the command, he will prepare himself first and then increase the pace. If you can do this successfully, the dog will be able to exceed a lot of distance. For that, your dog’s health will be much better.
4. Build Up Endurance and Strength
It is necessary to build German Shepherd’s endurance and strength. The more he can build up this, the better it will be to become a horse for a long race. There is no alternative to endurance to overcome the greater distances.
But it has to be achieved slowly. It will not come in the way suddenly. There are many popular ways to do this. You can do it yourself by watching it on YouTube.
5. Watch Out for the Sign to Stop
Dogs are not machines. They are animals. So it is normal to be tired. You need to instruct him to stop, as you understand some symptoms. The heatstroke or overexertion sign must be taken very seriously. Panting is the most definite sign that your dog has overdone it and needs to take a break. Other symptoms to watch include lethargy, drooling, weakness, dark red gums, and vomiting.
Your dog can show these signs at any time. Then, you have to understand that he needs a break. So you can stop it without taking it slightly. Otherwise, it could be a catastrophic disaster. Let him drink water at rest. Then, wait a few minutes to see if he falls asleep on a normal mode. If all is not normal, then finish running there. This is because, first of all, the health of the dog is important.
Other Useful Tips to Remember
There are some other essential tips that you should keep in mind. All of these tips are outlined in point form below.
- Because German Shepherds are a breed that is prone to hip dysplasia, you may want to add hip and joint supplements to your dog’s diet plan.
- Make it warm up properly before starting to run. Likewise, when finished, you should make it cool down properly. In this, the health of the dog will be much better. It will not take too much time to do these. 2-3 minutes is enough. That will provide many health benefits for both you and the dog.
- It is a normal rule to do potty and pee. You must give the dog enough time to do potty and pee so he can prepare himself. Give enough time to start and finish running. In between, he will finish the work of doing potty and pee. Then there will be no problem in the midway for running.
- Before starting running, you must fix the route. If you fix the route suddenly, then you cannot do anything. There will be many types of problems. This is because you have no preparation for the route. When you are ready with the route in advance, you will naturally keep yourself updated by collecting all the information.
- Don’t go out with your German Shepherd in overheating because dogs cannot tolerate so hot. The skin is covered with his coat, because of which the warmth will be more. The heat will increase because of dehydration if it runs in the hot sun. Then, many diseases occur to your dog that can be carried out with a heat stroke to your dog. Run in comfortable weather. Such weather is good for everyone. Neither you nor your dog will be tired.
- Keep water at all times even if not running. Remember, water is another name for life. You don’t even know when you need water. With water, many difficult diseases can be eliminated in the early stages. So you must keep water with you.
- Check your dog for ticks that may be hitchhiked to your home. You can use anti-flea and ticks shampoo to suppress these. These will remove all the problems from the body of the German Shepherd.
Final Verdict
German Shepherds love to play very much. He becomes very happy if you go to play or jogging with him. It will keep both you and the dog in good health. The benefits of running are many. But before running with the German Shepherd, you need to follow the above rules. Then he will run with you beautifully after learning everything well.
But never run at an excessive level. It is very harmful to dogs. Likewise, do not go outside in the excessive heat. If you can comply with these, your German Shepherd will become your best friend.
We hope that you can comply with all the rules and regulations mentioned in the review of the Running with German Shepherds.
