fittness in terriers

[Pigs 73]

after reading deep earths i notice'd no one realy commented on the fittness of the dog.how many lads spend time getting there dogs fit enough to complete many hours to ground?or do they rely on the actual time to ground to get them fit or both?after seeing my own terriers going round & round an earth for most the day before eventualy bottleing the quarry up,it eventualy became aparent that there were verry few stop ends in the place.so what im saying is if the terrier was only half fit/ would it have completed the task in hand and lasted the distance?some dogs ive seen wont drop into the lower levels but ive never seen one walk becouse it is deep but ive seen dogs come up becouse they were worked sore and probley only needed another week.how many of you think fittness is a factor ?

[Curtis101 1]

Good thread i will be interested to see what people have to say about this surely condition will pay a considerable factor in the terriers also.

[rob84 112]

A terrier like any other working dog if not more importantly needs to be bouncing fit before work. Why would you set your dog up to fail from being un-fit and out of condition. Its hard enough for them working so you need everything in their favour. Also a dog in good condition prior to work recovers a lot quicker.

[rob284 1,682]

working em is the best way to keep em fit, but i believe a dog will come up if it gets frustrated with not getting to the quarry.

[Cleanspade 3,322]

fitness is as important in terriers as it is in any sporting breed. if not more so. terriers are gemerally naturally fit and dont need a lot of fitness training. especially if they get regular work i think the best way is to keep a degree of fitness all year round. and try not to let them get unfit or overweight . it doesnt take much time and effort to keep a terrier fit. but it can be difficult to get one in shape if allowed to get out of shape

[Stevie D 9]

Fitness definitely plays a big part in terrier work. If you ask a lot of your terrier then you should make sure it's fit enough to do what you want. I've seen many terriers worked to exhaustion and I think quite a few have been labelled quiters because they weren't fit enough to do the job asked of them. At the very least a terrier should be in good shape at the start of the season and if worked regularly, the fitness comes itself after that. Any terrier locked in a kennel from one week to the next won't be fully fit.

Stevie

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

working em is the best way to keep em fit, but i believe a dog will come up if it gets frustrated with not getting to the quarry.

A terrier like any other working dog if not more importantly needs to be bouncing fit before work. Why would you set your dog up to fail from being un-fit and out of condition. Its hard enough for them working so you need everything in their favour. Also a dog in good condition prior to work recovers a lot quicker.

Two answers here that hit the nail squarely on the head although the other way round

[Pigs 73]

thanks lads great replys & totaly agree with u all. nice 1

[trufflehunting 4]

A terrier will come out for the following reasons

1) There is nothing in the earth

2)The fox has moved and its hunting for it

3)It comes out when it cant get to its fox and tries another enterance looking for a way to the fox

4) Fox has bolted from a big spot and you have not seen it go

 

Terriers get fit by working

 

Cheers