Yes.
My buddy biked his dogs. He was going at a pretty good clip with the dog on the right. The dog seen something on the left side and crossed him up.
He looked like he had been drug behind a car.
It happens.
EWO
Yes.
My buddy biked his dogs. He was going at a pretty good clip with the dog on the right. The dog seen something on the left side and crossed him up.
He looked like he had been drug behind a car.
It happens.
EWO
I always enjoyed the hand walking. I got my miles in too and definitely built a bond with the dogs on the walks. Great opportunity to observe how the dog reacts to various situations. Just got a new mill and looking forward to see the combination of the two. Got a pup and she loves pullin and the lil gyp walks with pure determination the entire time.
The best plans and the best results can always be tied to the 'combinations'.
Fitting the combinations to the dog will always out weigh fitting the dog to the combinations.
EWO
I only condition for conformation shows . Last keep I used on a dog was with an electric bike peaking at 15 miles , dragging light chain and sprints with said chains , some light flirt work , and always wrapped up a session with the spring pole . I have a slate mill and carpet mill now so will be looking to incorporate these tools as well .
Originally Posted by TrailerTrash
Trailer trash nice handle. I’m a happy to see some discussion back on this board. Do y’all like conditioning or is it just something you do?
It's my passion personally . I study and pick brains daily , been into conditioning the canine athlete for 10 years now and involved with our beloved breed for 30 . Bulldog fever I suppose ! Have won best conditioned a couple times and that meant more than a champions cup !!!!
Same here. I was first turned onto the dogs in the late 70's as a kid. My best friends dad was in the dogs heavy back then.
My first 'real job' in life was walking his dogs. Times I have changed because I could never imagine handing the lead to an all out match dog to a 10-11-12 year old and say 'lap that field'. Making 4 or 5 dollars a night was damn near like being a Rockefeller as a 10-11-12 year old in the rural south in '79/'80. LOL
His keep was affectionately named the 'five gallon bucket keep'. He sat on a five gallon bucket with a dog on his slat mill. His son would leave and go around this huge field, when he made the last turn he blinked his flash light. I took the dog off the mill and hooked the chains to him and off I went. His dog was then put on the mill. The dog got a chain pull, a mill session and a hand walk around the field. It took 15 or so minutes to walk a lap. For a three or four year stretch I bet he worked 25 or more dogs from that five gallon bucket. From there I was hooked.
One of my pet peeves is marked distances and work times for the dog. I think that sets a bad precedent when working the dogs. Every dog is different and will progress, and even regress at different rates.
On Day 25 five minutes of anything may be too much for one dog but nearly not enough for another. The dog has to be read on every session.
Similar to a triangle, and you can make the base as wide and as inclusive as you like. On the furthest two points at the base of the triangle can be the day you started work. His weight, the amount of time til show, starting conditioning of the dog, the dogs ability/desire to work. Then these things are honed and worked and progress is made until things start to get shaved off toward the top. At the very tip of the triangle, where the dog is razor sharp, some guy says, "Release your dog".
That triangle base can be broadened to the point the bottom two points are the two dogs selected to be bred, and from their the keep does not last 8 or 9 weeks, but it starts 9 weeks after conception. Pretty much any and every thing goes into the conditioning of a dog.
The earlier his program starts the better. The right food, the right nutrition, the right amount of exercise, teaching him the principles of work, all starts from weaning forward.
The kicker is that any ding-a-ling can stumble upon a good dog and the good dog then compensates for his idiot partner. And with that good dog the idiot is then referred to as a genius and the idiocy perpetuates.
The start point is up to the owner.
EWO
I have been around the breed since college. I got my first pit as soon as i moved out of the house. I was on a bulldog message board and met a lady had a litter that was half game bred half her beloved staff. They looked good and I wanted one. Couldn't get one. Fast forward a few years until I had my own house/apartment. I called the lady back. She was half of a somewhat well known kennel. She was super low profile kept like ten dogs. Made a few select breedings. Had high percentages but was super low key. I kept bulldogs and kept into sports. She gave me a good deal on a great bred dog. I didn't really know What I had until now. Now I have a little more resources. I still have the love for the dogs, a competitive spirit. I like the performance aspect, breeding really the whole thing. If laws aren't what they were. I fee confident I could have a yard of 20 dogs and be competitive like rebel kennels was for a while. Because things are how they are I limit my activity to legal pursuits. Conditioning for confirmation, breeding a few litters, and getting in the woods to hog hunt. Im more on the breeder do enough to check my stock. Im not a lets put a weight out and go every weekend I'm obsessed with making a dog I see in my head. I like the RBJBT dogs. I like the jocko and tombstone side. Give me a BBC bullet with some Hollingworth in him and some brains. I want a family known for a few traits that we throw high percentages of. High on my list is work ethic and temperament. In that post about Holly Holm beating Rhonda Rowsey, that's my kind of fighter. It takes brains to counterpunch. Strength of will to keep your head and not get rattled in the storm. It takes cardio to drill the muscle memory to counter punch. Im sure there are phenom dogs that don't need work. I don't really want them. I think gameness and work ethic and some other stuff should transfer genetically more readily. I love conditioning and working a dog. If I didn't live in a subdivision I would be more aggressive about working a dog. Its fun to me. I don't know if it like my own football team or what. Its like a little world you have to be responsible for, and manage. Like my soldiers. Maybe i need to move to ecuador. I hope more people get back to discussions. The two I kept out of my litter are coming more of age and I'm trying to plan my step two breeding, plus get them used to working. I love these damn dogs. Like today I walked my crazy ass little girl like four miles. Every time she gets a mile from this guys hunting dogs she starts jumping a foot in the air in excitement. She thinks she 200lbs when she's about 20. My gut says she's my new foundation female. She works hard, she's athletic, a damn fire starter. Like otter said, "the squared circle don't lie. Doesn't lie here like it doesn't lie in Russia. Everybody has opinions. Like everybody has an asshole. put em in the squared circle and the truth rises to the top." My opinion is that I have the base for a yard because someone let me get a pair of good dogs. I know what I want. I know how i should be able to build it. There's only one way to find out.
Lot of quality remarks here.
It's already been stated that running roadwork is same or better/worse - depending on who's talking.
It's just not true. The points made about resistance in the roadwork b/c the ground does not run under the foot like a mill have already been established and understood. However, I have personally seen guys who do nothing but roadwork, nothing else and their dogs typically cannot breathe like a dog conditioned on a mill.
I put a lot of study to this and my own philosophy is that a mill will condition "air" or "wind" in a dog superior to roadwork due to fact you can "run their lungs" longer b/c of the less resistance compared to roadwork. You see, roadwork will fatigue the muscles before the lungs due to the pulling the ground. Conversely, the mill will allow less fatigue on the muscles, but the breathing and development of BREATHING continues on.
I think there's a use for both methods and I know both forms of work are sport specific.
I definitely agree! Great post!
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