Fit Fare

The cold winter months are upon us along with their weight gain challenges for humans and dogs alike.  For Fido, the risk is as serious as it is for you:  tasty rich food scraps or stolen cookies, perhaps some doggie treats from his stocking, but worst of all, shorter outdoor jaunts.  Long gone are the hour-long fetch sessions, the chases with other pups out in the park.  In some parts, the cold temperatures limit his excursions to a dash from the door to the nearest bush or fire hydrant.  For some dogs, you might even have to force them to get outside at all.

There are many things you can do, however, to help little Fido make it through the cold months without gaining so much weight that he has to waddle around once the first spring blossoms show up.  The most important thing for owners to look into is improving their dogs’ diets.  Just like any processed human food, dog food is packed with preservatives, mystery remains of meats and other odds and ends tossed together.  You can do your research and find the best options for your dog (or cat even) from a variety of sources, but the Dog Food Report by 5-Star Dog is quite complete.

Another option is cooking your own dog food.  Much like human food, the most important things for pups are whole grains, a mixture of vegetables and some lean protein.  You can cook up a huge pot of food at a time, using brown rice, some carrots, eggs and turkey, for example.  You can find recipes for your pets in cookbooks such as The Holistic Dog Book or online, at Free Natural Dog Food Recipes, among others.
The winter time is a great time to work on teaching Fido new tricks.  Since he’s not getting his exercise outside, teach him tricks inside that will give him a good workout.  If this is something you’ve never done before, you can get a book, such as How to Teach Your Old Dog New Tricks.  Or you can find some free lessons online.  A great trick that will burn calories is Spin, which will have your pup spinning in circles or jump rope, even!  The blog A Trick A Day has a wide variety of tricks for dogs, both indoor and outdoor.

Once you’re both done with your classroom time, reward Fido with games.  Tug of war and fetch can both be played indoors (as long as you don’t have valuables nearby) and will help finish off your pup’s workout.

The most important thing to remember is that even if you can’t go outdoors for long, there are still plenty of ways to look after your pup’s well being, and the more you do to keep your dog exercised, the better behaved and happier he will be!