[Czrzftmz]

i gotcha

seriously if you get the journal going you will find it is really easy to keep to that goal. at any time i can tell you where Peanut is at. i started him april last year wish i would have started much sooner though. i like that i can look back and see what works what doesn't where he lost weight and what i had to do to add weight to him. what exercises he loves to do more then others and where he has made improvements in obedience and when he has lengthed the time he works out. like now that he is using the mill i am starting him out with short times on it of just about 2 minutes but he is starting to run for 4 minutes and it has only been 2 days and 4 days since he has even had it.

[E4qC1qQ5]

How old is Bear?

[CialisBestPrice]

i gotcha

seriously if you get the journal going you will find it is really easy to keep to that goal. at any time i can tell you where Peanut is at. i started him april last year wish i would have started much sooner though. i like that i can look back and see what works what doesn't where he lost weight and what i had to do to add weight to him. what exercises he loves to do more then others and where he has made improvements in obedience and when he has lengthed the time he works out. like now that he is using the mill i am starting him out with short times on it of just about 2 minutes but he is starting to run for 4 minutes and it has only been 2 days and 4 days since he has even had it.

I think thats a great way to go about it, you can look back and see what doesnt work so well and what he thrives at. I wish I had the money for a mill Contacted a Realtor through the family so hopefully I can sell this place and get a house with a yard and I can make someone build me one! Cuz you got ridiculously lucky with yours!

How old is Bear?

He is a year as of last month.

[E4qC1qQ5]

He is too young to work.......You can cause damage under 15 months

[CialisBestPrice]

To young to work? Like walking and running? I am not putting weight on him yet at all, nothing to crazy but some walking to build up into a jogging pace and if I can get a proper flirt pole working doing some of that inside, fetch, tug, just regular stuff..

[E4qC1qQ5]

You said "keep" and you said you were looking for Fat Bills Video. That left me to assume that you were actually putting him in a keep I will tell you it is easier to work a thick dog down to a show weight then to work an already slim dog into shape. Anakin was very slender at 15 months and when I started working him he went way too thin really fast. He is now living it up eating all kinds of things to fatten him up before i start working him.

Hand walking and playing is something we all do from puppies or should all be doing, so I am not sure I understand how doing what you have been doing is going to make any change.

I guess my question is ...what are you trying to achieve with this "keep" Because Bear is by no means fat

[Qnnoshxj]

You said "keep" and you said you were looking for Fat Bills Video. That left me to assume that you were actually putting him in a keep I will tell you it is easier to work a thick dog down to a show weight then to work an already slim dog into shape. Anakin was very slender at 15 months and when I started working him he went way too thin really fast. He is now living it up eating all kinds of things to fatten him up before i start working him.

Hand walking and playing is something we all do from puppies or should all be doing, so I am not sure I understand how doing what you have been doing is going to make any change.

I guess my question is ...what are you trying to achieve with this "keep" Because Bear is by no means fat

Yeah I have to agree with this. Bear's still a pup, I wouldn't be doing much of any "work" right now.. and I thought the same thing as CK when I opened this thread based on the title and what videos you were watching, etc.

But if it's just increasing his walking and doing some jogging with him, I don't see that as an issue.

[E4qC1qQ5]

But if it's just increasing his walking and doing some jogging with him, I don't see that as an issue. Agreed

A true "keep" consist of a time frame, work in a lot of different forms, change in feed, rub downs and a whole slew of other things.

Please take it from someone who put their slim dog through a "keep" and failed ...Do not attempt without doing a ton of research and wait til they are over 15 months. For American Bullies I would wait until they were at least 2, they tend to mature slower then APBT's and they continue to grow up until about 18 months to 2 years.

[Czrzftmz]

i was under the impression that it was something she was going to start researching like looking for ideas from people and posting her plans to get corrections and imput before starting and then in the mean time getting Bear in a "pre keep shape" by walking and jogging him. that was my speculation but i could totally be off.

[Repwailia]

i was under the impression that it was something she was going to start researching like looking for ideas from people and posting her plans to get corrections and imput before starting and then in the mean time getting Bear in a "pre keep shape" by walking and jogging him. that was my speculation but i could totally be off.

x2.

[CialisBestPrice]

You said "keep" and you said you were looking for Fat Bills Video. That left me to assume that you were actually putting him in a keep I will tell you it is easier to work a thick dog down to a show weight then to work an already slim dog into shape. Anakin was very slender at 15 months and when I started working him he went way too thin really fast. He is now living it up eating all kinds of things to fatten him up before i start working him.

Hand walking and playing is something we all do from puppies or should all be doing, so I am not sure I understand how doing what you have been doing is going to make any change.

I guess my question is ...what are you trying to achieve with this "keep" Because Bear is by no means fat

Well I was going to do that but I cant get a video as of right now. I think I am going to do the walking/jogging thing increasing minutes/miles for right now.
I wish I could but I dont have all of what I need right now to do it properly.

