Conditioning your dogs - Page 1

Just wondering how many of you condition your dogs.  My dogs do a lot of free running and jogging along side a bike.  Sometimes they swim, which is good cardio, but I have to be careful with that, or I end up with overloaded fronts :)

I wish we could do the golf cart thing, but #1 We currently don't have the room and #2 We don't have the money for the golf cart xD

I bike my dog, and allow her to tear around the back yard. I don't have a motorized mode of transport either. But there is an older man in my neighborhood that runs his rottie with a scooter. The dog is on an E-collar and mnds his manners very well.
I don't do much swimming with all the gators around here. And i don't have a pool. I'm also trying to get her to drag a weight with a pulling harness. So far she is not impressed.
Fry

What is ment by "overloaded fronts?"

Fronts that are too heavily muscled.  Restricts front reach

Interesting.  I would not have considered that as a side effect of too much swimming.  I would expect this is similar as with humans that do a lot of swimming; specifically the butterfly stroke, correct?

Thanks for the info.

 I would expect this is similar as with humans that do a lot of swimming; specifically the butterfly stroke, correct?

Exactly :)  The dog must "pull" itself through the water rather than drive off the rear when swimming.  This uses different muscles in a different fashion than the trot, and thus while swimming is EXCELLENT cardio and good conditioning "sometimes" it is not the best form of conditioning for what the dog is supposed to be doing for work.

I feel too much biking is not good for them and I do old fashioned hiking lots and lots of walking my dogs and playing ball up and down the hills. I hate to see a dog under 2 do much biking and feel it is not good for them especially trying to extend their trots out at fast speeds on a young dog. I see some people even gaiting thier dogs up and down roads instead of biking them on softer ground beside the road. We tell people not to jog with to young of a dog for the same reasons I would not bike them like that. Running on sandy  beachy surfaces is also good. My young male loves to play frisbee up and down a gentle sloped hill I have here and he has perfect toned muscles. He plays three times a day frisbee on the hill and gets hiked, walked two to three times a day as well. He is 2 and 1/2 and I am just now introducing him to a bike after his hips and elbows have been done.

When i started biking my dog i let her set the pace and speed. She likes a rather natural gait, not running or walking. But a really smooth gait. When i can i ride on the sidewalks so she can run in the grass. But only a small section of my neighborhood is paved sidewalks. My backyard is mostly sand. Beach would be nice but not too many safe places for he to go. Nice park up the road that we do some training in because it's mostly fenced. And i use the softball games as a distraction.
Fry

I do not bike my youngsters hard at all, and I allow them to gait on grass.  Biking doesn't become more "hardcore" until they are older.  I do tend to start them a little after a year just so they can get the feel for it, and we do not go very far.

I wish beaches were an option here, but they are unfortunately not.

Mostly my young ones free run, but like I said, I try not to do a lot of hills and the like, as, again, it will overload the fronts.  I do not train my dogs to go at breakneck speeds, but I do want to see what the most comfortable gait is for them at full extension.  Some dogs need to learn how to use themselves more efficiently, others do it very naturally.

Right now, with all the snow we just got (YAY!!!!) we go out to the fairgrounds (our usual stomping grounds) and they run through the snow.  Great resistance work, excellent change for cardio, and it makes for beautiful pictures ^_^

For dogs with unbalanced muscles, sometimes aneed  few sessions on an under water treatmill can rebalance them. Once their where they should be, swimming, running, fetch/tug games and hiking should do the trick. If the dog becomes unbalanced again, start looking for problems as to why they don't use on part of their body as much as the others.

For long muscle groups and endurance, biking, trotting and hike are good. For short muscle groups, jumping, and fast starts are good (balabanof style tug work).

Of course this must be limited for a young puppy.