u/CrankyGoat

Hey everyone, I'm looking to tap into the wisdom of the active dog community. My 2-year-old pittie mix (about 65 lbs of solid energy) is my go-to partner for trail running and mountain hiking.

He’s in fantastic shape right now, but as we tackle more miles and get deeper into canitrekking, I want to make sure I’m doing everything right to keep him bulletproof. My goal is long-term joint health and balanced conditioning so he can keep exploring with me for years to come.

For those of you running high-drive, athletic dogs:

Cross-training: Do you do any specific mobility work, balance exercises, or varied terrain walking on rest days?

Recovery: Are there any post-run routines, stretches, or joint supplements you genuinely swear by?

Food: How strict are you with your dog’s diet?

Would love to hear what has worked for your dogs to keep them fit and injury-free. Thanks in advance!

Pitties seem to have more signature poses than most other breeds, aside from the sploot (which they excel at) they also have so many character poses, like the “pittie sit” or the “upside down pittie” or the “WTF pittie look”…

If your pittie has a “classic” pose, please share 🤗

My guy is tough on toys, like seriously “shred it in three minutes flat” tough! I suspect that is common amongst many pittie / bully breeds.

So what have you found to be durable toys for yours? Currently our guy likes the ‘Tuffy’ brand of toys and they last about three or four days - which is remarkable for him.

He doesn’t chew on anything else, never has - except bully sticks (which he loves) and toys that we give him … those he destroys, and does so with absolute joy 🤗 (oh right, he will occasionally destroy my socks after a sweaty hike if he manages to sneak one from me - it’s like catnip for him 🤣)

I’m looking for toys / stuffies and we don’t mind if he eventually destroys it - just want something that actually gives him a bit of a challenge. Thanks for any recommendations you may have … if you can show pics of your pittie with the toy still partially intact, even better 👍🏽

My wife and I have always had Labradors, Shepherds, or some combination thereof. Our current guy is a rescued pittie mix - he is about two years old and we’ve had him for just over eight months now so he’s settled in nicely. We hike and kayak a lot, he’s got the hiking part down no problem, so now we need to start training him to be comfortable in a kayak. However, I’ve yet to see him swim - he’s okay around water but I really don’t think he’s ever experienced swimming before!

Seeking advice from experienced pittie owners, any suggestions as to how best get him swimming and should I start him off with a life jacket right from the start?

We kayak a lot and almost always in a large tandem to accommodate our dog(s). We also adventure travel a lot - mostly mountain climbing and hiking with our dog. I’m 60 this year and find maneuvering a tandem hard shell is getting to be a pain in the ass. Today’s inflatable’s are quite remarkable, my Gumotex Thaya (second photo) can track and solo paddle as well as my Wilderness hard shell - plus I can pack into a custom backpack (70 lbs total) and easily hike with it for up to 25 miles in the mountains to a remote lake - would never dream of portaging with a hard shell tandem!

For folks who kayak with dogs, I find my dogs much prefer the inflatable’s ease of access and pontoon style sides for confident comfort when underway. I’ve now circumnavigated Vancouver Island (and Desolation Sound) in both a hard shell and an inflatable and can confidently say I’m now just as comfortable with a top quality inflatable for overall safety - and the flexibility of an inflatable at my age is hard to argue with…

Be curious what your thoughts are on this, and don’t get me wrong - a quality hard shell is still the gold standard, but the versatility of an inflatable is definitely not something to sneer at.

I’m 60 this year and in good shape generally - no medications, no chronic issues, solid bloodwork all in optimal range. Great strength and endurance, good nutrition but excess calories. I can definitely lose some pounds but not stressed about it as it doesn’t seem to impact me. I try to exercise at the gym, but people generally annoy me there so I then try to workout at home - but not particularly consistent.

My guaranteed fitness routine is my dog! We lost our beloved lab cross due to a genetic disorder last summer and ended up getting a rescue pup that was left abandoned. He’s about two years old and my hiking / rucking and kayaking partner. It’s my after work routine, without exception (rain or shine) I take the dog out in the nearby mountain range (15 minute drive from my place). I actually ruck (hike with weighted backpack) most of the time, so it’s a great overall workout for me and the dog. My wife goes with us 75 % of the time and we listen to an audiobook together while hiking (we share AirPods- so can listen to audiobook and pay attention to hike at same time). It’s tremendously fun for all and we average around 2.5 hours for an 8 mile (12 km) mountain hike … which is a decent pace. On my days off we do more serious mountain hikes and I often carry an inflatable tandem kayak in a custom backpack (around 70 lbs). I’m nearly 60 and it’s the best way for me to keep in shape and spend time with my dog (and wife) with no real effort because we enjoy it so much 🤗

I did some body measurements last summer for a fitness app, and retook them last week for restarting my workout routine at home - my upper legs gained about 1.75 inches of muscle and my calves about 1.25 inches since getting my rescue dog. Gotta love a workout partner like that 👍🏽

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I hike a lot with my two year old rescue pittie mix, he seems to love it as much as I do. However I’m used to having labs or shepherds, so I have no personal experience to judge what’s a good average hiking distance for my guy. I’m trying to determine a ‘sweet spot’ where he continues to love mountain hiking - and hopefully will continue doing so for many years to come!

