Best form of exercise

Alot of good stuff in here and its great advice for a pre keep. For those who dont know a pre-keep is the first two weeks of an 8 week keep with light work increseing in length and intensity(mostly walking but jogging is ok also) untill the dog is in good enuf shape to start the real work. No madder how you run its like Earie outlaws said you aint going to build wind by walking and sprinting. For that you need walking (too warm up and cool down) runing(bike or mill) and flirting and other various exercises one may use in a keep.
If I had to pick just one conditioning tool it would be a flirt pole but thats JMO manny would say a mill. Most would agree you need manny different forms of exercises to PROPERLY condition a dog.

 

ill go with that red..definately..but if you can do all those in one sitting while they are young enough it goes someway to helping/preparing when older!!...example....if released in a forest to chase for prey....its using its mind,co-ordination,strength,stamina etc....obviously when older you have to utilize other means to get the same effect(walk,mill,spring,bike)....but.....with a learning young dog....is it not a good idea to have such things already in it??...

 

To be completely honest im not exactly shure what all that ment?:confused:? lmao
If what youre saying is its good to introduce a young dogs to the tools of the trade I.E. bikes, mills, flirt pole, spring pole, etc... and it will help down the road when the dog is mature enuf actualy start real exersize......Id say TRUE vary true.

 

Some very good advice/imfo in this thread!

For "regular" maintenance you can not beat walking and flirt pole work.
Everyday I walk my dog(s) at a pretty fast pace for 30 min. on leash. And then do flirt work for 10 -20 min. So we (yes I get worked out also), get a continuous workout for 40 - 50min each day.

Now when it comes to conditioning for a show I have a routine that get me "great" results!
Here it is in a nut shell:
30 min walk, Flirt pole, Sprint, Spring pole, weight pull, cool down walk.

The initial walk and cool down walk remains at 30 min but the other work outs increase throughout the 8 week keep until the entire work out gets to about 3 hrs long.

On some days, I alternate one of the work outs with swimming.
We work two days on, then one day off and then one day on, then two days off.
Hence: Sun-work, Mon-Work, Tue-off, Wed-work, Thurs-off, Fri- off, Sat -work, Sun-work.

But again, for "regular" maintenance you can not beat walking and flirt pole work in my opinion!

 

yes and no....lol....:rolleyes:

 

Agreed!

 

flirt, interval sprints, hills

 

you dont need a treadmill or anything like that. i firmly believe that you cant accomplish anything more with a treadmill that you cant with a leash/collar & some running shoes. treadmills are just for lazy days and some of uys have more of those than others.
here are my methods ive used and had my dog looking good after about 6-10 weeks like c-murder said.

-running the dog with a bike (same method as c, said only i used a bike)
-swimming (the best form of cardio i believe because it puts zero strain on the dogs joints) better if against a current.
-throwing a ball up a long steep hill while the dog runs up it to get the ball
-going down to the creek (water is chest high, moves about 10 mph) throwing a ball against the current so he's fighting the resistance to get the ball.

my dog is in good condition, i dont spend the money on a mill. just use the natural resources around me to my advantage.

 

Once you get your hands on a mill you might think differently. I'm a firm believer in roadwork but the mill is a valuable tool.

 

yea i might but i also think it might make me lazy lol

what can a mill do that roadwork cant? (not arguing but id like to know)

 

Its great for getting in work when the weather is shit.

A mill also allows the dog to keep a pace that humans have trouble keeping. I'm in great shape but still nowhere near what my dog can do.

 

mills are good for pregnant girls too, aint gunna be to much longer and I wont be joggin no where.

 

good points! i stand corrected

 

personally i have always found having a flexible routine the best way, but the best tool i find is to let my staff work cover on some permission i have and flush rabbits and the odd fox, to the airgun, he basically just runs almost flat out ducking and diving over obstacles, desperately trying to catch whats in there,tho he's been worked like this since he was very young and he's learnt not to try and plow through everything,i wouldnt recommend an adult dog with no hard learned field-craft attempting it

 

wish my dog was kool with a bike :rolleyes: o well thanx u guys ill take the info i liked it and i agree with the whole different exercises what i ment by exercise is a routine sorta cuz at the moment ive been doing brisk walks its icey im not running lol but i do let the dog pull me and i slide around also i do light flirtpole workd about 9 min of it right after a walk or befor it and some tug of war hes in good shape i just want him to be the best his genetics will let him be

 

running next to a bike or a motorized vehicle through the wood along the foothills of the rocky mnts is best!

 

i wish so bad i coulod do this with my dogs... al we got is swamps and mosquitoes

 

them swamps may be a good thing, not the mosquitos but the mud if he sprints in chest deep mudd it mayb be 1 hell of a workout. you ever walked in knee deep mud?
only downfall is he'll need a bath everytime you work him!

 

brilliant I started doing this with an e mill last month due to severe weather in my area, I would have her walking on the e mill then a jogging pace and then sprint. I love the e mill because I can adjust the incline too which I know it contributes to a huge difference. Time wise how long would you say you should start off with at the beginning? I will do this on our walking days when I am feeling very refreshed and energized as well because I am not overweight but I am pretty out of shape myself I noticed it ever since we started working hard :o especially because I am an ex basketball player.
I also will do maybe an hour fast paced walk and then 15-20 minutes of serious fetching some days and I may also add the flirtpole. We like to run up and down our house stairs as well she usually does a set of 15 going up and down. On bad weather days I will also play fetch indoors going up and down the stairs. This is convenient because there are no public hills to work on in my area so I try to work with what I have. I am also going to by a kick scooter and have her run/pull me we'll see how that goes I did use a bike until it was stolen one night :mad:. The majority of my days consist of walking walking walking and stair running the flirt pole I should be incorporating much more often but for us it's usually twice a week if the weather is dry. I do see plenty of results ever since I started working her hard but they didn't just appear overnight, being consistent and alternating your exercises seems to work for us. As far as resting days what would you guys recommend?

 

and different type of exercise will make the dog worked out differently.. like weight pulling or long walk will increase strength, sprinting and running for wind and endurance, flirt pole and spring pole for neck and jaws sort of and so on..

so, put all of exercises together will make your dog complete..