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building muscles


imported_nea

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I guess I could be biased, but... :wink: pulling seems to produce allot of muscles! Depending on what type of exercise the dog does, different types of muscles are produced. Heavy weight pulling produces bigger"shorter" muscles than speed running, which produces "long"muscles. A good example is how a Pit Bull who does weight pull looks next to racing greyhound. Both strong, but in different ways. Below is Gemma ,one of my sled dogs. She is a super hard puller and has very muscular thighs.
[img]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0XAAjA4calJOnn*NpjVMSNZeCTRHusaFBXjvrKpNYvon*f4Dg0bKdi5elQknrOMDFZv*9DJWvBG63Cqulgtvyi*n8STAsfS4ZM1VLEtEV6aDYkedAcfwY34ROaEFbiCA7SNStv!sFPfI/5112351-R1-012-4A.jpg?dc=4675479496234518065[/img]

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Hey Nea if its for agility then do lots of road walking. This builds up the muscles nicely and plus its fun to do. I used to run with Meg along the towpath from Lisburn to Belfast which was 10 miles there and 10 miles back, and we did this twice weekly. So many people expect to do agility with just having a casual walk every day with their dog, but like any athlete its a matter of training...and that goes for both the dog and handler :wink: With Caelidh I'm doing 2 training sessions every week plus 10-20 km hike (tomorrow will be 20km providing its decent weather). She needs muscle built up especially in her shoulders and hind quarters so we are working on that at the moment.

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I have Ilsa chase a frisbee - her thigh muscles are HUGE from all that driving (propelling herself after the frisbee with all her might)!

I need to build neck/shoulder muscle... and idea how?

You can really see her muscle definition in these photos:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_7070.jpg[/img]

Butt muscles!
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6361.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6331.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_6048.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6359.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6384.jpg[/img]

Needs more shoulder muscle, but she's not looking too bad here!
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_7060.jpg[/img]

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Don't worry AAP that is not something Doberfanatic is likely to do I think. Perhaps she wants to build muscle to display the athleticism of Dobermans - You show your dogs don't you Doberfanatic?

Anyway, you could try playing tug - Kavik gets quite a neck and shoulder work out from the backwards tugging and pulling action. Of course if playing tug is out for your dogs due to the alleged aggression/dominance related issue you could try climbing, a-frams or steep rocky surfaces where they can't dig in with their rear feet as well?

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Thanks for all of the great ideas (and pictures :wink:)! :D

Pulling- how do you teach a dog to pull? Do they recognize the difference between a pulling harness and walking harness and collar?

Walking- whats a good length to walk every day?

Running- is it ok to be lazy and bike alongside the dog instead of running, does it do as much good? :oops:

Frisbee- how often should it be done to make a difference? Is it possible to play frisbee in the snow?

Diet- what would a good diet be, how many % of what stuff?

Tugging- how often/much, to make a difference?

Fetch- is it the more helter-skelter version where the dog runs around wildly as it wishes, or the more "calm" version where the dog has to wait patiently to be told its ok before leaping and flying to the thing that works best for building muscles?

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Kavik will play tug for 32 min straight - no letting go. He can be lifted off the ground while holding on. That may not be impressive for more muscular bulky dogs but I think its great for a BC. We built up slowly, your dog will let you know when he is pooped and dogs' work ethic is usually way better than peoples so he'll likely play long enough to get a decent work out - if he likes tug games. You get the most out if it if your dog will pull/jerk backwards so you may want to encourage that some. If you are concerned about possession issues intersperse tug games with dropit/leaveit training. Some people feel that tug games inspire aggression. I myself haven't found it to be a problem in dogs with average temperments or even work oriented temperments but you may wish to investigate the issue yourself to decide.

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Start any conditioning program gradually, and work up. Don't start an out-of-shape dog out with a 5 mile run! The amount of walking/running your dog will need depends on the dog.

For pull training, get a pull harness and get the dog used to wearing it. Then start the dog out with something light, such as a milk jug with a few rocks in it, to get them used to the feel and noise of something behind him. Have a collar and leash on and lead the dog while it's pulling (at least at first), so that the dog understands that pulling in the harness is different from pulling on the leash. Gradually build up until the dog is pulling a reasonable weight. I wouldn't go over the dog's own weight unless you are planning to go for pull competition. Probably won't need that much.

Biking with your dog running is just fine, only be sure that you don't run the dog too long or hard. Since bicycling is easier than running, you can overwork the dog if you don't pay attention.

A rowdier game of fetch is going to exercise the dog more, thus produce more muscle, though it also causes a greater risk of injury. I think you could play fetch and/or frisbee in the snow, it would depend on how slippery it was. If it's slippery, might be better not to risk it.

As for food, I personally feed a high grade kibble, and my dogs thrive on it.

Whatever, if you seriously want to condition your dog, your best bet is probably a combination of activities.

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Oh nooo... I don't plan on using any sort of weight to build neck muscle - Dobermans are prone to neck problems anyway, and there's no way I'm going to invite CVI or DDD intentionally!

I do frisbee about 3-5 times a day now, with obediece training worked into it. Each session lasts about 30 minutes - sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, depending on the temperature and Ilsa's attention span!

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