cross training

[BrownDogsCan2]

It's that time of year. My allergies are killing me, and am looking for way to get the dog in shape. 4 or 5 hours a week.

Here's what I'm thinking. 4 days a week 36 hr. intervals.

Mon. P.M.- Waterwork...current,swimming depth. Shallow water, sand. Dependent on flow.
Wed. A.M. Uphill....80 yards up 80 down 25 windsprints= mile and 1/4 up mile and 1/4 down.
Thurs. P.M.- Waterwork...same as above.
Sat. A.M.- Roading 3-5 miles.

Advice. Roading,have never done it. Any other ideas?Wild birds would be my first choice. But they are getting hard to come by....access is tough.(....sign sign everywhere a sign....)

 

[FCSpringer]

Seen this chatted about many times, so here is what I do and it works well. I need my dogs in shape. Mostly to get them ripped, I do 10 -12 long water retrieves every other day. Then just running at full speed they run in the field questing for 15 minutes, or till heat says stop and cool off in water, 2-3 times a week. I never road a dog, ever. You simply don't need to do that unless you don't have a place to go work a dog. Once they are in shape, I run them on a side hill directing them up and down 1/4ing on a 40 degree incline in big casts for as long as it takes to wear them out. Then this is along water, so I finish with a couple 100 yard water bombs that they deliver up that hill. While keeping my fat rear on the top of the hill the whole time LOL. When it cools off in the fall/winter they will go all day. All this means nothing with out good quality food and nutrition. And for me I can do this walking from the porch so access is not an issue as well. But I would think most folks can drive out to a WPA near by and do the same. There is a lake a mile or so I drive to for the bulk water work. It has clean clear water for summer work. Swimming is the best way to build muscle and stamina during summer heat. It is low impact and works every muscle in the body.:thumbsup: All the while keeping the water retrieve in the breed.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

Seen this chatted about many times, so here is what I do and it works well. I need my dogs in shape. Mostly to get them ripped, I do 10 -12 long water retrieves every other day. Then just running at full speed they run in the field questing for 15 minutes, or till heat says stop and cool off in water, 2-3 times a week. I never road a dog, ever. You simply don't need to do that unless you don't have a place to go work a dog. Once they are in shape, I run them on a side hill directing them up and down 1/4ing on a 40 degree incline in big casts for as long as it takes to wear them out. Then this is along water, so I finish with a couple 100 yard water bombs that they deliver up that hill. While keeping my fat rear on the top of the hill the whole time LOL. When it cools off in the fall/winter they will go all day. All this means nothing with out good quality food and nutrition. And for me I can do this walking from the porch so access is not an issue as well. But I would think most folks can drive out to a WPA near by and do the same. There is a lake a mile or so I drive to for the bulk water work. It has clean clear water for summer work. Swimming is the best way to build muscle and stamina during summer heat. It is low impact and works every muscle in the body.:thumbsup: All the while keeping the water retrieve in the breed.

Thanks FC. I agree swimming is great conditioning. I was looking for an easy way to keep my a$$ out the grass...at least until the pollen gets knocked back a little bit. Access I can find it. A lot of its breaking leash laws or tresspassing on public property but I don't give a... Wichita has what they call wichita wild. Which means three things , its mowed, cedars have overtaken it, or theres a bike path down the center of it. The best dog training spot in town wildlife and parks bought. Put there headquarters on and then kicked the dogs out. The next best spot they stuck the animal shelter on.

 

[FCSpringer]

No lakes around any where that are not too over run? The one I use there is hardly ever another person there. Sometimes there is one truck and trailer and a guy out on the lake somewhere. Just a public access. Every once and a while there will be a fisherman on the dock, but only once or twice a year, and I just drive a few more miles to several others that are the same way. The reason I like lakes instead of ponds etc, is there is no deadly blue green algea. Gotta keep that in mind as well. Bad stuf.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

No lakes around any where that are not too over run? The one I use there is hardly ever another person there. Sometimes there is one truck and trailer and a guy out on the lake somewhere. Just a public access. Every once and a while there will be a fisherman on the dock, but only once or twice a year, and I just drive a few more miles to several others that are the same way. The reason I like lakes instead of ponds etc, is there is no deadly blue green algea. Gotta keep that in mind as well. Bad stuf.

Not really. If your looking for cover plus water. Close to an hour. Half an hour on a couple of smaller ones. Theres larger ponds around that work. If we have enough wind bg algae is not that much of a problem. You have to worry as much about getting a dog cut as anything. Its easy to work a dog when they are little, its when they get older that people get annoyed by them.
The town damns the river to keep it pretty, looking like a river. If there is some release I like downstream. The current will lengthen the retrieve going and the difficulty coming back.

My dog won't cast. at least not like that. The hill I was thinking about using is an old soap box derby track, asphalt long gone. Was going to use a ball launcher ( blank dummy launcher would draw too much attention)
This is the flat land, but I do like the crosshill idea better. Throwing dummys from the top of the hill. Shoot I might even get a little exercise!