I normally only do 8 laps around my complex max, but I am going to get him and his feet ready doing the walking, once they are a little tougher I will be doing a 1 mile walk, and like 15-30 minutes jogging, then another 1 mile walk. Seeing as the place I will be walking to is 1/2 mile away.

I am going to steadily every day up the minutes I jog with him and the miles I walk, it should make a bigger difference in him than what I was doing with him. Just a lot more of a heavier workout.

I want his body to be fit enough to when I start doing the weight or keep I wont have to work him up super slow on his weight amount and its nice to have a fit healthy dog, I know he isnt fat or unhealthy but he is very "flat" and nothing really pops on him, I want him to be in a peak physical condition because that will encourage and help me get the same way, I am by no means fat but skinny doesnt mean healthy ya know lol this is for both of us really.

Yeah I have to agree with this. Bear's still a pup, I wouldn't be doing much of any "work" right now.. and I thought the same thing as CK when I opened this thread based on the title and what videos you were watching, etc.

But if it's just increasing his walking and doing some jogging with him, I don't see that as an issue.

Yea I worded the title wrong lol but I cant get the videos so I dont even know if I would have done it that way in the end. I just want to get him to look and feel his best, it will be good for him and will give me something to do with him.

With the walking/jogging I am hoping to get up to about 10miles walking and around an hour or more of straight jogging. Build his (and mine) stamina and stuff up and get him in a nice shape.

Agreed

A true "keep" consist of a time frame, work in a lot of different forms, change in feed, rub downs and a whole slew of other things.

Please take it from someone who put their slim dog through a "keep" and failed ...Do not attempt without doing a ton of research and wait til they are over 15 months. For American Bullies I would wait until they were at least 2, they tend to mature slower then APBT's and they continue to grow up until about 18 months to 2 years.

I know that, and I was going to watch the videos and learn and see if that would work for him. From what I was reading AFTER I posted the thread I dont think it would work for him as of now, seeing as I dont have the proper equipment.
I will be going by a 6 week time frame to see if I can accomplish my miles/minutes goal though.

Its not a technical keep what I am doing so the title is wrong but that what I was reading on when I started. I have been reading a lot more about working dogs, and taking bits and pieces from other peoples "keep" plans and logging it on my computer for when he is older and I have more money for a mill and stuff.

i was under the impression that it was something she was going to start researching like looking for ideas from people and posting her plans to get corrections and imput before starting and then in the mean time getting Bear in a "pre keep shape" by walking and jogging him. that was my speculation but i could totally be off.

Thats pretty much it. I am not going to put him through one as of now, I dont feel like I know enough on it and I have a "Pre Keep" thing I made for him, just to keep him in a peak condition so when or if I feel like I can do the real deal he isnt going to have to get back up to that level to start he will already be there.

[BenWired306]

I'm still reading through all the comments but it looks like we're both on the same stage and will be starting our test "keep" [modified keeps, not a legit keep quite yet] around the same time. With Bear and Leon seemingly being around the same build and energy level I'd look to keep in touch and see what all you're doing vs. what we're doing... if you want.

I plan on keeping a FULL log of everything I do with Leon and even my little Maci through the whole day. Yorkies used to be working dogs [ratters] and I plan on getting her into shape. I think it's funny when people think little dogs are useless so I'm excited to see how they both turn out!

I'm thinking of doing a goal of 6-8 weeks routine at max and then for his upkeep a daily walk and light run on opposite days. My goal is to keep him within 2lbs of what he performs/looks/seems happiest at. I don't have a scale either BUT the vet office is 1 minute away so I'll be taking him there every other day for the first 2 weeks then going into our third week I'm going to try to make it there daily until I can get a real dog scale.

For this first round we will just be keeping him on Acana grainfree foods, our raw venison went bad while we were on holiday and so I've been looking into MDF? premade frozen raw... $26-36 for 19lbs. which i'd like to add eventually to his diet. He did really well on a split diet. But while we are on kibble I am going to look into supplementing his diet if need be.

Just a side note: Leon is 2 years 4 months old, probably weighing in around 55lbs with a 21in height and 22in length chest to bum or 29in length approx nose to bum.

Reading some of the last comments, is it better to put some weight on a dog then before you start conditioning? Leon is slim too, his ribs can be seen but not in a way that makes him out to be underfed. Should I take the next month or two to actually put weight [fat] on him so that he will have more to work with when we are ready? I had actually already planned on having him gain a little weight before spring, so was I planned correctly? I'm still reading and learning too, if I don't feel reading by spring then of course I'll wait. I wouldn't dare do something that I wasn't 100% sure I could do esp if it'd ruin my dog.

[SantaClaus]

You GO BEAR! He looks really good already though...

We run Trigg for about 45 minutes a day and we can sure see a difference in his muscle tone, he is definitely bulking up and able to go longer now.

