Trial Fitness

[Springfield Pointers]

I like to throw this in there about conditioning. Is it better to develop fitness away from actual hunting and retrieving. It was mentioned that pacing could be one side effect. Then too, boring the dog or even punishing the dog indirectly could in the end, I would imagine, slow down a very fit dog. Perhaps swimming behind a boat or biking with a dog would do the trick of promoting fitness and make hunting and retrieving even more delightful.

Dogs don't "pace themselves". They either hunt or they don't. If you you want to get a dog fit for hunting. Hunt it.

[iSpaniel]

Funny you should say that, my OH cocker is a beating dog, goes like stink and smashes cover and would do well in trials. She just hunts flat out until she is so worn out she cannot move.

After more than one day of doing this she still goes flat out and she proves that her drive is not hindered by her "trying to pace herself"

I've often wondered myself if the whole "the dog will learn to pace itself" saying is nonsense or not, but I've always played save and adhered to it.

[newf]

Well, I guess, good breeding eliminates the pacing switch. In contrast, wolves pace themselves because natural selection supported it.

[Miesque]

Swimming two of them today for fitness

[Springfield Pointers]

Well, I guess, good breeding eliminates the pacing switch. In contrast, wolves pace themselves because natural selection supported it.

I'm not sure I understand your post?

[vixen.]

As a general rule, if your dog isn't fit enough, it probably isn't polished enough to be competitive at a trial.

When the dogs have been laid up a bit prior to the season I trot them on the bike, 3 miles or around 15-20mins - normally twice a week. I also do a lot of long retrieves into water and up grass hills. Then as it's been mentioned you need to be shooting over them as much as possible on varied terrain. It's difficult if you haven't got the ground but that's normally the difference! A decent meal helps too, tripe/chicken/beef and biscuit etc.

[newf]

SP, just stating the obvious. We breed working dogs not to quit but to keep going which works for us as hunters and trailers. It is therefore onerous that we judge how much work we ask them to do and keep them safe.

[Gundogguy]

... but was your dog flagging after 25 minutes?

Naj

Nope

I hoped not, especially in December.

There's nothing to beat the real thing, shooting over a dog, for improving fitness & motivation. That's why the top handlers spend so much time shooting rabbits over their dogs. This 'pacing itself' argument is overplayed, I think. A young, keen dog doesn't settle into its hunting until it's been going 30 - 40 minutes to an hour. Granted, short interval training (hunting) might promote an explosive start but even a dog that is normally hunted for a couple of hours without a break doesn't start to pace itself in it's hunting, & then only marginally, until it is, 4, 5 or 6 years old, arguably long past an age when they would still be competitive in trials.

Naj

That has certainly been my experience training and trialing, over the years. We here in the states, we substitute pigeons and pheasants for rabbits but every thing else Naj explains I have experienced as well.

[EssGrouse]

Ive seen a few treadmills in the big kennels to get some dogs up to full fitness when not shooting over them....seems to be the norm.

For me its just hill retrieves and swimming.

Some lines are renowned to have rubbish stamina, FTCH Jeroran Boss was said to have and throw dogs with poor stamina.

[Cass]

Dogs don't "pace themselves". They either hunt or they don't. If you you want to get a dog fit for hunting. Hunt it.

I like this post. I see all the time about not hunting dogs for this long or that long so they don't learn to "pace themselves". It's not uncommon once we get into the grouse and woodcock season for me to hunt my cocker for 3 hours. He certainly does not pace himself. He gets tired near the end of course and slows down but so do I LOL. He's still hunting. A dog that gets out of the truck and says to itself "alright, I better take it easy here because I'm not sure how long we'll be out" might be a bit of a fabrication.