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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > Building Muscle & Endurance (26 replies)
Building Muscle & Endurance by Ace952 on 19 June 2011 - 01:05 |
I am looking to build muscle & endurance in my 2 dogs and I know exercise is the only way to do it but I am also interested in looking into supplements as well. Can anyone recommend anything? |
Ace952 by madAB on 19 June 2011 - 01:13 |
| If you want to supplement, Vertex is a good one for active dogs. It can be found at hallmarkk9. As for exercising, swimming it probably the best exercise for dogs. It creates resistance to work the muscles but it's low impact on the joints. Good Luck. |
by VonIsengard on 19 June 2011 - 01:34 |
| We swim, use a jog-a-dog, and bike on soft paths in the forest preserve. I also feed a high protein diet. |
VonIsengard by Ace952 on 19 June 2011 - 03:37 |
| I wish I had somewhere to take him to swim but being in dry ass AZ makes it difficult. With the heat being so extreme I have to either work out early in the morning or late at night. Right now we just play fetch when I get home from work but I will make a effort to do more. Looks like I am jogging early in the morning now. I am going to supplement as well as I know that will help as well with more exercise. My dogs are just getting gassed way too fast and that is my fault from now exercising them enough. Just this AZ heat is unforgiving and even at night it can be 90 degrees. |
by clee27 on 19 June 2011 - 10:32 |
| Ace, do you have a yard that you would be able to put an inexpensive above ground pool in? Up until recently we'd had an inground pool, Alabama was super hot and humid in the summer so the pool was great. I'm considering going to Kmart or somewhere and trying the 20' x 48" pool, $500 (about). They have less expensive ones and Kmart does lay away, lol! |
clee27 by Rik on 19 June 2011 - 13:12 |
| honestly, if you want to supplement for muscle and endurance, add raw meat. noting else needed. I have always swam my dogs and biked them for conditioning for shows. since you can't swim them, get on a bike. build a 50 foot or so run, fill it with sand and put the dog in it while the others or you are outside. the dog will condition itself running back and forth. the resistance offered by the sand will "muscle" them up better than anything else I have found. wanna put a litle more power in the rear, put them in a harness (adults) and hook them to a heavy duty spring attached to a post while you are outside. Rik |
by Tarakiwa on 19 June 2011 - 13:39 |
| Has anybody got a hydrotherapy business near by?....5 min swim on full power (jets) is like a 5 mile fast walk for you dogs muscules, in a weight free environment. |
by steve1 on 19 June 2011 - 14:59 |
| You may think that giving muscle building products to your dogs is doing them a favour and helping them with there stamina, 'WRONG' You may build up Muscle but it will not improve the stamina it is no different from a Human, I used to go to the Multi gym straight from Work 5 days a week I trained 40 minutes each time Some different on the upper body with small weights, always small weights no more than 25 kg, some on the legs no heavy weights but in units of 10, then i used to hang on a bar above my head the apparatus came at a 45 degree angle and i just lifted my legs up to waist height slowly and down up and down. Now here is the Crunch bit The Muscle men with bulging Biceps could only manage no more than 30 of these exercises and they all took Muscle enhancers.. They could not believe there eyes when i did a 100 and was not even flagging. and i never so much as took a pep pill in my life. plus they strained to lift huge weights 5 or so lifts and they were breathing like a broken winded cuddy, I never had the Muscle to show for it like they did that was not the idea of doing it, i was fit, very fit without an oz of fat on me but it was done by working out normally and i ran 5 miles every morning before work they could not do that.. pound for pound i was fitter and stronger than they were i weighed in at 9 stones lb about 134 lb in those days. My reason for being so fit was the Marital Arts i did for over 10 years competing undefeated in about 33 contests a lot of sacrifice for a long time but it helped me a few years on in another venture. So all you have to do is to feed your dog correctly, and exercise your dog correctly enough work and you will have a fit lean muscled dog which is done naturally, In other words the correct way of doing it Steve1 |
steve1 by Nans gsd on 19 June 2011 - 15:08 |
| Rik is right; just add a chicken quarter each day and watch the muscle build itself; of course, you have to exercise; this even helped my 12.5 year old pick up muscle which has carried her far. Best of luck; Nan |
by poseidon on 19 June 2011 - 18:03 |
| I'm totally with you Steve1. One cannot cheat real muscle power. Like most things in life, enhancers are just that; nothing more nothing less :) |
poseidon by Bhaugh on 19 June 2011 - 18:18 |
| I was thinking about puting in a pool as well but how do you keep it clean? Do they make vaccums for an above ground pool? Im in Vegas. I exercise with my dog at night. Or have you thought about getting a treadmill? You would have to modify it for your dogs but if you look on CL, they have them for free on occassion or cheap in the exercise section. Come this fall Im going to get the bike attachment for my dog. He will be 6 next month and looks better than most younger dogs I see these days. |
Bhaugh by Ace952 on 20 June 2011 - 18:16 |
| Cleo - I am renting a house so I can do a above ground pool. I wish I could as it would be good for them. Heck a lake nearby would work...lol...but I don't have one. Nothing but desert. I wish I could build a run but I can't build one where I live. Tarakiwa - I looked up and there are some but it wouldn't be cheap which means I couldn't do it often. Bhaugh....Yeah a treadmill would work for sure. I know I dont have the cash to dump one for now but would be great for summer time use as you know the temp gets way too hot out here. I agree that just muscle won't build endurance. I think that you have to do a balance of both. If just eating meat worked then guys int he NFL, NBA, NHL and other professional sports (including Olympic athletes) would only do that. We all know though that it takes a comibination of many things to acheive a great physical condition. It is the combination of a good diet, proper food, plenty of exercise as well as taking supplements. Meat will help develop the lean muscle. Good consistent exercise will bring endurance. Supplements is that added X Facotr to help bring it all together. Im not looking for cheap fast results. This is a long term thing that takes time. I have a 11 month old & a 2-1/2 yr old so Im in no hurry. Steve...Great argument. The only flaw in it is that what those big guys aren't training for the samething as you are. |