Any experienced hikers out there who take their pittie with them - what’s your average distance range and any breed specific advice you can share?

I CaniTrek (harness and special bungee leash) because I don’t trust my guy’s recall yet, and may never because he has a high prey drive. However it works because he seems to like being ‘connected’ and more and more of my hiking spots require dogs on leash anyway - especially all the parks.

We have had quite a few dogs over the years, many of which were either shepherds or labs. Our pittie mix rescue is our first experience with the bully breed, and pitties are truly wonderful (what an absolute joyful temperament).

Our guy LOVES to sniff, his nose is obviously the door to the big wide world and he’s so eager to take everything in. In fact, I’m tempted to get him involved in scenting events, although keeping him focused may be a challenge (pitties must have the human equivalent of ADHD). My wife and I both agree he is the most scent oriented dog we’ve had, which was not something we expected.

I’ve gotten in the habit of sometimes just driving around with the window open for him, the ‘sniffari’ tires his brain with sensory overload and he seems to be in a constant state of ecstasy 🤗

Our rescue is about 17 months old (so technically a teenager), we’ve had him for about eight months now and he is our first dog that truly loves to sleep in. My wife is so happy, as our last dog was an early riser and let us know it 🤣

My wife’s retired but I have a few more years before I retire, so I need to get up by 6:30 to get ready for work. Our weekday mornings look like this, with our guy trying to get extra sleep but not wanting to miss anything - hence laying on the sofa pillows!

By 9:30 he’s raring to go, which works out perfectly for my wife - as she gets a relaxing morning and enjoys her coffee ☕️

How about you - do you have a dog that sleeps in, or do you have an early riser?

My guy loves raw apples, raw carrots and baked sweet potatoes - hates broccoli and most other fruit and vegetable.

How about yours, what do they love?

Anyone who has adopted a dog understands what an absolute JOY it is to watch them blossom into a confident, loving family member that knows they have a 'forever' home ...

“Saving one dog will not change the world, but surely for that one dog, the world will change forever.”

My wife and I grew up with dogs, but mostly shepherds or labs. When we rescued a pitbull mix eight months ago we could not imagine the joy and excitement he would bring to our lives.

I realize there are a lot of variables in regards to hiking with a dog on a hot day: some dogs tolerate the heat better than others; hiking in an open area versus in a woodland area; hiking in a sub Alpine area versus at sea level range; or simply what the dog may be acclimatized to.

But I’m curious if there’s an average temperature range where people are finding it gets too warm for their dog to hike any distance? My dog is a rescue that we’ve now had for eight months and I’ve been slowly training him for more and more long distance hikes, often in an Alpine or sub Alpine range as we do a lot of mountain hikes. This past week we’ve had unusually warm temperatures for the Vancouver Island region, on average my hikes have been in the 28 to 32° Celsius range. I’m finding my guy can start to tire within 4 or 5 km. Normally, we’d be doing 10 to 15 without any difficulty. I’m very careful with hydration, and I always pack lots of water.

I realize some folks will be chuckling and thinking that 28 to 32° Celsius is nothing, but that’s actually a significantly warm temperature for my region. We live in a temperate area where the general average is more like 21 to 23° Celsius. I don’t wanna push my guy cause I want to keep him enjoying these hikes. He’s an absolute joy to be out in the bush with. However, I’m not sure if I should try and push him to get him a bit acclimatized to it or just leave it and adjust with significantly shorter hikes on hotter days? Looking for advice from fellow hikers with experience on this. Thanks

Has anyone noticed Giardia as becoming a more prevalent issue in the past few years? Over the many years I’ve been hiking with my dogs, they all have had bouts of Giardia - usually in late spring / early summer. I try my best to prevent them from drinking ground water (streams, lakes, ponds) and always pack water for them on our hikes. However, the issue has become an increasing problem these past few years - at least here on Vancouver Island.

We grew up on farms and get our own fenbendazole to treat the Giardia - so we catch it early with quick recovery. But it still plays havoc on our dog’s microbiome - any suggestions for restoring gut health? Thanks

My two year old rescue is a pittie cross who mountain hikes and trail runs with me regularly. I currently use Open Farms Ancient Grains kibble (mixed variety) and he likes it, but I get overwhelmed with all the controversy around WSAVA approved products like those sold by Nestle or Mars (Purina / Royal Canine) as being ‘the only real choices to consider’. In fact, if I strictly wanted a diet that satisfies all WSAVA criteria, I’m limited to looking at legacy brands like Purina Pro Plan, Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Iams, or Eukanuba!

