Fit Dog Friday: Conditioning

I decided recently that Koira needed a bit more conditioning, and that Pallo could use it as well. We are coming up on a number of flyball tournaments, lure coursing weekends, and of course summer camping, hiking, and backpacking plans in the next few months. It will be easier on the dogs if they are both in really good physical condition.

Now, yes, my dogs are already pretty in shape. But right now, if I were to run Pallo full time at a two day flyball tournament, he would be dead tired by the end of Saturday and not fully recovered by Sunday morning, leaving him at risk for injury. Koira I think has a bit more endurance, but I have this crazy desire to see her totally ripped this summer. I want to have one of those dogs that even dog people stop and admire the muscles on.

I admit it. It is part vanity.

Koira diving for her toy

What this all means, though, is that I am starting a conditioning program with my dogs. I don't want to do too much of anything, but want to do enough of everything to get some good results. What this means is we will be stepping up the number of off leash walks and hikes for the dogs, slowly increasing them in length. I will also be trotting them on a bike a couple times per week (weather permitting) for 20 minutes. This is stuff we have been doing, I will just be increasing how much and how often we do them.

There are also things I plan to add to their conditioning routines. I recently built a spring pole for the dogs after a friend let them try out the one she had. They both totally loved it and got a really good work out from it, so I decided we needed one at our house. I'll share the how-to on making a spring pole in another post, but let me say it was super simple and cheap to make. I plan to let Koira use the spring pole for no more than 5 minutes at a time at first, and gradually build up to no more than 15 minutes at a time. I don't think she will ever get tired of the spring pole (though Pallo will if not continually encouraged), but I don't want to over work her on it.

Pallo with the spring pole

Koira leaping for the spring pole

Koira tugging like crazy on the spring pole, and using the tree to help

I am also planning on getting another lunge whip to make a new flirt pole. We had one before, but I don't have any idea what happened to it. The dogs love playing with it, so a new one will be being built soon. We will likely start out doing the same thing as with the spring pole- start with 5 minute max sessions, and build up to 15 minutes, and do it a few times per week. Again, I don't want to over work the dogs or have them get bored with the game, so I will always be stopping when they are still eager for more.

Pallo playing with the flirt pole

Koira trying to grab the flirt pole

Pulling is another conditioning game we will be working on. So far, I have been having Koira (in her freight pulling harness) pull an old tire across the yard 4-5 times every few days. The tire doesn't weigh a lot, but the slow and steady pulling of lighter weights can really help build condition without too much of an increased risk of injury. We might even end up competing in some weight pulls if we stick with it enough she enjoys it enough. Because Pallo doesn't like weight pull at all, I am not going to be having him do this one, though I may try again at some point to see if I can increase his enjoyment.

Pallo lure coursing at a recent CAT trial

Adding to this the other fun things we try to do whenever possible, including lure coursing, swimming, dock diving, and trips to the beach should start to make a big difference for the dogs in terms of condition. Since they also both have flyball once a week and Koira just started agility once a week as well, I am hoping I will see some big improvements by the time our next full weekend flyball tournament comes along in July.

(Also, thank you to my friend Kay who took all of the pictures in the posts on Monday, Wednesday, and today, other than Pallo lure coursing, which was taken on my camera by my friend Nicole. Thank you guys for the awesome photos!)

Weight Pull Practice

We've been practicing weight pull once or twice a week with a friend. Since we are using a cart, the friend is a necessary safety measure, as we need someone on the brake so the cart doesn't run over the dog.

I have been using a touch stick method to get Koira to pull. An important part of training is that she learn proper body position, which basically means she needs to learn to pull with her head down. While not so important with light weights, it will get very important when she is asked to pull more weight down the line. To keep her head low and forward, I've been using a touch stick (also commonly called a target stick) out in front of her and close to the ground. I then treat her down low as well, or toss treats on the ground in front of her.

This past week, I strapped the GoPro onto the end of the touch stick. The battery was borderline dead, so I didn't get very long videos, but I think it is enough for you to see the basics of what we are doing. Basically, I hook Koira's harness up to the cart, walk her out so the bar of the harness is not on her hocks, and then have her wait. Then, I go out next to her, put the target end of the touch stick out in front of her a ways, down low near the ground, and tell her to touch. She sticks her nose down toward the stick, throws her shoulders into the pulling, and walks toward the stick, head low, pulling the weighted cart (for reference, she has just over 100 lbs on the cart in these videos). I reward her when her head position is good, when she has pulled  a decent distance, when she gets a good start on the cart, etc.





Sorry at the videos being a bit tilted. I basically just taped the GoPro onto the touch stick with scotch tape, and it ended up being a bit crooked.

Anybody have weight pull questions? Anybody do weight pull and have tips for me?

Weight Pull

We apparently don't have enough sports to be involved with. A friend recently mentioned to us that they were starting weight pull training, and I said me and Koira were totally in for that. We have now done two practices, using weights and a crate dolly. Koira seems to really enjoy the practices, but has been getting a bit frustrated during training.

We started out borrowing my friend's weight pull harness, which fit Koira surprisingly well. But, I had to make our own in case we both compete in the same class, so that we don't have to switch the harness back and forth between dogs. My first attempt at a weight pull harness came in at $25 for materials and only about 40 minutes for assembly. I think it fits really well, and I am very happy with it.

On the way to meet up for practice last night, I had an idea about how to really train a good head position for weight pull. Basically, you want the dog to keep their head low and forward for the best pulling power, and you want to teach that position from the beginning.  I tried the first time by tossing treats ahead of Koira, and by treating her low or on the ground when she pulled nicely. It got a decent head position but was not very consistent and relied heavily on me getting the treats in the right position. On the drive over there last night, though, it occurred to me, maybe it would be the perfect time to pull out the touch stick again?

Touch sticks are amazing, by the way.

Using a touch stick/target stick helped keep Koira's head nicely low, in good position, consistently. I do use a clicker when I use the touch stick (about the only thing I consistently use a clicker for), but you could certainly use a marker word instead. Koira is well trained with the touch stick to bump her nose to the very tip of the stick. The tip of the stick part is very important, as you don't want the dog targeting halfway up the stick or right next to your hand or something. Using the touch stick was way, way easier for training position and pulling. And, I am pretty sure I can fade the stick out pretty easily to a hand touch (once her head position is trained better), because I am allowed to use my hand as a target for her even in competition.

In any case, I don't have a ton to say about weight pull, since we are just now getting involved with it. So far, we are having a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to trying it out in competition. No pictures yet since we are practicing at night pretty much, making it hard to get decent pictures. If you do weight pull with your dog, and have any starting tips, we would love to hear them!