Exercise For Your American Eskimo Dog

An important part of maintaining the health of your American Eskimo dog is to exercise.  Your Eskie should be exercised daily, rain or shine, for at least 45 minutes per day.  For old Eskies, exercise is very important but the duration and intensity should be adjusted to their tempo and stamina. 

Eskies are not typically high energy dogs such as border collies. Nor are they well known for their retrieving capabilities. Throw a stick or a ball for your Eskie puppy to chase or retrieve and he may look up at you wondering what you're going to do next. Watching you perform tricks is very entertaining for them.

American Eskimo dogs love to perform and they love tricks.  In fact, if you have more than one Eskie, you'll find that they invent their own tricks and teach each other. They are very intelligent and catch on quickly. So to make the most of your daily exercise routine in terms of fun, be sure to include some activities that call on your Eskie to perform such as jumping up on park benches, running across a long log and climbing rocks.  Hide behind a tree and keep quiet.  Your Eskie will love playing hide and seek with you.  Playing tag is another fun game.  Chase after your Eskie and see if you can catch him.  You would be very lucky if he allows you to catch up with him. Then take off running away from your Eskie and you will be amazed at how closely he will follow you.

An Eskie will try to follow you everywhere you go. I heard the phrase "velcro dog" the other day and that pretty well sums it up. To this point, see the video on YouTube about Lyla who leaps up and over a tall fence to follow her master while a border collie watches in amazement. An Eskie can outsmart a border collie any day. You never knew your Eskie was so nimble! Maybe give that backyard fence a second look.

The nature of the American Eskimo dog is to guard its master.  So when you go out for walks with your Eskie, you'll find that it is very protective of you.  For example, if another dog comes running towards you, there is a good chance your Eskie will stand guard and become aggressive towards the approaching dog especially if the approaching dog is bigger.  Your Eskie will bark and put up a fuss to keep other dogs away.  It will take a lot of training to break your Eskie from this habit. For this reason, it is a good idea to keep your Eskie on leash and under control while walking in dog parks where large dogs such as Pit Bulls and Rottweilers are roaming free.  An Eskie will never back down in a confrontation with another dog, even if the dog is 3 times the size.  The Eskie will defend you to his death. With this knowledge, you should never put yourself or your Eskie into a situation that might result in a confrontation with much larger dogs.