We travel (and camp) with our dog a lot, so kibble remains most practical food option - and generally considered a viably healthy food choice from most veterinary science research.

I, like all of us, want the best food option for our dog so they can live a long and healthy life. If you have an active pittie and use kibble, what is your preference based on your experience?

We chose Open Farms because it has great ingredients, all of their recipes are formulated to meet or exceed the nutritional levels and standards established by AAFCO for "complete and balanced" nutrition. However, they don’t meet WSAVA standards and Open Farm acknowledges these guidelines transparently on Australian and Canadian platforms. They state they prefer to validate their food through independent lab testing, digestibility studies, palatability studies, and stool testing rather than traditional laboratory animal testing.

I realize this can be highly controversial, and highly subjective in many ways, but food / nutrition is such a critical component of our dogs good health that I felt I needed to ask this question.

I’ve tried quite a few harness brands, but keep coming back to Non-Stop Dogwear. My guy does best on a shorter harness like this Line Harness from Non-Stop. I also like the fact there is only two buckles in the back - simple, durable and less likely for failure. However, that also means the front Y section needs to fit well - because it doesn’t adjust.

I’m looking to get a replacement one, this time the same Line Harness but with a rear handle… as great for quick grab when bikes are zooming by on a narrow trail.

My guy is a puller, and when running or not pulling hard on a walk - this harness seems to work beautifully for him, and gives his shoulders plenty of freedom.

However, when he pulls while on a walk he seems to breathe hard and I’m not sure the harness fits well or do I need to size up. It could also just be him and his urge to pull.

Hopefully these pics show placement well enough to get perspective.

I’m 59 year old male, overweight by about 40 lbs and generally very active outdoors via CaniCross; Rucking; kayaking and mountain hiking.

I have been frustrated these past couple years because I used to be able to lose my ‘winter weight’ and build muscle quickly - but not so much anymore. I’ve also been feeling tired and enjoy an afternoon nap; sexually no issues - been married 40 years and remain sexually active on regular basis; still enjoy a full head of hair; and recently had a very comprehensive health checkup which included full biomarker evaluation (see pics). Turns out, I am quite healthy overall, BUT need to loose the body fat or it will catch up with me… the biomarkers that were off indicated ‘precursor’ to Insulin Resistance issues that may develop.

Although I tend to be a science guy, I still find navigating the world of testosterone and TRT to be very challenging. My understanding is my total testosterone level of 14.2 nmol/L (which is roughly equivalent to 409 ng/dL) is generally considered within the "normal" laboratory range, though it sits near the mid -lower end of the spectrum.

Is that ‘sufficient’ or should I explore trying to boost it to within the 600 - 800 ng/dl range?

If I simply buckle down and loose weight - will my testosterone levels naturally increase and in any significant amount? I do strength training, but sounds like I should increase that as well - just downloaded FitBod as it gets good reviews for progressive strength training workouts.

Seeking advice and perspective - preferably from folks within my age range who have experience with this.

Thank you all - this is an informative Reddit community 👋🏽

I’m a couple years away from retirement and while I still love my job … I look forward to my evening hikes with my dog after work more and more. We generally average between 5km (minimum) to 10 km each weekday evening rain or shine. I’m fortunate that we live in a region where I have unlimited mountain trails and we rarely ever take the same trail twice in the week. Life is Good 👍🏽

I’m a 59 year old looking to lose weight and get in top shape before I retire within next year or so. We recently adopted a high energy rescue dog (65 lb Staffy Mix) of which I’m currently trail running and mountain hiking with on a regular basis. On our hiking days I usually wear a weighted ruck pack to help build muscle and maintain bone density. On my running days I CaniCross - started out because my rescue dog does not yet have reliable recall. However, the more I CaniCross the more I love it (and our dog seems to love it as well) - it creates a cool symbiotic relationship that really works for our Staffy mix.

Anyway, I’m trying to build up stamina and endurance for longer distances - so have been experimenting with the Jeffing technique. Jeffing is a run-walk-run interval method that involves alternating between set periods of running and walking. I really quite enjoy it and it seems to be beneficial for my running overall… I just got back into trail running after years of mostly mountain hiking and other sports. Wouldn’t mind the perspective of more experienced trail runners what you think of the Jeffing method…

On another note - I like boots vs shoes when trail running, as I live in British Columbia and love mountain trails. I find boots far more stable on the varied terrain and there are areas where we have to do some climbing 🧗🏻‍♂️ to get to next portion of a trail. I currently use a lightweight hiking boot for trail running … any suggestions for me to explore when I need a new pair? I hear Nike is coming out with a running boot this summer (Zegama Hiker) and looking forward to trying it out.