Post by gamberro on Jul 12, 2006 2:36:37 GMT -5
OK, about weight pulling. First of all, dogs are no different than humans. Ease into it. Just like you wouldn't take a guy who's never lifted a weight and put him under a loaded 500 lb bar and ask him to squat for reps, you can't throw your dog into pulling right off the bat without the proper conditioning.
In ABs, due to their size and bone structure, and their large, explosive muscles, it is in fact common to blow a knee ligament or have hip problems if overworked. The key is progressive resistance. Start him light, and slowly build up, just like a weight training program. Since Jimi has high drive, he will want to do too much. It's like the guy in the weight room who all he does is bench and curl all day, every day, and then gets overuse injuries. Put him on a controlled program and slowly increase intensity and load. As he builds muscular strength, he will also build bone density and joint strength.
If you have a pool, excellent. Swimming is a really great form of exercise.
About food, I think human food is fine, but dogs don't have all the enzymes we do and tend not to be able to digest everything we can. Starchy stuff like corn can cause indigestion or sometimes trigger allergies. Try to give him high-protein human food like meats. But if it's just scraps here and there, that's fine. Just keep an eye out for any allergic reactions since some dogs have specific food allergies.
If you can afford it, I like feeding my dags raw food. Some people disagree with this, and mainly point to the potential for the raw meats to carry diseases, but I choose human-grade quality meats and mix with natural soures of vitamins and minerals like pumpkin, brown rice, etc. and have never had problems. My dogs love raw and will always choose it over kibble or processed commercial food.
In ABs, due to their size and bone structure, and their large, explosive muscles, it is in fact common to blow a knee ligament or have hip problems if overworked. The key is progressive resistance. Start him light, and slowly build up, just like a weight training program. Since Jimi has high drive, he will want to do too much. It's like the guy in the weight room who all he does is bench and curl all day, every day, and then gets overuse injuries. Put him on a controlled program and slowly increase intensity and load. As he builds muscular strength, he will also build bone density and joint strength.
If you have a pool, excellent. Swimming is a really great form of exercise.
About food, I think human food is fine, but dogs don't have all the enzymes we do and tend not to be able to digest everything we can. Starchy stuff like corn can cause indigestion or sometimes trigger allergies. Try to give him high-protein human food like meats. But if it's just scraps here and there, that's fine. Just keep an eye out for any allergic reactions since some dogs have specific food allergies.
If you can afford it, I like feeding my dags raw food. Some people disagree with this, and mainly point to the potential for the raw meats to carry diseases, but I choose human-grade quality meats and mix with natural soures of vitamins and minerals like pumpkin, brown rice, etc. and have never had problems. My dogs love raw and will always choose it over kibble or processed commercial food.
