fitness

[watchman 256]

i drink with a old timer {in his 70s}he has kept,bred and run coursing dogs all his life and his favourite saying to me is "the only way to get a dog fit, is to run it fit"now other than the obvious problems with this ie:injury,pushing it to hard and blowing it, maybe even creating a dog that gives tongue or even jacking, the list is endless ,does he have a valid point, can this be done if someone has the right expierience and knowledge of the type of dog he is running .fitness is paramount in my eyes and mine will be fit and ready for the new season just wondered on your thoughts cheers

[Big bald beautiful 1,231]

i like to hunt mine fit, take them out mouching rather then road walk them.

but i wouldnt dream of lamping a dog in say september that hasnt done anything since april.

im still taking rabbits on walks out and my whippets are slowly getting fitter, they would get fitter quicker if road walked but i dont enjoy it.

[doga 50]

i think like any thing youve got to get your dog in good nick befor you let it see to much but better to ease the dog in than throw,match fitnes for footballers means playing games be they half games to start and boxers dont get fighting fit with out the intial sparing and so on.get um as hard and fit as you can to start then eas um in.

[Guest joe ox]

Yes the best way to get a running dog fit is to run it fit gradually built up to being fully fit, but I thought that bit would be common sense!!!!

Edited July 9, 2009 by joe ox

[runforyourlife 361]

i drink with a old timer {in his 70s}he has kept,bred and run coursing dogs all his life and his favourite saying to me is "the only way to get a dog fit, is to run it fit"now other than the obvious problems with this ie:injury,pushing it to hard and blowing it, maybe even creating a dog that gives tongue or even jacking, the list is endless ,does he have a valid point, can this be done if someone has the right expierience and knowledge of the type of dog he is running .fitness is paramount in my eyes and mine will be fit and ready for the new season just wondered on your thoughts cheers

 

 

Why let your dog get unfit from the last season??? why not keep it fit at all times. I play and coach football but when the close season comes i dont do nothing, my lurchers keep me fit, and in turn that keeps them fit....

[anagallis_arvensis 2]

A great cyclist once said there's three ways to get fit for bike racing, riding a bike, riding a bike and riding a bike, I'm sure the same applies to running dogs.

[jeppi 49]

i no this might sound daft to some folk but how do you no when a dog is fully fit?or at its fittest?

Edited July 9, 2009 by jeppi

[CI HIR 13]

The old man was absoloutly right.Sighthounds have a very high amount of "fast twitch fibres" in their muscles.These are only stimulated when the dog`s sprinting.So any lurcher with a high proportion of sighthound(greyhound,whippet,saluki,deerhound)in it`s make up will only become fit and improve it`s speed by running.

[the great white hunter 1]

i do loads of mooching with my dogs this time of year and problys kill the odd rabbit but when i notice my dog when its fit by having a good look at it becuse all the muscle and its back goes into shape

[runforyourlife 361]

i do loads of mooching with my dogs this time of year and problys kill the odd rabbit but when i notice my dog when its fit by having a good look at it becuse all the muscle and its back goes into shape

 

 

So you actually let your dog go out of shape, do you let its back muscles disappear! Sure this is doing the dog any good.

[Raymond 618]

I would agree with keeping your dog at a level of fittness even in the off season if thats what you want to call it. If the dog is un fit it takes more work to get the dogs fittness back up, which itself takes a toll on the dog. I think its easier on the dog to keep a level of fittness so the dog isnt out of shape and it takes to much effort on the dog to get the fittness up. The dog will tell you how fit it is through its actions and reactions. If a dog reachess its peak of fittness, its only obvious its levels will come down after it peaks.

[sandymere 8,263]

As above you need to keep a level of fitness in the off season or it will take all winter to get a dog into shape. A bit of a lay off will give the body a chance for repair and recuperation but there is a difference between recovery and stopping altogether. 100 % fit leads to injury as the line between the two is very fine especially fast sprinting type stuff so cutting down on that and working on base fitness/stamina will hold the cardio-respiratory and metabolic fitness and so alow the speed to be recovered reasonable quickly come the dark nights with little risk of injury.

[wexford Pa 84]

I understand what he means, my dogs are fit all year round but their not lampin fit cos their not gettin the work, their gettin walks n free running n a bit of swimmin in the summer months but its not much compared to walkin n a full nights work 5 or 6 nights a week..

And to answer ur question Yes running is the best way to get them fit but ease them into the comin season as it come around, dont go hell for leather n lamp em on 20 or so rabbits 5 nights a week, 5-8 twice or 3 times a weeks fine to start wit n work em up..

Atb..

Pa

[mighty celt 996]

i drink with a old timer {in his 70s}he has kept,bred and run coursing dogs all his life and his favourite saying to me is "the only way to get a dog fit, is to run it fit"now other than the obvious problems with this ie:injury,pushing it to hard and blowing it, maybe even creating a dog that gives tongue or even jacking, the list is endless ,does he have a valid point, can this be done if someone has the right expierience and knowledge of the type of dog he is running .fitness is paramount in my eyes and mine will be fit and ready for the new season just wondered on your thoughts cheers

i also like running my dogs 2 get them fit u cant beat it but i also do road work 2 keep there pads tough and nails down and get them up on there toes then your dogs will be ready for a good seasons work

[watchman 256]

my dogs still maintain a good level of fitness out of season but they are not lamp fit,i know my own dogs as i am sure you know yours and i can tell the difference after a few weeks of lamping and can see the obvious changes,but i dont run the feck out of them every night, peak condition comes gradually over the season.

when he [THE OLD ONE}talks of running a dog fit,he would slip it on a hare{pre-ban}if it caught he run it again if not home time and so would continue the process day after day until well into the season when it would start catching them for fun.or jack in,his thoughts on running a dog fit and our thoughts are prob not the same but it sorted out the shit dogs as he would say and if you had a good one everyone knew about it.

now if thats how the older generation are doing it prob explains why there so many dogs advertised that turn out shit and get passed from pillar to post instead of putting then in the ground where they belong jmo cheers