Tuck?

[ABK]

OK, I am trying to get a couple of my dogs ready for a conformation show. I have shown before, but not under this format.

I'm getting my guy's weight down by reduction of food & treadmill work. But he still lacks that tummy tuck. Any ideas how to get him tucked?

He does not like the flirtpole or spring pole. He will walk on lead or run on his e-mill. He will also weight pull, but his favorite is playing fetch. I just introduced him to swimming today & while he did it, he was not thrilled.

Any recommendations?

[davidlau_2002]

play tug with him and hold it up like a spring pole every once and a while so he can use his back and stomach to do that tug action vertically. i also see that inclining the e-mill works that area pretty good too. good luck!

[ABK]

Thanks for the info!

Sadly, he will not play tug o' war w/ anything nor will he use the spring pole. He has never played any kind of tug, even as a pup. The only time he will tug on something is if it is alive. I guess he sees no point in playing tug w/ a dead item! lol.

I have tried using rope, cloth, wild pig hide & cow hide. He ignored the rope & cloth. He showed passing interest in the hides, but never did tug them real good.

He loves to jump vertically for his ball, but I am scared he will land wrong & hurt himself.

Maybe I'll put some bricks under the front of his e-mill & see what that does. It's already at an incline, but the incline is very slight.

[pitbullcliff]

What is the date of the show? You really shouldn't cut a dogs food unless it is very obese.

[koening]

i think you should try again with swimming. try to play fetch in the pool or in the pond, if you say he likes it. and about the jumping around for the ball, i don't know how can he get hurt. sorry if i am wrong, put i see these dogs like pussycats, they always land on their paws.

[lipshipsattitude]

Yup, swim lil fishy!!!!

[ABK]

Thanks guys!

Cliff: I wouldn't say he was FAT, but I keep my dogs a little chunky in the winter. The date of the show is 3/7.

koenig: Dogs do not always land on their paws. If you let them jump too high, the results can be strains, sprains, torn ligments, dislocations & even broken bones. I could be wrong, but if memory serves, the great CH. Honeybunch died from a broken back after falling while going after a spring pole. Plus, my guy isn't any spring chicken. He is almost 6 years old. So that may heighten his chance for injury as well.

Lips: I will try swimming him some more. He didn't look like he liked it & he didn't look like a very strong swimmer, but we will try again in the next few days.

[pitbullcliff]

The best and easiest way to get a dog conditioned is let them do the things they like and let them do it alot.

Hand walk the dog on a leash as much as the dog wants. Don't worry you will never be able to out walk a dog. It is such good exercise for them because they get a resistance workout and it is good for bonding with your bulldog also. Also play fetch with him as much as he wants. Though with fetch be careful on hard surfaces because your dog can cut and tear pads on cement and asphalts.
Make sure you give the dog rest days between hard workouts. Work out hard one day then give a day off of hard work the next. And after every work out it is good to inspect a dogs feet and pads. These dogs pain tolorance is SO high that most of the time by the time a dog shows any sign of injury it is usually REALLY injured. If a dog comes up limping or lame in any way make sure you give them a few days off to heal.
Another good thing for your dog after every hard work out give them a full body massage. What that does is release Latic Acid which helps a dogs muscles heal and repair which also speeds the recovery time. And a good massage is the ultimate in help bonding with your dog.
A happy hound is a harder working hound.

Hope this helps.

[ABK]

Thanks Cliff!

I used to love walking, but sadly, I injured both my back & one of my ankles in a fall & can't walk very far. About a mile or two max. Not to mention the city I live in a woman walking alone w/ a pit bull has a high rate of getting her dog stolen from her. :(

I have a springer device & tried biking w/ him b/c my doctor told me to lay off the walking & start biking. He hated it.

(BTW, I had little booties on his feet to protect them. ;) )

I have been playing fetch on grass, but he only wants to play about 30 mins or so, but he goes all out when he does play, jumping up & running hard. Today, we played fetch in the water for about 15 mins or so.

I also get him to do a little tire pulling in a field if the neighbors aren't out too bad.

[pitbullcliff]

We are already past 3/7 LOL.

With a older dog just make sure the spring pole is set up so the dogs rear feet are NOT off the ground. I have seen so many people injure a dog on spring poles that are set so high up the dog has to jump up high just to grab the spring pole. Just make sure the dogs rear feet are on the ground when he is working.

[lipshipsattitude]

Rory loves ehr doggy back pack. Not only does it wear her out really well, it makes her think she has a job to do AND builds more muscle then just regular walking. Also if you could jog or run her in sand thats awesome too. Or you can get one of those bike things and ride with her!
As for swimming Rory didnt like it much until she saw anotehr dog swimming, it helped a great deal even though she dosnt have strong swimming skills, it still works her pretty well. Those doggy life vests are awesome adn if you get a good one they really hold them up well

[ABK]

lmao! I was thinking about getting him a doggy life vest today!! You'd think dogs would natually be strong swimmers, but he's not.

He loves to walk/jog, but that is limited by me. I hurt both my back & one of my ankles in a fall, so my walking & jogging abilites are reduced right now. In fact, until I get a little better, my doctor prefers I bike for exercise. I do walk as far as I can, but sadly it's not far, maybe a mile or two at the most right now.

I already have a springer (the bike device). He hated it & sandbagged the whole way. :rolleyes:

[lipshipsattitude]

Oh I laughed at the doggy back packs at first too but they kick butt. Its kinda hard to fit our bully's with their barrel chest and tiny waist but at least try and find one with sherpa lining so it dosnt rub......that is if your baby is as furless as my girl underneath....I swear she has hardly any hair on her tummy!

