conditioning for success

Before you begin working a dog: read, read, read and read. Become a sponge and learn as much about nutrition and conditioning as possible theres no such thing as being done learning. Learn from others. Both those who are known as conditioners and just people who have been in the dogs for a while. Its not necessary you repeat their mistakes.

Once you have a firm foundation, then get out and work one. work two, work twenty.

 

Good food for thought, good looking dogs and a good work ethic. Take heed, some advice worth reading.

 

Beautiful hounds naus. All look in phenomenal shape.

 

I think the 3rd dog Looks a bit underweight to me. 2-3 pounds more wouldnt hurt.

 

I'm jealous

 

I hear what you're saying but 2-3 more pounds probably wouldn't have been a good idea. That dog was where he was supposed to be. Conditioning for success is conditioning for a purpose. Not just to have a dog stressed and railed out 24/7. Keeps are extremely hard on a dogs body and each one takes something out of it. Something to consider when putting a dog through one either very young or very old.

Thanks everyone else for the words we do our best over here and for a fee I'll have yours breathing underwater too lol

 

They all look good naus.

 

That is great work and would do well in the tropics.

 

OK maybe you are right. The other dogs look verry good btw.

 

Nicely conditioned and conformed dogs.

However, I see them all somewhat drawn a bit too fine, especially the buckskin 3rd pic from the top. Would not an additional 1-2lbs of tuned muscle mass across the shoulders and hips facilitate burst/sprint/speed and explosive strength?

If I were to use a simplified human analogy, I see these dogs conditioned similar to competitive marathon runners (endurance emphasis), vice light-welterweight sized boxers/MMA or cross-fit type athletes (balanced burst strength and endurance emphasis).

In my view, an optimal conditioning regimen would conclude with a dog at absolute prime health and energy levels.

 

Muscle is just for looks ...pretty...Never judge a book by its cover in these dogs,muscle mass is only nice to look at .Performance is the key and I'm pretty sure naus knows what he is doing since it's his dogs.

 

No. That's not what I said.

Floyd Mayweather can certainly win at 135lbs, for example, and maybe even can run 10 miles faster at the lighter weight, but his optimal ring weight is about 10lbs heavier. On the other hand, at 160lbs Floyd can still win, and perhaps push 25% more weight on the bench, but the extra mass comes at the expense of endurance and speed, especially against a larger opponent.

If the pictured dog is at it's optimal weight, then so be it. My opinion is he is a bit too thin.

 

I see what your saying.In dogs it's better to run them at the correct weight.

 

The dog determines the keep and the dog determines the weight. Yes you have a bit of play higher and lower than the optimal weight but you try to bring the dog in where it needs to be. Some animals do better with weight left on them. Some animals do better railed out. The type of keep you put on a dog really just depends on the dog. That dog there will never look thick or muscled unless he is over weight because he is a very rangey dog with a lot of leg. His shape and style is better suited for a well conditioned, long winded keep.

A super muscled dog looks cool and impressive but they are not all that way. In the beginning I loved a low slung high powered Mack truck of a bulldog but after attending enough conformation shows I've learned to go with what wins, and complement that shape.

The only way to know if a dog is drawn too thin is to watch it in motion with your own eyes. When putting a charge in the best opportunity to succeed you want to be at your most competitive. Generally this is the lowest, strongest weight that you can compete all day at. Some super high strung dogs are wide open the entire time so you want to put a real hard keep on them to maintain that type of energy throughout the day. Nothing worse than having the best looking animal in its class and by the time the judge has gotten to you your charge has barked itself off its feet. For an animal that's more inclined to pace itself you condition accordingly.

 

Great thread, thanks for the gems naus

 

Back when Mayfield deployed drying out his bulldogs so thin his advesaries thought they won before the dogs were released and the odds were subtantial...
After shocking his opponets for being just as strong as he heavier muscled and wetter dogs that he would actually bring a BIGGER dog thats thinned up more but when done right equally explosive with all the distance to boot, this works well in the tropics or lower more humid states, but not so much in the north and dryier areas where bringing them in a bit heavier or wet might be an advantage... diffrent areas call for differnt condition methods and believe it or not...
Later everyone bet on the name Mayfield alone as he was ahead of his time....
CONDITIONING BULLDOGS IS AN ART JUST AS THE OTHER ELEMENTS OF HANDELING AND BREEDING...
MOST ARTIST DONT EVAN UNDERSTAND EACHOTHERS ART BUT EXCEPT IT AND RESPECT IT AND IF YOUR NOT AN ARTIST OR CONNISUER, PLEASE TELL ME HOW WILL YOU UNDERSTAND THE ART IN FRONT OF YOU???

 

Very education Naus. I'm starting to become more and more of a fan of the conditioning process over the showing process, hah! Elias is very right about conditioning being an art. Every artist works differently and it's hard to understand their process unless you're there working with them. At the end of the day, if it looks good and works good, it's good!

 

Good looking dogs Naus. Showing pictures of performance dogs in keep or after a keep is like trying to explain quantum physics to a 1st grader, they just dont get it. Smh @ adding 2-3lbs on the buckskin dog. If Naus did that there is no way he would be able to breathe under water.