Back muscles - Page 1

Hi! I'm sorry for the mistakes but English isn't my first language.This thread is too old, so I can't post there anymore http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/community.read?post=863986-how-to-deal-with-weak-pasterns&p=5 It was about my rescue dog's weak pasterns, undeveloped muscles, etc due to lack of exercise and starving. This winter we had a lot of snow(more than we expected) so the dog was able to exersice in snow. I think it was good for her muscles because running in snow could be like running in sand or mud. I do some uphill hiking(I run, she hikes ) with her and I often take her somewhere to play fetch uphill. I also did a lot of biking with her when there was snow everywhere(yes,I was the only idiot with bike out there). The benefit of biking in the snow with her was that the pavements and roads were covered in snow and it wasn't bad for her paws. I do Sch with her(she is OK for a rescue) but at the moment I'm not living in the city where our Sch group is. Yes, I can do tracking and obedience(I even have my own jumps) but she won't be able to do bitework more than once a month till summer. I think bite work could do wonders for my dog's neck and back muscles if only we could go there and practise regularly...but for now we can't. I can't think of an alternative for bite work expect for playing with a tug. But she is not very much into playing tug, she seems to get confused when she needs to bite a tug that I'm holding. I let her win and encourage her,give her nice treats,reward her with a ball(she loves balls so much) but she just doesn't like the game or doesn't know how to have fun during the game. But she doesn't seem to have this problem during bitework when she bites the decoy. I just have no other ideas about exercises that help with the development of back and neck muscles.

This is how she looks at the moment. I couldn't find a picture of her taken from above but I'll take one today. A lot of people tell me that she's too skinny, but she feels great that way, has a lot of energy and I even think I feed her much more than a dog her weight needs(but this is due her activity). I know people who have fat dogs tend to act shocked when they see an "extremely underweight" dog like mine but I'm starting to think that she really is too skinny, because you could see her last ribs when you look her from above...or this is because her back muscles aren't developed?

Confused, the top pic is a well muscled dog in good condition. The bottom pic is a dog with undeveloped muscle/wastage with a poor expression and coat, looks sick to me.

vk, I could be wrong, but I think the drastic difference in the lighting of the two photos is what makes the dog look different.

Yes I think on reading Boltipo's post these are two pictures of the same dog.

Boltipo, I know we discussed it before and you said you did not have any easy access to anywhere you could swim your dog - but swimming really would be good for the muscles you are talking about improving now, perhaps even more so than for the pasterns' weakness. Can you not try again to find a pet hydropool or some other body of enclosed water to use regularly ?

One other (half-serious) suggestion: member Mithuna was recently promoting a dog food that is supposed to be specifically formulated to promote muscle-building (canine equivalent of Charles Atlas ?) so that might be worth trying, if you can get it ? Suggest you PM mithuna.
By the way, your English is not half bad ! Better than that of some native speakers who post here.

Try tyre pulling harnesses a rope and a tyre is all u need . Make sure u let the dog warm up first start slow and build up excellent way for cardio and build muscle

Yes, the pictures are of the same dog. The top pic is taken during sunset so the dog 's colour look different. I know there are a lot of places where you could take your dog to a swimming therapy or just to have fun in the water in the USA but there isn't a swimming pool for dogs in my country at all. Yes,we have a lake here in which the dog was able to swim a lot last summer till they put a "No dogs" sign. I think there are dams and rivers in which the dog could swim. I need to do a research first and see if there are such places and how often could we visit them.
As for the food I forgot to mention in my first post that I started to feed her a raw diet. She loves it and this time she didn't have any stomach problems like the last time I tried to change her diet. I read some recipies for some kind of meat balls which help your dog gain weight. Will the dog gain fat or muscle weight?
Yogidog, could you tell me more about GSDs and the pulling thing:how much minutes should a GSD pull at first, when to increase, how much to increase, is it like when someone goes to the fitness and does an exercise 5minX5sets with 1 minute rest between the sets(for example) and is the exercise suitable for a GSD with a sloped back like mine?

I really would not have believed they were the same dog.

just goes to show how arbitrary conformation pics are and how bad I am looking at dogs.

I think she looks pretty good, but maybe a little bit skinny. Feel her muscles in her shoulders and thighs--are they thick and rounded? How is the muscle in her neck and over her loin, along the spine? It should feel dense and solid--and you shouldn't easily feel bones in those areas. If so, then even if she has ribs showing, she is probably in good shape. If she is bony in the shoulders and thigh and spine and neck, then she is too thin.

Just like you would expect to see ribs on a human triathlete, a really fit dog might have ribs showing.

Christine

Considering what you originally told us she went through, I too think she is now looking really well. And all kudos to you for all the effort you have been putting in to bring her right.
I never used these magic meatballs but they've been mentioned often enough you should be able to find them through a Site Search; if I recall correctly these were always claimed to promote muscle & condition, not excess fat.

Boltipo I cat tell u how long to exercise your dog it depends on the fitness and condition he is in . What I can tell u is help him through the first stage as he might rear up. Because he is nor used to pulling it normal . Warm up very important and a cool down is just as important so don't rush the cool down . Watch your dog and rest him accordingly . When u think it is enough dont second guess yourself