The Springer Dog Exerciser Helps You and Your Dog Stay Fit

NF Note: Dogs are our constant companions when either running or using the golf cart on the paths of Peachtree City. This sounds like it could make life easier as some of the larger dogs are trained to run with their owners.

(BUSINESS WIRE)--If you want a safe way to take your dog with you on bike rides, the Springer dog exerciser might be the perfect answer.

Available through Springer America (http://www.springeramerica.com), the Springer is a fun, inexpensive way to stay active with your best friend beside you. Springer America President Kjell Ottesen says, “Thanks to recent improvements, the Springer fits most regular, touring and mountain bikes and works with more dogs than ever -- and is still fast and easy to install.”

“My dogs especially love riding with me through greenways and parks. Just like people, they get bored following the same routes, so I take them to new places around town to let them smell different scents,” says Catherine “Jake” Jacobson, owner of Team Happy Dog, a professional dog walker in Raleigh, NC. She bikes daily to keep her high-energy charges fit, from rat terriers to Rhodesian Ridgebacks to labs, golden retrievers and Boston terriers.

To help with the initial adjustment, walk beside your bike with the dog attached to the Springer arm for a few minutes. According to Jacobson, “90% of my dogs love the Springer right from the beginning.”

Used by over 600,000 bicyclists, mushers and K9 corps worldwide, the Springer features a low-mounted, heavy-duty steel spring to absorb up to 90% of the force of a dog’s unexpected tugs, allowing bike riders to keep their balance, while protecting their pets from traffic, pedals and wheels. The patented safety release frees the dog instantly if he gets caught around a tree or hydrant.

Professional Norwegian musher Frode Dahl has relied on the Springer for 17 years to keep his Pointer and Vorster breeds in peak shape. Dahl says, “Even my retired world champion sled dogs are still quite powerful. Without the Springer, it would be hard to keep them conditioned. Just walking these dogs is not adequate.”

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Fine Weather for Staying Fit

Spring is a glorious time in Fayette County, Georgia. All along the cart paths in Peachtree City are families and friends out taking their daily strolls and staying in shape.

We caught this happy couple enjoying their morning walk around Lake Peachtree- not once, but three days in a row.

We can only guess that all the recent rain has made these friends decide to expand their horizons.

Fayette Front Page Staff



Photo ©2009 A S Eldredge

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Encouraging Residents to Get Moving

NF Note: Come on Fayette County, let's get moving! There are numerous great places to walk in the county. The Peachtree City Cart Paths System is just one of them. Walk, we can do!

More than 3,000 Georgians exercised their way across the state this spring, so to speak, logging more than 500,000 virtual miles during the first session of the Walk Georgia Program.

Sponsored by University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, the program is designed to help Georgians increase their physical activity, log their progress online and get communities involved.

“Friends and family challenged each other and used the program as an anchor,” said Sidney Law, UGA Extension coordinator in Washington County. “People who joined a team with their coworkers made it a group event and really increased their bond and morale.”

Not just for walkers

In addition to walking, activities such as aerobics, biking and gardening could be logged, too. The time spent exercising was converted into virtual miles. Participants could then use the miles to plot their courses.

From the mountains to the coast, they traveled online and learned interesting facts about counties along the way. The exercise logs gave participants concrete evidence of their accomplishments.

Washington County resident Mike Adams logged in hundreds of miles in the program and lost weight in the process.

“This walk across Georgia has motivated me to get back some things I have lost touch with, such as exercise,” Adams says. “I have lost 30 pounds since the first of the year and more so since the walk started. I will miss this when it’s gone, but I plan to continue walking for the rest of the year and hopefully the rest of my life.”

Motivating communities

Participants found ways to keep the whole community motivated, said Joann Milam, UGA Extension agent in Washington County. She wrote a weekly newspaper column about the program and participants in her county.

“The program really motivated people and made them accountable if they got off track,” Milam says. “Even if people weren’t motivated at first, the program got them hooked.”

Elaine Miller, who helped coordinate the program in Muscogee County, organized a kickoff event at the local park to get participants pumped up for the program.

“An elderly couple came in and signed up as a team together,” Miller said. “At the end of program ceremony, the woman said Walk Georgia is what it took to get her husband out of the house and moving. They are an exercising couple now, and had it not been for this program, they wouldn’t be.”

Session two coming up

The first session of Walk Georgia has ended. Registration for the next session will be August 24 through September 14. The fall program will run until November 1. To learn more, visit the Web site at www.walkgeorgia.org.

For more information on this and other Extension programs, contact your local UGA Extension office at 1-800-ASK-UGA1 or visit www.ugaextension.com.

By Allie Byrd
University of Georgia