[mr.supervideogoodfd]

good topic im also at the stage of starting to get my girl in better shape (toughening pads, more wind) so that when the time comes she will be more easily conditioned. also curious about the putting on alil weight before a keep more info on that would be great. as of now we do a 30 minute walk everyday, play fetch almost everyday, flirt pole for about 5-10 minutes 2-3 times a week and we just started roller blading we only do that about once a week for a short time she is getting used to it. usual rest days are sundays and or rain days

[E4qC1qQ5]

Reading some of the last comments, is it better to put some weight on a dog then before you start conditioning? Leon is slim too, his ribs can be seen but not in a way that makes him out to be underfed. Should I take the next month or two to actually put weight [fat] on him so that he will have more to work with when we are ready? I had actually already planned on having him gain a little weight before spring, so was I planned correctly? I'm still reading and learning too, if I don't feel reading by spring then of course I'll wait. I wouldn't dare do something that I wasn't 100% sure I could do esp if it'd ruin my dog.
From my experience ...Yes....

I have worked 3 dogs for the show ring, all are different but I have the best results when I have weight on them and start slow. Look at how body builders achieve their goal. A real good and personal friend of mine is a professional body builder, pre show is his hardest work outs he slims down and tones up, the next step he does what he calls cutting where he really cuts fat so and adds definition to his body, during this process he keeps detailed records on all his workouts and everything he eats. When the show season is over he gives his body a rest and starts packing on weight, he actually bring his weight up to almost 300lbs and then he starts all over again next season.

If the body is lean and lacking muscle what do you think it is going to burn during a workout? More muscle!

Key thing to remember is always adjust food intake when ever you up your program you should up your feed and adjust as needed...Trust me conditioning a dog is not an easy task and each dog is different. I will see if I can find some before and after pics of some of my dogs.

[BenWired306]

Celtic, thanks for that comparison. My husband used to body build for his own benefit and he had the same routine too minus going to shows. I bet he could give me some advice, even though dogs and men are diff I'm sure building muscle is along the same concepts.

I'd love to see before/after of your dogs! We are starting in March after I visit family in the states end of Feb didn't want to start before then because that week I'm gone would be a BIG interuption if we are sticking to a strict goal/schedule! I'll have to start messing with his food to see how much he needs to gain and how much to maintain. I have a feeling he will be a tuff one to keep weight on, but he has a lot of potential to have an amazing physique along with the drive to do everything I want.

[Czrzftmz]

I *try* to put weight on Peanut first but genetics do not allow him to add weight or chub easily. i do not do a keep with him because honestly i don't see a point in full keep with him he stays in good shape easily on his own BUT i do get him in better shape for his sports. because he can't put on weight easily i just up the amount of food i give him over winter he was getting 24 oz of food daily when he starts working out i will give him around 32 oz of food a day or more depending on what he does.

[BenWired306]

Yeah Leon does NOT put on weight easily. He was eating like 3-4 bowls FULL of purina dog chow when we got him [prev. owners had him on that food, we switched to Acana] I want to say that was about 9-12 cups a day! And he looked good for a house dog.

Since we got him, he gets 3 1/4 cups a day of Acana [the highest recommendation on the bag for an active dog @ 50lbs despite the fact he is on the less active side right now] and he has lost probably 5 lbs and maintained it... not loosing any less and not gaining any. So we've stuck with that.

Now that we're going to be trying to add weight I've been giving him his 4 cups of kibble, 1 cup raw venison, and some fruit each day. This just started this week so in a couple weeks we'll see where we are at. [I wish I could do all raw, but that's most of our meat when bad from our dear, and MDF is a little pricey while I'm not working.] When we start our regime I don't want to be able to see his ribs like I do now though.

[Czrzftmz]

oatmeal helped Peanut out a little bit. without having to add too much extra food when he was already eating 2 lbs a day. i would add oatmeal, plain. and he added a 1 1/2 lbs though looking at him you wouldn't know it.

[CialisBestPrice]

You GO BEAR! He looks really good already though...

We run Trigg for about 45 minutes a day and we can sure see a difference in his muscle tone, he is definitely bulking up and able to go longer now.

I am going to have to work up to the 45min runs, but I plan on increasing the jogging time a few minutes each day, and working up from 10 minute "sprint" typed things.

If the body is lean and lacking muscle what do you think it is going to burn during a workout? More muscle!

Key thing to remember is always adjust food intake when ever you up your program you should up your feed and adjust as needed...Trust me conditioning a dog is not an easy task and each dog is different. I will see if I can find some before and after pics of some of my dogs.

But if you provide the body with enough calories to burn during the workout no muscle will be burned at all. I used to do track running and its all a balance, provide enough calories for the exercise your going to be doing and the calories your going to be burning and you will not have any issues.

Like you said, food intake is important. Even when he wasnt working to hard and only doing 8 laps I would increase his kibble by a 1/2 cup and he never lost weight and gained tone.
I am super in tune with his food intake and if I give even a 1/2 cup more I lessen the next feeding by that 1/2 cup, to me a house dog should not have any extra weight and for most house dogs he looks damn good, but he can and will look better.