[Maren Bell Jones]

Our club's trial is next weekend and we're having an AD on Friday. Since I've been slacking in dog training lately due to being very very busy in my research lab and finishing my vet school application, I am not going to try for the BH this time around. However, I want to support our club and do the AD. I ran Zoso for 12 miles on the bike this afternoon and he fared better than I, I think. My wrists hurt, my hands were stiff from the cold (it was about 40 degrees F) since I didn't think to wear gloves, and my back is a bit sore. He actually sped up to almost a canter on the last mile or so. :roll: :lol: Anyways, assuming my Schutzhund USA scorebook arrives by next week, I'll give it a shot. I've seen a few sites on it, but not a ton with good tips.

-Any good homemade pad toughening tips just in case?

-During the breaks, should I keep him walking to keep his muscles warm or should I let him sit/lie down for a bit?

-He wasn't that interested in drinking much water during the breaks. Is water allowed, I assume?

-This week, how many times and for how long should I run him?

-The trial is at 2:30 PM. Should he still get a small meal in the morning?

 

[Lynn Cheffins]

pad toughening - not much you can do either they have tough pads or they don't. Keeping them on natural surface gravel,sand, earth etc is the best way to maintain healthy pads I think. Try not to run on pavement(hard on wrists, etc) and have some good lightweight booties that he has been accustomed to beforehand. Dogbooties.com has good ones - use the 330 denier uncoated cordura ones. Don't put them on him on a slick surface(might slip and scare him) and practice a bit beforehand - helps if the dog is a little excited to accustom them to ignore the booties - sure doesn't help getting them on sometimes though....The first time you put them on they walk like a cat with tape stuck on thier feet but they do get used to them pretty fast. Practice checking feet and make the dog stand and behave for it or teach him to lie down on his side to get his feet checked.

you could walk him around a bit on the breaks if you feel like it but you probably don't need to. If he wants to sit or lie, let him.

I would offer water on the breaks, but not stress out if he doesn't take any. Remember they are not horses, so it is ok to water a hot dog - the worst that will happen is they will barf it up.

I am assuming you have lots of conditioning miles on the dog if you are attempting this? I would run him during the week but probably only half to three quarters the distance you are going to be completing for the test.
I would probably lay him off for two days before the event. I would loosen him up with a little exericse of some type before you do the test.

I wouldn't feed him a meal in the AM but would give some heavily baited water instead. He can take water up until the event but don't jug him up right before you run - he'll just slosh :lol:.

this is just my two cents and others will probably have other suggestions.

 

[Bob Scott]

Don't know if the info can get much better then comming from someone who has dogs that are bred to run. :wink:

 

[Connie Sutherland]

What is baited water?

 

[Lynn Cheffins]

just to clarify - I reread my post and it came off sounding like I meant for you to run in booties - not necessary unless you have a problem and you should check the rules beforehand to see if this is allowed or not. It is a good idea to have some booties on hand and acustom the dog just in case you need them. Also if your dog has dewclaws keep an eye on the fit of your booties to make sure the velcro does not press the dewclaw into the dogs leg with the velcro tightened. Your booties are the the right tension if you can rotate them with your hand but shouldn't be able to "spin " them.
http://dogbooties.com/330dencorboo.html
these are the ones you want and they won't break the bank
Good luck and I hope you and Zoso do well!

 

[Maren Bell Jones]

Thanks Lynn, I was hoping you'd respond. Yes, he is well-conditioned purely because if we don't go on off-leash walks on the trails (sometimes with me walking, sometimes with me biking with him running) for a good 45 minutes at least about 4 days a week, he's pretty much completely intolerable. :wink: On the "off" days, there are tennis courts across the street from my house which they get to run around in for 30-45 minutes. I love the cold weather for this as there are pretty much no there, especially after dark.

The trail that we biked on today should be the same limestone light gravel surface as the one for the test, though it's got plenty of leaves on it at the moment. He didn't take a drink at all during the first break, a quick 3-4 lap drink for the second, and we just went home afterwards (with a quick stop by the bike shop to go get me some gloves with padding for the wrists!) and he finished like half a bowl of water. I was wondering about having him keep on his feet and walking during the breaks because on the second break, I just let him lie down and then when we had to get moving again, it took him about a mile to get back up to the right pace. Maybe a little stiff from the cold?

 

[Lynn Cheffins]

Sorry Connie - baited water = water with some kind of flavouring or meat added to get the dog to drink more or drink when you want him to drink.

