Need help putting muscle on him

Well my dog rocky will be 15 months September 4 and I would like to try to get some muscle on him. He was 67 pounds three months ago and I have slowly got him down to 56 pounds. I cut his food back a little, we go for walks and play ALOT of frisbee. He goes ape shit for a frisbee and nothing else really so that is what we play. I tried spring pole and flirt pole with a cow hide but he has no interest anymore all he likes is the frisbee. We play on grass so I can keep it as less stressfull on his joints as I can.

Anyways the origional question. I want to put a little more muscle on him but I am broke as of late so I can't afford a drag sled like I had planned or the harness needed. I don't know what else I could do so suggestions would be appreciated.

I don't want a a huge dog I just want to be able to do a little strength training.

 

walk walk walk walk.....breathe....walk walk walk walk

its a great muscle builder and good cardio...and its FREE!

 

swimming is also a good thing, and it's free, too.

 

Me and the wife do take the dog for a swim now and then. We kayak around a small pond while the dog swims. We put a life jacket on him because although he can swim he isn't very boyant so only his head is out of the water and we will have him swim for around a half hour straight. He gets damn tired. It is alot of swimming but no joint pressure and he is safe with his jacket on.

I walk him for miles and that is what got him how he is now so I figured something with resistance would put a pound or two of muscle on him.

 

No need really to add muscles,believe it or not it could have an adverse effect on your dog...just do the walking and swimming

 

It's a good idea. I would suggest that walking uphill alot and riding your bike with him running along for about 5 minutes maximum should do the same job.
(sorry, I hope this sentences makes sense I have a "bad english-day" today . And that dang dictionary here is 42 years old... )

And maybe he just has to mature a bit more.

 

Yea maybe he just needs some more time. He is very fast and can jump alot higher then he could when he was 67 pounds. I accidently threw his frisbee and got it stuck in a tree so he jumped up and snatched it out. Not like its a record or anything but he got it 8 feet off the ground from a stand still which I thought was pretty good. I do roller blade with him but I only do it twice a month or so because I go for 6.4 miles at a decent speed and I don't want to hurt the joints.

I guess I can just hold off and get him a drag sled next year. In two or three months we will probably get snow anyways hehe.

I'll have to post up some pics of him now that he has slimmed down.

 

I like this ^^^...I always think bodybuilder vs athlete...not quite the same in my book too much muscle bulk can be very restrctive aside from higher chance of lactic acid rushes, im sure the op is not intending on a bodybuilt type dog, but this is a good line of thinking imo. Cardio is more important with these dogs the rest takes care of itself that way.

 

Running and swimming are both really good suggestions,that's what I'd do with him.

 

U need a working harness and a chain

 

Your right I really do if I want to do any resistance training.

On a side note do your dogs have a toy or a whatever that they just go nuts for? 98% of the time my dog will let go of the frisbee but every now and then he gets so damn worked once he picks it up he shakes it and almost trembles. When he gets like this he wont let go of the damn thing. Eventually I get it back but it is almost like he is in a weird state of mind and cant control himself.

 

Wow BB where have you Been man!!! Good to see you bro...

 

In order to build muscle though you actually need to ADD protein into his diet along with fat for energy. . . if you cut his food while working out he will trim up, but he needs protein and a full range of amino acids to properly build any muscle. This is the same for body builders . . .

 

Yeah,I hadn't seen you on here in forever.

 

Good to see you too Hemi. Lol wow people missed me. It's summer time so I have been on a local motorcycle website alot lately. I have been on here I just haven't really seen anything that I wanted to reply too.

StopBSL I know I have to increase food intake to build muscle. My dog eats a raw diet so I have the protein and amino acids covered. I just don't want to increase his food if i don't think he is going to need it. If he was doing drag sled I most certainly would adjust his food accordingly. Thanks for the info though.

I feed him half a pound of a protein source for breakfast. One egg, a cup of whole fat yogurt, 1 tbs fish and olive oil, nupro, and an herbal supplement for lunch. Another half a pound of a protein source for dinner. Two - three times a week he gets chicken livers or some other organ meat with his dinner. When I do get him pulling some weight I want to get him on a Vertex like supp or make one myself which will also add to his caloric intake.

 

what i did for my dog since i couldnt afford a harness. i made one. its not that hard suprisingly and it hasnt broken i have had it for about a year now.

 

feed more and get a bigger chain

 

Take it easy, he's still a pup. You don't want him too ripped yet, as males don't stop developing their joints until 2 years old or so. My 16 month-old pup eats once a day, about half to one kilogram of raw food. He's about 60lb, I won't care about his weight until he is 2 years old, when I'll rip him up, so to speak. Here he is at about 62lb:




His exercise regime is:
Daily short walks.
Playing every day, mostly chewing up his old big rope in the loungeroom.
3 times per week running and pulling me on my bike- 1X 1 hour runs and 2X 15-30 minute runs.
2-3 times per week flirtpole for 15 minutes.
He always gets two or three "rest days" through the week where he sets his own pace and I don't tire him out.

On another note, if your dog is going all stupid over his frisbee and not dropping it for you, it is time to take control of the frisbee, and the doggy. Trust me, after a week of no frisbee he'll play with other things. When he does get the frisbee back, make him drop it every time you say the word. If he doesn't drop it, take it from him, no fussing around here, you're the top bulldog aren't ya Give it back to him in a day or two when YOU feel like it. My boy goes APE for his flirt pole. Once he's played with it once, that's all he can think of for the rest of the day. I lock the pole away, and if he chooses to sit like a nervous wreck in front of the door, that's his own problem. In fact, it keeps the loungeroom nice and quiet for a few hours

But everyones dogs are different, so please take my advice with a grain of salt!

 

On another note, if your dog is going all stupid over his frisbee and not dropping it for you, it is time to take control of the frisbee, and the doggy. Trust me, after a week of no frisbee he'll play with other things. When he does get the frisbee back, make him drop it every time you say the word. If he doesn't drop it, take it from him, no fussing around here, you're the top bulldog aren't ya Give it back to him in a day or two when YOU feel like it. My boy goes APE for his flirt pole. Once he's played with it once, that's all he can think of for the rest of the day. I lock the pole away, and if he chooses to sit like a nervous wreck in front of the door, that's his own problem. In fact, it keeps the loungeroom nice and quiet for a few hours



Like I said probablly 98% of the time he does drop it on command first time. Just every now and then he gets a little to worked up, and yes I do bring him in the house and end the play time. He doesn't fixate over it in the house he actually plays with a rope in the house. I have no issues with him knowing who is top dog, but thanks for the reply.

 

So when females stop developing? It is very different from males? I´m always wondering that