Simple and Effective Keeps

[CYJ]

Ditto EWO. The more natural you work a dog with all feet on the ground. The better and less chance of injury. Even my round table was set low to the ground around knee high while sitting. Seen dogs run on small round tables built up waist high. Most dogs would work in a tense mode and keep looking over that edge. Never knew when the dog would panic and slam on brakes. Resulting in a pulled shoulder or burned foot pads

I liked hand walking and had a loose long over head type cable run. Liked to run dog back and forth and pull against the play of the Cable and the Two high trees the Cable was attached to. Used a good quality pulling harness. Ground was kept soft with saw dust and soft mulch tilled in. Sort of a flirt pole/sprinting type combo work out. With walking in between sets.

I would like to say again. When most are talking about walking a dog. It means a dog with a strong prey type or Terrier type mentality. Gets out front and moves and hunts. Some jogging may be include. A dog that stays at your feet the whole time will need another type keep. My walking lease was around 30 or 35 feet long with knots every so many feet to help reel the leash in and let out. The knots helped also if the dog took off running for something and rope runs through your hand causing a bad rope burn. I used a pulling harness on the walks. When doing a walk or jogging type road work. Best keep a high powered pellet gun to run off any stray dogs etc. that might show up.

PS when working a dog always keep a break stick with you. Never know what might show up. Keeping your dog up off the ground and isolated helps prevent any kennel accidents and allows dog to properly rest. Good Luck

[EWO]

True CYJ. A dog is just physically built and anatomically designed to walk at a leisurely pace. A dog walking by your knee would have to walk for miles, maybe not even measured in hours but in days. It was way things were intended. Like most things there are tons of different methods to the same end goal. I use a six foot lead with a lightweight pulling harness. I leave the collar on and I made a small double snapped lead to connect the two. (there is no tension on this, just ties the collar to the harness. We were walking two dogs in a field once and one was pulling to get at the other dog, spun around and backed out of the pulling harness. It nearly cost two forfeits. So I use the small double snap as an insurance item). I like the dog to drag me where we are going. I want the lead tight and my arm extended. Same when he is pulling chains. I use the long lead in a field on the warm up and cool down periods.


I too have a long cable between a tree and the bumper of my truck. It is about 300 or so feet but has stops around 275-290 ft. I hook him up and zing by on the four wheeler. They chase me back and forth for sprints. I think they get as much from this as anything. It is an exercise that they are pouring in all their effort with no prompting or equipment, just natural all out effort. I do not think a person can dictate that amount of effort into a dog.


On the equipment side I am a carpet mill fan. I try to use it two-three-four times a week depending on the dog and the weather. I too like mine low to the ground as it is un-natural for the dog to stand on something that is moving under him. They learn to do it and make it look like a breeze but it just was not meant to be. And some actually enjoy it and that is always a plus. But I agree a dog up off the ground is in a tense state and that has to be factored in the work load. A dog that is comfortable running on the ground can do it for so long but a dog that is tensed and 'just doing it' can't go as long. That is where reading a dog is so important. Using another persons written keep is nothing more than a guide. Forcing ten minutes on a dog today because that is what the keep schedule says is where a lot of keeps turn south. The dogs are not machines. No one can turn them on and off like a light switch 100% of the time. Learning to read a dog and in turn resting a dog is about the finest art there is in these dogs. Any dingaling can force hours of work upon a dog but on show night that dingaling will have his ass handed to him more times than not, with good dogs being piled up along the way. EWO