Maren, I think him having a little difficulty getting into it after a break might be a sign that he is not quite used to training up to that mileage- 12 miles is a fair haul if he is not used to doing that in one go and is sometimes more of a mental thing too until the dogs learn that there will be breaks and that a break in the activity isn't a sign that the activity is stopping, so you might just have to practice that. How long are the breaks? are they manadatory? Early season training for my guys we start at around 4 miles and only add on the mileage after several runs at that distance. It helps if you keep a training log and log in mileage, conditions, terrain etc as it really helps to see how things are going. Upping your mileage too soon is a sure way to slow down your dogs - if they think you are taking them a little too far they will back off a bit on the effort. If you are training on mostly flat terrain, a little hill training is very good, just keep your speed down on the down hills for his front ends sake.

 

[Bob Scott]

Maren, under the links forum there is an article about training for the AD. It has a few answers about distance, etc.

 

[Connie Sutherland]

Sorry Connie - baited water = water with some kind of flavouring or meat added to get the dog to drink more or drink when you want him to drink......

Excellent! Now I have a word for what owners of a dog with kidney failure need to prepare for the water bowl!


Back to the AD.

 

[ann schnerre]

lyn, i'm trying to remember what it was that Dad put on our dog's pads in the winter to prevent splitting (we were in northern WI)--and i just can't quite pull it out of my feeble, aging brain

it was a clear liquid---oh WHAT WAS IT????? began with a "p" maybe?? i'll remember as soon as i post this, but at any rate, if you know what i'm trying to talk about: does this help toughen up pads? it sure helped in preventing pad-splits from snow/ice on our dogs....

 

[Lynn Cheffins]

Pad-Kote? That is good stuff - I have used it but more as an after the fact treatment than a preventative. Some of the older foot toughening preps are now thought to actually dry out the natural oils of the dogs foot.
On bare ground about the only thing that prevents is booties - and a good diet with natural fats and oils(and genetics). Fissures(cracks between the toes in the webbing) are a possibility as are snowballing. Different snow conditions and temperatures giving the possibility of sifferent problems. Bag Balm, Mushers Secret, calamine(dries up fissures)and zinc oxide or oinment based on zinc oxide with added stuff are pretty common. Sled Dog Central has a gazillion threads on foot stuff.
warning about the Pad-Kote - VERY MESSY! do this outdoors and let it dry or you will have blue foot prints thru your house....also stains clothes and everything else it touches and it you have white dogs .... shows up for ages!

 

[ann schnerre]

i remembered this morning on the way to work--glycerin. if i remember right, he might've used it to help heal up cracks vs. preventing them, but i'm not sure....

 

[Maren Bell Jones]

Lynn, I think the 15 minute breaks are mandatory because the judge is supposed to check the dog's feet for signs of excessive pad wear, cuts, fatigue, etc. They are also supposed to be able to do some basic obedience as well, though I've heard some judges don't require this. I think since it will be fairly chilly still by Friday, I'll keep him walking around a bit during the breaks (they come after every 4 miles) to keep his muscles (and mine!) warm. I know from my days playing soccer in gawd awful weather when I was younger that if I sat down even for a minute or two when it was cold, I had trouble getting right back in. Easier just to stand and try to walk around. The trail that we are using and are presumably using for the test has very gentle inclines, so nothing too dramatic.

Should I up his food this week a bit as well? He normally gets 3.5 cups of Chicken Soup plus supplements and maybe some raw egg and olive oil. I bought some Innova Evo canned food to put in his Kong frozen that he could work on, which would add extra calories.

 

[Lynn Cheffins]

I wouldn't up his calories all that much - he is probably better staying on your regular diet as you normally feed it -before an event is not a good time to change too much. From the pictures you posted he looks fairly well upholstered so probably doesn't need alot of additonal calories unless he is in really hard training. I would work at keeping really well hydrated - that will have more of an effect on your performance than a diet change at this stage in the game. Hope all goes well doe you!

Ann - glycerin attracts and holds water in the skin but lets the skin breathe(as it is a component of the natural lipid stucture of the skin) and also has mild antiseptic properties, so it sounds like it would be a good pad conditioner. I am glad you mentioned it - I am going to do more reading up on it!

 

[ann schnerre]

well, looky there!! i may have actually CONTRIBUTED something vs just picking brains!!

yea \/

(yes--i checked out the "view more emoticons" :wink: ). i CAN learn!

 

[Bob Scott]

:wink:

 

[Maren Bell Jones]

Well upholstered?! Whaaaaa!! Lynn's calling my furbaby fat!! I'll have you know he's a nice lean 62 lbs with a nice tuck up and folks have called him a German shepherd/greyhound mix, so there. :lol: I was actually worried a couple months ago when he got out of the house and picked up by animal control that they would give me a little talking to about feeding my dog properly as he is on the thin side. :lol:

 

[Maren Bell Jones]

Yay, we passed!

 

[Konnie Hein]

Way to go, Maren and Zoso!

 

[ann schnerre]

good job you two!! congratulations =D>