Walking my dog: last days of summer

Yesterday I finally found the time to embark on a wonderful trip to the forest with my lovely Akita, Chico. I have stated in my CAS plan for this term that I will be doing regular walks with my dog, that is why I currently feel guilty for not acting according to plan, and most importantly, for depriving my dog of the sensation of running through the forest as well as keeping himself in shape. This time we did about 7 kilometres at a relatively relaxed pace with Chico constantly on a leash, although at some point in time I may begin letting him roam free in order to teach him to follow me sans the help of any equipment, as leash training is by far not the peak of a dog's ability.

My Chico

Whilst out on the promenade, we met a group of sled dog owners who kindly offered a place for Chico in their sledge since Akitas are related to Huskies and Malamutes, which are the main breeds involved in sled dog racing. This opened up a grand opportunity to develop a new skill by engaging in an actual dog sport and potentially competing in various races; such a prospect also enabled me to be more open-minded since before I never even considered seriously training my dog in a certain sport. Although this does mean that we will have to intensify our training (aka the walks or maybe runs in the forest), however I'm more than certain that Chico would gladly welcome this new arrangement.

The forest we went to

As previously mentioned, I will certainly have to increase the time I will spend with my dog outside exercising, therefore next week I shall try to increase our pace from a casual stroll to a more intense walk, which I will try to maintain throughout the whole trip, ensuring, however, that my dog won't be tired by it. Albeit sled racing would require endurance as well as speed, we may end up taking longer walks of about 10 kilometres in order to improve my dog's stamina, which is quite low since he's not used to intense exercise of any sort. In the introduction above, I also said that I may begin to let Chico loose at some parts of the forest so that he could get used to accompanying me without a leash and a collar, however I will have to be careful to assure that he will not run away upon being let off the leash.