Do you get home and find yourself exhausted with your furry pal waiting to do something fun?

This is the position that many people find themselves in. Maybe you have an especially exhausting job and you feel like you have zero time to take care of many other things. If you own a dog who seems to have more energy than you do, you're not alone. I want to help you understand some practical things you can begin to implement so you can wear your dog out faster than you wear out.

One of the biggest pointers I would have for you is to come up with a physically exhausting regimen for your dog that doesn't exhaust you as much. For me and many of my clients, this is riding a bike with our dog(s). Biking is a great alternative to walking, especially for dogs with more energy, because you can drain their energy faster than this activity drains your energy.

I would recommend having a professional come in and show you how to set up your particular bike so that you and the dog experience the most success and are the most comfortable, but this is not a hard thing to start doing, especially if you already trust your dog on the leash. Taking your dog to the dog park is a great extra curricular type activity for them, but it should not be your whole exercise regimen.

Walking them on foot to the nearest public park or dog park is a great alternative to having the dog park be their whole exercise regimen. Or, at the very least, once you arrive at the dog park, walk them around the park on a leash for a solid 15 minutes before you let them off leash. Keep in mind, no matter how exhausted you are when you come home from work, it's really important that your dog still gets their exercise needs met.

I have found that using a treadmill for days that I'm sick or can't walk works to at least take the edge off of my dogs' excessive energy. That being said, the best thing would be to walk them for as long as you can, and then play a game of fetch or tug or wrestle with them so when you do rest, they earn that rest as well.