If you have the $, you can buy a dog treadmill but I have a bad hip, cannot walk much at all right now so I rush Tibbe about in the back yard, sending him first to one side to 'see Rusty'(his buddy next door -whether he's outside or not Tibbe still runs to see) and to the back to 'get the squirrel!' or to the other side where 'Maxine' lives, the big dog on the other side and then back to me on the back porch. Then repeat, repeat, repeat until his tongue his hanging out and he takes a break. He'll lie down and 'sun' himself, smack dab in the middle of the yard, lying in the warm/hot sun as long as he can bear it. Then we 'go' again until he tires out again and again. He dashes about out there and inside, I toss treats and chewies and things for him to go 'get' and throw the ball for him and we make great fun of his going to get those things, celebrate him 'getting' them as big wins - 'touchdowns' if he retrieves or runs back with them, 'gets' if he runs to and eats the treats. He loves it!
You can also take your dogs out front one at a time on a 50' long leash and allow him to run about to and fro and sniff the smells of the front yard and areas on either side to get in a bit more walking about and toss things for him to run and 'get'. Tibbe thinks of out front as a vacation from his reaction to each visit out there. He adores out front! My Tibbe will also jump up and down his doggie stair steps and up and down his ramp as much as I ask but once he reached age 7, I stopped that, fearing overuse of his shoulder joints when bouncing down the steps but he can still manage the ramp but it's real work for him at the slant they made that ramp.
It's not as ideal as a long walk where he gets to explore and sniff all the new scents, 'read' the messages other doggies leave outside for blocks but just letting him go out in the front yard to smell lots of new scents along the front walk and tree helps satisfy some of those desires. But I know the guilt you feel and look forward to one day when we can take at least short walks down the block. It's so awful to me not to be able to walk my dog several times a day but I do manage to exercise him.
Would you trust them with a friend or anyone who would volunteer or walk for pay to 'walk' them?
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |