Handwalk/Roadwork vs treadmill

[skip11]

I always believed handwalk or any kind of roadwork (biking, free running beside a car, jogging/running, etc.) is superior than any kind of treadmill work unless you wanna do a full out sprint & don't have the space for the dog to run or if you live in the city and have only have a small area to walk your dog.

Sometimes it boggles my mind why some people walk the dog for 30-60 minutes or even more then come home and put them on a slatmill. It's the same exact thing. Why not just continue walking them for longer distance/time and skip the treadmill work (again unless you wanna do a sprint workout).

[EWO]

Depends on the dog. If the dog is pulling you down the road with your alarm locked at the elbow and the lead banjo string tight then hand walking is as effective an any thing out there. On the other hand if the dog is walking along beside you with slack in the lead (and he is fit and in somewhat good shape) you will have to walk him hours on end to see the positive effects of hand walking. For no more reason than they were built for that type of travel. The average dog man can't/won't put that much time in walking a dog. (A large percentage can't walk)

Anytime a dog will run all out with his feet on the ground it beats equipment. Regardless of how impressive a dog looks running a mill it is simply unnatural for him to do so. A dog who will continually chase a ball all out is hard to handle.

Hand walking and tread milling are pretty much just two tools in the shed. The more tools a dog will use the better all around he will be long term.

At the end it is not the same thing. A dog on the ground is propelling all of his body weight with each step. He presses his foot to the ground and the ground does not move. The dog moves. When he presses his foot against the slats, the slats move and at top speed he is pretty much spinning the mill/keeping up with the mill.

The combinations usually end up with better results.

If you have the dog that will drag you down the path that is great. If he will kill the mill for really hard runs and then walked for a distance then back and forth to the mill. The combination of the two will out perform either of them as individual tools.

Great topic. it was 40 degrees this morning and the dogs were bouncing off the walls. They know.

EWO

[skip11]

I agree if the dog walks beside you slowly in a heeling position handwalk probably won't do much. I'm used to mine always wanting to run as soon as I open the front door so I have to keep up jogging/running with him, till he slows down a bit and started pulling while walking.

[skip11]

Warming up and cooling down by handwalking with him is impossible. Unless it's a long walk and he slows down by himself towards the end.

[EWO]

No doubts.

Every dog is at least a little bit different. The best conditioners always take advantage of what the dog does best. If your dog hits the ground running and you have to keep up with him then you should do just that, go with it.

If that same dog will burn the mill up, then take advantage of that. If a dog half heartedly runs the mill with little to no effort, then unless he change his mind, the mill may be a waste of time.

As a young boy there was a really long dirt road near where I grew up. The "Hog Parlor Road" keep was born. There was a six foot lead and a '78 Chevrolet Station Wagon. A blue one with the vinyl paneling on the side. We road with the hatch down and held onto the dog. Some dogs broke out to a run and tried to pass the car. Others had to be 'convinced' it was a lot easier to just run along with the car. The dogs that chose to stop/not run were convinced as the car made the lead really tight. The dogs logged a lot of miles on that road. The better ones were the ones who enjoyed the run along side the car. Or, he was not in the wake of the carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipes. Could have been either way, LOL.

It is always better if the dog will go all out because he simply wants to do so.

EWO

[Frank43]

No doubts.

Every dog is at least a little bit different. The best conditioners always take advantage of what the dog does best. If your dog hits the ground running and you have to keep up with him then you should do just that, go with it.

If that same dog will burn the mill up, then take advantage of that. If a dog half heartedly runs the mill with little to no effort, then unless he change his mind, the mill may be a waste of time.

As a young boy there was a really long dirt road near where I grew up. The "Hog Parlor Road" keep was born. There was a six foot lead and a '78 Chevrolet Station Wagon. A blue one with the vinyl paneling on the side. We road with the hatch down and held onto the dog. Some dogs broke out to a run and tried to pass the car. Others had to be 'convinced' it was a lot easier to just run along with the car. The dogs that chose to stop/not run were convinced as the car made the lead really tight. The dogs logged a lot of miles on that road. The better ones were the ones who enjoyed the run along side the car. Or, he was not in the wake of the carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipes. Could have been either way, LOL.

It is always better if the dog will go all out because he simply wants to do so.

EWO

I’m like that with my bike. It’s probably going to make it into the genetics f the dogs I keep. I got a biking attachment. We work on the bike. The first brood female wouldn’t run the bike. I got a litter out of her. She’s gong to be going somewhere else soon. . Found the pups that like to work and like to work how I like to work. The rest were sold. I’ll prob do the same thing every litter and pup I raise. When they were young if they followed instinctively when I opened the door and would walk they could stay if not placed with friends. The two pups I kept almost died following me when they were young. They will be here forever. The rest are with friends. Maybe I get rid of good dogs. In time if I keep that early selection method we will have good lungs and cardiovascular systems. If I have to add breedings to outside phenoms hopefully that will add to my base. I digress.

I really like the bike. My big male loves to work on it. I can put in three to four miles in 15 minutes. During a 3 mile ride he’s pulling me at least a mile. I’m a big guy. I can control his speed with my voice. I think the bike is like a mix of carpet mill and free mill. I Ike the fact I can say “come on let’s get it. Work boy”. And “easy breathe boy. Easy now”. He slows down. I think old fashioned work is better overall. In mma you can use weight equipment that isolates movements. In a fight your arm is rarely in the perfect range of motion. Nothing beats lifting a heavy ass wrestling dummy and wrestling a real person beats all of it. For me I think the bike is superior to a mill. You train fast twitch with all out sprints, slow twitch with pulling and sprints uphill. You can train recovery while moving. The biggest thing your there with your dog. I think that bond is important. Somebody said

Fatigue makes cowards of us all.

Vince Lombardi

I think he’s right.

[EWO]

No doubts.

Every dog is at least a little bit different. The best conditioners always take advantage of what the dog does best. If your dog hits the ground running and you have to keep up with him then you should do just that, go with it.

If that same dog will burn the mill up, then take advantage of that. If a dog half heartedly runs the mill with little to no effort, then unless he change his mind, the mill may be a waste of time.

As a young boy there was a really long dirt road near where I grew up. The "Hog Parlor Road" keep was born. There was a six foot lead and a '78 Chevrolet Station Wagon. A blue one with the vinyl paneling on the side. We road with the hatch down and held onto the dog. Some dogs broke out to a run and tried to pass the car. Others had to be 'convinced' it was a lot easier to just run along with the car. The dogs that chose to stop/not run were convinced as the car made the lead really tight. The dogs logged a lot of miles on that road. The better ones were the ones who enjoyed the run along side the car. Or, he was not in the wake of the carbon monoxide from the exhaust pipes. Could have been either way, LOL.

It is always better if the dog will go all out because he simply wants to do so.

EWO

[skip11]

"It is always better if the dog will go all out because he simply wants to do so." Yeppp.

I guess my pet peeve is if you have a dog that will pull/run while handwalking and the owner still put the dog on the mill (at trotting pace, not sprint/sprint intervals) after the roadwork. It's like asking a runner to hop on a treadmill after doing his long distance run, just doesn't make sense.

[EWO]

Well said. And very accurate.

Any time a dog will run with effort on the ground it is better than the mill. There is something to carrying your own body weight and propelling that weight forward against gravity.

The same goes with people who run. I think it is pretty much accepted that running on a treadmill is not the same as running out doors. The terrain plays a factor, the changing grade, however slight, it plays a factor.

Your biking is exceptional. Especially if the dog will respond well to changing speeds and changing terrains. It really can't get much better than that.

The only thing that may be better is the dog exploding into a sprint paying fetch. A dog can some what sprint/run fast on the bike but you can't go from zero to max on the bike the same.

If some explosive type sprint work is couple with the bike work you describer, that is a really hard combination to beat.

EWO

[Frank43]

I like it. It prob doesn't stick out around here like treadmills. Especially since peta says treadmill = dogfighter. you just have to be careful though. if they see a squirrel you can have to get a foot down fast. I have to admit before i got the attachment that hooks to the seat I used to hold the leash. Frank saw a vulture and hit the end of the leash so hard I went over the top of the handle bars. I was never dropped the leash and sat it the road laughing thinking, "damn that hollingsworth bull shit adds some strength. my boys growing up."