How Much More Work Do I Have?

There's an ADBA show coming up in April I want to put my boy in, but I know I need to work with him more to get him more conditioned. I hand walk him almost every day, and I've pulled some light weights with him a couple of time. Other than that he has the run of the back yard when they go outside(he wrestles and runs quite a bit with my female). Sadly, pictures don't show muscle very well in white dogs. He has a bit more muscle tone than what's in the picture. Any opinions as to what else I can do to get him conditioned would help a bit.

BTW, I feed my dogs Raw

 

yes, white can be hard to show. He still has aways to go.. I would suggust if you can looking at pictures of previous show winners (do a search in this site and the gallery) or attending any ADBA /AADR shows in your area that are taking place before the date you plan on attending.

Your dog is put together nicely however.. beautiful conformation on how

 

Get out there and get a spring poll up. Or play some tug of war with your dog. all the conditioning is very difficult and takes lots of time. The dog is very well put together and even for the white, you can see the muscle shape forming well. Good luck.

 

first beautiful dog..next most important how does he get along with other dogs?and the best thing that works for me is i go to this one steep hill everyday ..im talking the kind of hill you would stop three or four times to catch your breath..and get him to pull you up it..do that twice a day ..

 

Good one lockjaw. how old is the pup?

 

Welcome. I think I know you. ;-)

He looks good to me, but you could probably shave some more off him. I would vary the exercise as much as you can to work different muscle groups. I like the way he's put together. Does he stack for you? I showed Loki in that fun show, and the judge really appreciated her being stacked and gaited. Its also useful training to have if you ever decide to try UKC with him. Good luck at that show!

 

I would add a 3lb weighted collar on him and walk him at least 1 hour a day before the romp in the backyard! Or better yet do some good ol' roadwork with him with you on a bike!

YIS

 

lower his feed a little if u havent.....

 

I've already lowered his feed a little. Bahamutt, these pictures I took a couple of days ago. You can tell he's lost a little weight. I can stack him, but I'm not very good at it. I do have a 5 pound collar that I put on him occasionally when I'm walking him. There aren't any steep hills around here, so I can't really get him to pull me, though I will keep an eye out just in case.

I'm hoping the weather clears up so I can work him out more. This rain makes jogging difficult.

Also, I've noticed that on some dogs, they have a completely straight back until the rump where it slopes, but Chico has a roached back.... Is that going to cut down my chances of placing?

 

Oh, and he'll be two in May

 

check out my flirt pole post and go to the site

 

also some handwalking never hurts anything. that will help tone his musles

 

He's not really roached, IMO. His topline looks pretty good; its similar to Loki's. If you place his feet a bit further back, it might lessen that arch a bit. Also, if you're stacking him, make sure you don't lift him from under his belly because that tends to make dogs arch their backs up.

He's coming along. Keep at it.

 

I've used on the Drop-Stack a bit(from apbtconformation.com). He does pretty good, but grunts a little when I do it, lol. I haven't been working with him a lot on stacking since I'll be taking him to ADBA shows(I've heard the judges like natural stacks, but correct me if I'm wrong). I don't plan on any UKC because I don't think he'd do well, especially because he's red nose.

He gets along well with MOST dogs(as long as they don't start anything). And showing judge teeth is no problem. He's great with people. I've tried the flirtpole a few times, but everytime they DO catch it, I have a hard time getting them to let go, so it just turns into a game of tug of war.

Any idea where I can find a 2" collar? I don't want to get one off line though, or pay $50 for it. I'm pretty skeptical about online stores.

 

Give him some whey protein and some creatine monohydrate 15-30min. after his work out.

 

If you are going to NJ in April, they will have collars for sale there, they always do. I gotta get me some new ones too.
and I think your boy looks good. It's still too cold here, mine will still be fat unless the weather breaks, but hey, they weightpull so it's okay!

 

I'll be going to a Texas show in April(that's where I'm from). I found some collars by Stillwater though and I think I'm going to get those.

 

hey bullybaby...your boy is coming along really well. your doin a good job with him. keep up the good work. use that flirtpole more. good luck at the show.

 

just keep handwalking, do some running with him and use a flirt pole. and if you hane a good strong and able to hang a spring ploe set-up go for it. i myself handwalking and bout to start flirt poling my dogs.

 

Judges don't penalize you for not stacking in ADBA. But some judges like to see a dog stacked because its easier to evaluate the dog's structure. I've only spoken to two ADBA judges, and they both say its nice to judge a stacked dog. But if you don't feel comfortable doing it, don't do it, because he might sense your discomfort and not show well. Like I said, they aren't supposed to penalize you for not stacking. Its up to you whether you want to do it or not. (Me, one of the reasons I was doing it was because it kept me from having time to get nervous in the ring, LOL.)