Recovery

[EWO]

How do you handle recovery between sets? Not between work days. Example: Runs a mill for XX amount of minutes and the set is over, I do (fill in the blank) and then back to the mill or to the next piece of equipment.

Best practices?

Determined by the piece of equipment being used?

Sparking some conversation/discussion I hope!!

EWO

[loot]

I use that time to let them rest, pat them and talk to to build a better bond.

[bulldoghistorian]

i reduce time between sets , expect them to recover faster
I seldom rub a dog , between sets I walk em till they recover

[Tastyrib]

Weather permitting, I jump on the bike. I like for them recover doing more than just walking.

[EWO]

Same here. I come off the mill or the table and let them pull some weight til they recover. Sounds odd I know. I'm seeing lots of benefits.

Granted the first couple of weeks it may be more than he can handle so it becomes a simple walk out. By week two, week three he can pull about 25% of his bodyweight to recovery.

What happens is the recovery time becomes the primary factor in each days work. The first run of the day will be longer and by recovering under load the second run will be much shorter. And third shorter as well. The fourth and fifth if the dog can handle it.

The key, like anything, is allowing the dog, his level of conditioning and his willingness to dictate the amount of work for that particular day.

The over all sessions will be shorter in the beginning and in time they will lengthen with his advanced conditioning. His initial run time will increase. The chain pull between runs will decrease and the remaining runs will lengthen in both how may runs and the duration of each run.

The dog then determines everything. Even the days off. If he does not meet you willingly and ripping to go, then take the day off.

EWO

[CYJ]

I agree whole heartily with this method. More like the way a cage fighter/Wrestler trains versus a boxer routine. Karate etc. fighters found out that their type training was not working very well for cage fighting events. In a all out fight to the finish,a do or die type fight event. Needed training to learn how to recover while in a more anaerobic type state. Since no quarters are given till a certain time bell rings for the next round. Little rest is allowed even then. Similar scenario our dogs go through during a hard pulling event. Lot of hard pushing and shoving.

The only thing IMHO I would suggest. I know most dog men know how to prekeep a dog, before any serious work. Would work up to 30 minute aerobic type work/long walk afterwards, twice a day. A swinging jenny or round table for aerobic training works great for this.

Only feed main feed once a day in PM after work. With added fluids as needed twelve hours before PM. work out.. Have dog wormed, cleaned out and use to it's new feed. Allow foot pads to toughen/ muscles to tone up and dog on best weight with little or no gut fat in dog. Depending on the season and how fat/ lazy or active dog is on the chain. Pre keep could be 4 weeks to 8 weeks. All depends on type dog being worked with. If owner kept dogs in good lean chain shape. Extreme Cold weather areas will dictate how heavy a dog is kept on chain etc. Where one lives/life style/ type of over all weather will always dictate the best type equipment one can use the most. Cheers

[FrostyPaws]

I don't do sets. I have the dogs do sprint intervals on the mill. Sprint for X amount of time, slow down to their normal pace the other time, rinse and repeat.

When using a jenny, I simply let the dog run at it's own clip more than anything else. It has ample incentive to run the jenny at whatever pace it decides, whether faster or slower given it's current shape of conditioning.

[EWO]

Posted this before but it worth the repeat. It is really important to get a dog on performance feed 6-8-10 weeks prior to the start of work in order for him to acclimate to the change.

I have seen a lot of dogs who are fed what would be referred to as crap feed and then a date is set. The dog starts working but the feed is far more than he is use to assimilating. He will crap most of it out. Monster stools to get empty.

It takes a dog 6-8 weeks to acclimate to the change in food. Lots of times the dog will peak around week 7 into week 8. Most get excited when he really takes to the keep and comes around at the end. In reality the assimilation of the high quality food has finally matched up to the amount of work being done.

If I knew I was calling a dog's weight I would switch him to the high grade feed today, start some light walking, pulling down close to the match weight and around the fourth fifth week of that I would put it out. Around 10-11 weeks out we start getting on schedule. Be it AM or PM work we start dialing in on a routine. The weight is picked up and the work is ramped with everything else in line. The dog is close to weight, he is a little toned, no gut fat and pretty much learns to dump on command.

This is either 6 or 8 weeks of work. Not a couple three weeks to dial in and establish a routine and then a couple-three weeks of work. A 6 week keep or an 8 week keep should be just that 6 or 8 weeks.

The routine will create a dog who is just about empty. Which is huge. A dog will blow hot when full, or holding multiple dumps. An example would be if the dog is fully prepared, ready and willing to do XXX minutes of work. With that extra dump he will stop at XX minutes and look like he had a good day. Several of those 'good days' strung together will get feelings hurt on a Saturday night.

The second most important thing in recovery is water content. A lot of dogs are not properly hydrated from Day 1, and water content is only a major concern the last week to dial weight. Too dry during work is just as bad and just as harmful as too dry on show night. I have seen a number of dogs who looked really good thru the keep, pulled dry and bombed when it counted most. Also seen dogs kept way dry during the work and at the end of the keep they are flat and a shell of what they were/should be.

The third and possibly the most important part of recovery is rest, not so much between sets but day to day. A solid rest period is crucial to the next day's work. If a dog is over worked, or even just worked, and not allowed a proper rest period the recovery between sets will suffer. When the dog does not recover from set to set or even day to day it will be a long ride home on Saturday.

EWO

[CYJ]

Hear, Hear, EWO, You are right on the mark. Unless one has the privilege to help a known dog person with a dog keep start to finish.

A serious new comer can try to learn from these bits and bites of info on this site etc.. Then best to prekeep some dogs for awhile to determine show weight and check out their pulling abilities. Problems will crop up and then one can learn how to fix the problems. Will also let one know if they have the fortitude and discipline to engage in such a challenging task. It is a lot of time and hard work. Nothing easy about it at all especially if one has a full time day job to work also.

P.S. Best thing to do first, is learn how to set up a proper dog kennel and dog care. I still highly recommend CA. Jack's Books over any of the older books I had read about the care of this breed of dogs. Has a lot of good info for a new dog person starting out. Cheers

[CYJ]

EWO, you mentioned about some dog men keeping a dog dry during it's work keep. On a visit up to Atlas Brewer's place. V.J. and self were looking at the nice looking dogs He had on his yard. At that time Atlas had a lot of the Lonzo dogs and I remember seeing a extra nice looking dog he had called Black Friday. At that time he still had Vindicator and Rosie.

He pointed out a dog that was in a keep and nearing the end of it's keep. We saw a large glass jar sitting near the dog on a piece of plywood. Saw no water bucket etc. We asked him why, answer was the dog was given only so many ounces during the day to control weight. Later V.J. told me he thought that was a bad idea and proved it over time. Not losing any matches to Atlas that I could remember using his dogs.

When Atlas matched Snooty into Mr Watkin's and Boe Harris' OX dog. V.J. was paid to do the work on OX. Atlas drove all the way to lower S.C. and when I looked at a older Snooty. The dog looked very dry and lethargic. Atlas kept Snooty in a dry heated motel room all day and part the night. Letting anyone that wanted to see Snooty come in and handle the dog. Snooty was not in a secure area and a secure dog box outside breathing fresh cool air and sleeping. Dog got very little rest.

Atlas made too many mistakes, Snooty being a old dog that had already been to the well a lot of times. Paid the price. Could not hold up to any length of time to overcome a lesser ability dog. OX was much younger, well conditioned/rested and not dryed out. Mr. Carl Mims was a wise dog man and realized all of this. Good that Atlas allowed him to take Snooty and not destroy the dog. Cheers