How to Keep A Weimaraner Healthy During Winter Time

Maintaining healthy weight is important in keeping up your dog's well-being. However, dog owners who live in cold-weather regions sometimes lose their enthusiasm to exercise their pets. Find out in this article how to keep your Weimaraner healthy during winter time...

During winter season, most humans do not want to move the way they do during dry season. People who live in cold-weather regions lose their enthusiasm to exercise or even walk their Weimaraner dogs outside early in the morning. When the temperature begins to drop, the owner and the dog's weight start to rise, too.

Weight gain is unavoidable to both humans and animals during cold weather especially if calorie intake is not corrected. But in the case of a Weimaraner, the lack of exercise can affect the dog not only physically but mentally as well.

Weimaraners need plenty of exercise including the freedom to run and daily walks because of their high energy. If not given the proper diet and proper exercise, a Weimaraner will definitely become overweight, thus causing him to suffer hip dysplasia which is very dangerous to large dog breeds.

Here are some ways to keep a Weimaraner healthy during winter time:

- A daily exercise for about 60 minutes broken up in several intervals throughout the day is not only healthy but fun, too. This won't make the dog tired because of the short exercises, and he will not get bored for he has something to do throughout the day.

Experts in animal healthcare recommend a consistent and carefully monitored exercise program for dogs during winter. You can bundle up and venture outdoors or find creative ways to convert the living room into a Weimaraner workout center.

- If you and your dog can stand the chill outdoor, you can make use of a fenced place like a tennis court or baseball diamond. You and your pet can burn calories there by running around until you drip with sweat.

- Exercising during cold weather is not always good for dogs especially for a Weimaraner. It has short coat that is very close to getting hypothermia. Although exercise elevates the body temperature, it only happens for a short period of time and the dog will experience chill again after it stops. This can lead to a dangerously low body temperature.

- Make sure you take your dog indoors immediately after his workout. A dog left outside after an active walk and have exercised a lot is putting his life at serious risk. Keep your dog attached on a rope if you plan to walk with him on a snow-covered ground to avoid losing him. Dogs' sense of smell temporarily deflates when there is snow everywhere.

- If your Weimaraner is an old dog especially with arthritis, keep him warm and ask for a vet's prescription of a non-steroidal drug. Cold weather outside seizes arthritis up causing an intense joint pain to the dog.

- You can try out many new ways to keep your dog fit without going outside. Doggie push-ups is highly-recommended wherein a family member commands the dog, "Sit down, sit up, sit down, sit up." The good old-fashioned game of hide-and-go-seek will give a dog plenty of exercise. You can also try out the popular game that is to throw a tennis ball down the steps and tell your pet to "go fetch," the ball. This is not only healthy but also fun.

Do not let winter season hinder you from keeping your Weimaraner dog healthy. To successfully keep your pet healthy throughout the season means you can still be together for another, and another, and another, and another winter season ahead of you.

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