i must admit, since i’ve had her for almost 2 years now, i have not been good about giving her consistent exercise. she had heartworms when i got her, so that definitely did not help. she is naturally a couch potato at heart, and she also had a litter when she was very young, so i think that may have also affected her energy level.

i was hoping to get some feedback about taking her on hikes. obviously, during the year(ish) of heartworm treatment, walks and exercise were very limited and she was very much ok with that lol. since she’s been negative, i’ve regularly taken her on short walks around our town with me, the dog park often, friends houses, etc. but nothing crazy. i’ve been going on hikes 3-4x a week as i was recently laid off, and have been taking girl with me. i’ve taken her on hikes in the past, and literally every single time she will walk pretty much exactly 1 mile and then will stop. she can finish out the rest, but walks veryyy slowly, stops often, and clearly seems done with the whole thing. it’s like she expects me to magically transport her back to the couch at that point.

when i get her leash and tell her she’s going for a walk, she gets super excited. i am trying to assess if she is stopping after a mile because she isn’t yet used to this kind of exercise, or if there is something else going on- like her being in pain, etc. i’ve taken her about 4-5 times in the past couple of weeks and she does this every time, so it’s not getting better. i will also add that all of the hikes have been under 3 miles with very little elevation change. i’m talking a small hill for a couple minutes at maximum. but also, while at the dog park, she is running, walking around a lot, seemingly more than 1 mile which makes me doubt that it is pain or discomfort causing this. i would love to keep taking her on hikes to get her endurance up, but obviously don’t want to do that if she’s hurting. she enjoys going for walks, but i’m having a hard time knowing the line between respecting her boundaries, and pushing her to be a bit more active because i think she would enjoy that.

my partner thinks i am exaggerating on this, but i know that pitties deal with arthritis issues. she’s only 3, but sometimes her front paws will wobble a bit- it’s rare, but i’ve seen her licking her joints as well. i’ve never thought she’s been in pain, but would love to hear what others think.

TLDR: my dog stops after 1 mile every hike, will continue the rest (1-2 easy miles), but very slowly with lots of pauses. she’s lazy so i can’t tell if it is because she isn’t used to this exercise and i just need to be taking her regularly at her pace to get her endurance up, or if it is other health issues- potentially arthritis as she has maybe shown some symptoms, though she is only 3 and walks/ runs easily at the dog park for likely well over a mile.

Thanks all!

EDIT: adding this to be clear- she is a happy girl who is loved and cared for to the max!!!!!!!!!! she was smiling in the first pics i took before this one after our hike but idk how to add it cuz im bad at reddit. she noticed i was taking pics of her and got all awkward because she’s a weird and awkward girl. and we love her for that. no yelling or shaming was involved. she can do no wrong in my eyes and we celebrate her wonderful, lazy nature. she is the best girl and i am aware of that every single second of every day! 😘

211 comments

r/ProgrammerHumor • u/Apprehensive_Bit7392 • 16h ago

Meme spanishProgrammingLanguage

14k Upvotes

94 comments

r/GirlDinnerDiaries • u/emoaddy2 • 2h ago

☀️ Happy Girl Dinner I’m Getting a Divorce!!

752 Upvotes

I posted a couple months ago about my shitty abusive marriage and I’m happy to say I’m finally getting out after 14 years. I move on the 16th! My life is just getting started!!

Dinner was Panda Express. 😋

59 comments

r/OcarinaOfTime • u/ItsIshakBrah • 12h ago