I wonder why he was a stinker with the bike? They say to go really fast to distract them if they seem scared of the bike.....supposedly once that running mode kicks in they take to it better????

[ABK]

He wasn't scared of the bike at all. Ran right along pretty as you please - for the first 25 or so yards. Then he decided he wanted to just barely keep up instead of going at the bike's pace (which was not very fast BTW). I thought maybe he was getting tired, so I turned around after about a half a mile. But once we hit our drive way he picked up the pace & once he was unhooked from the bike he wanted to run & play!

[pitbullcliff]

Ya if you can't walk to far I would say emill him and emill him some more and emill him more LOL. You get the point :)
Be real carefull running a dog on a bike. I know a few people that got some good road rash when their dog decided to go in a different direction. All it takes is your dog seeing a cat or squirrel(SP) or another dog and you will be picking yourself up off the ground and your dog is dragging your bike down the road chasing a cat LOL.

[ABK]

That is what I've been doing (e-mill). He is looking better but I am not getting the tuck yet.

I understand what you're saying about the bike. Wit the springer device your dog is not *supposed* to be able to pull you over, but you know how that goes! ;)

I'm hoping to do more swimming. That will be good for both of us, although I am leery of going in the water lest a gator get us! lol.

[GSDbulldog]

Could you walk/run him next to a car? I don't know how much property you're sitting on, or if you would have an area to do it, but it's an idea.

[14rock]

Buy a cheap nitro rc car, I guarantee he will chase that thing till he drops if you let him. I have yet find a dog, who doesn't go ballistic trying to catch em. Similar movement to a flirtpole, but you can add longer straight-away sprints, and they work much more enthusiasticly.

I'm not talking about those cheap, quiet, electric RC cars you buy at the grocery store. I'm talking find an old, beat up, junker NITRO rc car, and use that. They are more expensive then you can believe new, or even in used racing shape, so you might have to do some bargaining for an old clunker! I made the mistake of borrowing a good friends suped-up racing truck. Worked great, until the $200 motor went, and it took the 4wd diff. out with it! Go to a hobby shop, most of those guys can put together a frankenstein of old spare parts, for 50-100 bucks including transmitter. I'll warn you, they SCREAM, and you'll want to practice without a dog, because they can get away from you pretty quick, and manuevering is difficult sometimes. They are also loud as a banshee, and if you live in town, it wouldn't be a good idea to do it all day long, or early morning/late at night.

[SJBPolo28]

What helps me is walking and treadmill work. p.s. Dex works wonders for the rest. My male below won First Place males 2-4, First Place Males, and Best in Show at the A.A.D.R. show in Ga last year.

[jadedpitgirl]

OK, I am trying to get a couple of my dogs ready for a conformation show. I have shown before, but not under this format.

I'm getting my guy's weight down by reduction of food & treadmill work. But he still lacks that tummy tuck. Any ideas how to get him tucked?
Any recommendations?
ABK, a member of this forum suggested I use Apple Cider Vinegar for my dogs. It WORKED!!! I would give my 40 pound dog 2 TBs with her dry kibble and add about a 1/4 cup to her 1 gal water pail every other day. I did this for a week on and a week off. I stopped the week before the show. This really worked, along with alternating chain work (heavy chain three days/light chain two days).

[powder925]

I do this with my dog in the summer but with a RC boat in the lake.....Rusty will chase it all day long if I let him.Buy a cheap nitro rc car, I guarantee he will chase that thing till he drops if you let him. I have yet find a dog, who doesn't go ballistic trying to catch em. Similar movement to a flirtpole, but you can add longer straight-away sprints, and they work much more enthusiasticly.

I'm not talking about those cheap, quiet, electric RC cars you buy at the grocery store. I'm talking find an old, beat up, junker NITRO rc car, and use that. They are more expensive then you can believe new, or even in used racing shape, so you might have to do some bargaining for an old clunker! I made the mistake of borrowing a good friends suped-up racing truck. Worked great, until the $200 motor went, and it took the 4wd diff. out with it! Go to a hobby shop, most of those guys can put together a frankenstein of old spare parts, for 50-100 bucks including transmitter. I'll warn you, they SCREAM, and you'll want to practice without a dog, because they can get away from you pretty quick, and manuevering is difficult sometimes. They are also loud as a banshee, and if you live in town, it wouldn't be a good idea to do it all day long, or early morning/late at night.

[Pipbull]

playing fetch and running at the beach or anywhere with sand. Good resistance for their normal exercise. And it was said earlier, but what worked for me was tugging with the flirtpole. Will the dog tug in that case, or is it just completely against tugging?

[ABK]

Thanks for the input guys!

rock: My husband was just talking about getting an rc car & putting an old rabbit skin on there to see if the dogs could go after it. We were also thinking of trying an old coon tail to it. But he has a pet rabbit & I have pet cats & the last thing we wanted to do was to teach him to chase or worse, kill the rabbit or cats, so that idea went out the window! lol.

Maybe I'll get one & tie a ball to it w/ a string. He goes crazy for his ball.

GSD: We do not have access to much land. Plus, I find running dogs alongside moving cars to be dangerous IMO.

Pipbull: He will not play tug w/ anything. The only thing he really likes to do is play fetch, but he will only play for about 30 mins or so before he tires out.

[Attila]

How about my dogs and my favorite game? Get the cat. lol just don't use your tame ones.

[ABK]

How about my dogs and my favorite game? Get the cat. lol just don't use your tame ones.
He'd like that one alright!