Is light exercise good or bad for dogs?

Last night Enzo and I were about to take our humans for a walk around the neighbourhood, when the male one was using a torch to look for something. This got them commenting on how some cats will endlessly chase the light even though they can’t catch it. Of course dogs have always thought that cats have little brains, and this accounts for their often futile actions. When the torch was shone on the carpet we looked, we pounced a couple of times and then gave up. There was just no fun chasing a big white light.

Then we heard rattling as dad searched for something. He found his measuring tape that had something called a “laser” attached to it, and when he turned it on there was the most mesmerising tiny red light. It made us quiver and run towards it at such speed that we crashed into a wall and mum said something in an angry  voice that sounded like “OUTSIDE NOW” which made the red thing move as fast as it could to the front lawn with Enzo and me chasing it. There we ran and we ran, but we could never catch it! Of course I was cleverer than Enzo, but he was better at running and quickly turning than I was. We ran up and down the lawn, around trees, trying to catch up with the light. Dad never knew Enzo could move so fast! Sometimes, when we were really close, it had to escape us by going up the fence. I was vaguely aware of mum saying we might crash into each other, but we didn’t – we just ran and ran, and I pounced and we both ran as fast as we could wherever the little red light went until our tongues were hanging out. Even though we never gave up the chase we never caught it - somehow it escaped and then it was time to go back inside.

Now some people might not call running around in the dark light exercise, but Enzo and I thought it was so much fun we didn’t realize we’d had a workout. My humans (who were both standing with their feet not moving) said they had some exercise too as, at times, they were both doubled over and making strange sounds while watching us.

Then they decided I had had enough exercise, so dad took Enzo out for a long walk. I was left at home panting (also known as smiling with my tongue hanging out) for ages. I slept very well last night dreaming of how I am going to catch that little red thing if I ever see it again!

So is light exercise good or bad for us, as mum is thinking of using this method to tire the young pup out (as well as his usual walks) on cold winter nights?

Woofs,

Riley

PS Mum was using stomach muscles so much (laughing) she couldn’t take pictures, so the photos in this post were taken in daylight when we were still. Perhaps one day she will get a video of us in the dark chasing the light.