by steve1 on 20 June 2011 - 18:26 |
| Ace Fair point, I guess they are building up there muscles for the show bit, Where is if i had built up the same ratio of muscle in my own body weight it would have been a burden to me in as much it would stop the flexibility i had and the speed which was very important, However with Dogs i see no reason to give muscle enhancers of any kind You can only build up Stamina by steady work never over doing it and the food you eat and the intake for the work you are putting into the dogs exercise, As said on here swimming is a great thing But over here there are no rivers or streams we have just one Canal that runs through Belgium to Holland and the Sea, The only place you may find a stream is in the Ardennes but they are to far away to get to regular then you have to find one Steve1 |
by LadyFrost on 20 June 2011 - 19:13 |
| Bhaug...i bought above ground pool 15 x 48" its a good size pool...perfect height for me to stand while guiding dogs in circle...2 laps and she is huffing and puffing...pools like that come with water pump/filter...you do have to buy chemicals..like chlorine tablets and shock for algae...also add baking soda to soften the water (balance) and whala....you for 4400 gallon pool... (I am still waiting for water bill..) also...regarding building muscle...do they make protein powder to make protein shakes for dogs? or can i just give her my vanilla shake? Bailey even with swimming is still loosing muscle mass on the leg (post surgery) and it's looking bad...i can see outline of the bone now...and when comparing (by touch) there is a HUGE difference in hind legs...if there could be some sort of Protein supplements I would not hesitate to get...she already gets 2 chicken quarters a day, also a bowl of food (mixture of grounded beef, or vegies, or what ever is left over from my dinner) with her glucosamine, "green" multi vitamins and brewers yeast along with fish oil... |
LadyFrost by Ace952 on 21 June 2011 - 00:27 |
| Steve....Excellent points being made. I wish I could do some swimming but I don't have anywhere to go. Don't get me wrong I don't want to put muscles on him as if he was a bully breed and needed tose muscles for pulling competitions but I do want to assist in their current training. LF....Yes there are powders available that you can give. lol@vanilla shake. Now with your dog and the surgery and everything that ould probably be a good way to go to help out. |
by destiny4u on 21 June 2011 - 00:39 |
| i always wondered about this also for both cats and dogs my dog will loose muscle weight very easy and gain muscle very hard |
by Schznd on 21 June 2011 - 02:18 |
| Swimming is great, but I find that you really need to condition for the specific exercise, whatever you are doing. example: Bitework, I do 300 yards of wind sprints, simulation of a blind search, and then go directly to barking (you need to work up to it) 3 minutes straight. 3 minutes is approx the guarding and after out barking at a big event. Jumping I do reps of jumping 1 way so there is very little joint impact, I use a 4 foot loading dock, 25 reps up from the ground, close to the dock, take the dog down in my arms and repeat, this builds the rear bicep muscles and makes jumping effort less (Technique is VERY important but leaning technique when in top physical condition makes learning much easier). Same with obedience, a schutzhund routine is 6-7 minutes long and you need to be sure the dog will work for that length of time without fading. At the end of it all, K9 Super Fuel www.k9power.com for recovery, it is equally important that the dog be as close to total recovery before starting another workout. Supplements give you this edge. If you did bench presses everyday you would not grow muscle. john |
by Schznd on 21 June 2011 - 02:26 |
| "The Muscle men with bulging Biceps could only manage no more than 30 of these exercises and they all took Muscle enhancers.. They could not believe there eyes when i did a 100 and was not even flagging. and i never so much as took a pep pill in my life. plus they strained to lift huge weights 5 or so lifts and they were breathing like a broken winded cuddy" This is because you trained for high reps, they did not, very different routines for very different purposes. Could you lift what they did even 3 times?, most likely not because they trained for it and you did not. "I'm totally with you Steve1. One cannot cheat real muscle power. Like most things in life, enhancers are just that; nothing more nothing less :)" If this were true, professional athletes would have a boat load of chefs following them around the country cooking for them. They cannot get where they need to go on diets (steroids aside). They need nutritional supplements to speed recovery and keep them at their best, so do dogs. john |
by troublelinx on 21 June 2011 - 03:16 |
| Rik, I would think that a sand pit in AZ may be too hot for a dogs feet, I could be wrong though. But i bet you could get sand for cheap in AZ, probably free. |
troublelinx by steve1 on 21 June 2011 - 05:16 |
| Schznd No, i could not lift the weights those Guys did but then they themselves were overdoing it and i told them if you you can lift a weight only 5 times and sit there with your head in your lap then that weight is to heavy and doing you no good but they were more intent on showing up to the Girls in the Gym i think, To me it was very serious training no messing about why did i do small repetitive weights they did what i wanted them to do anyway i had to go to a class 2 hours later and that was enough work before that. The whole meaning if this is do not over do the dogs training in getting it fit to make it stale, However we need to get the Dogs fit no mistake about that because how many dogs do we see run the 6 blinds in a competition and then have to hold and Bark but do not have the Puff left to Bark in the Blind, all the good work getting the dog to run the blinds well is gone out of the window when it loses points for not barking correctly it happens all the time, The Handlers have not got the Dogs fit enough they forget that inportant thing Steve1 |
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