The Spaniel Annals

Yesterday was a day off from training, so instead we went for a run around our neighborhood for some conditioning work.  As I’ve read equestrian writers during the past few years, I’ve become more and more convinced of the importance of proper conditioning for the dog sports we do.  While some agility trainers seem to understand its importance, so often in obedience and conformation, dogs are “weekend athletes” who are asked perform complex physical tasks on the weekend but lounge around as couch potatoes during the week.  Horse trainers often talk about training a young horse physically for two years before expecting complex physical behaviors like “collection” (where the horse is properly balanced and driving from the rear).  This is not only so that the horse learns the behavior mentally, but also possesses the necessary muscling to perform the behavior.

Horse trainers are also much more aware of warm-ups and cool-downs, talking specifically about what should be done during these sessions (often lasting 15 minutes or more), before the actual training even starts.  Yet in obedience trialing, frequently you’ll see the handler pull the dog  out of his crate five minutes before they go in the ring, with a warm-up consisting of running through specific exercises, and no attention paid to warming up the dog physically.  Then what happens after 7-10 minutes of ring time that intensely taxes the dog physically and mentally?  Back in the crate, so that the handler can socialize with friends.

So I’m trying to improve my warm-ups and cool-downs.  I need to do more stretching with Kani before she goes in the ring, but after our ring performance we now go on a walk outside, to cool us both down mentally and physically. 

And we jog too.  Not as far as we should, because I’ve got an unexpected surgery coming up and so we’re doing the minimum, about 1 1/2 miles.  Rozzie and Reardon have just joined in, as they’re now two years old and their bodies can handle the impact.  They especially love the jog, with Rozzie squealing and Reardon throwing himself at the door (need to work on that).  Better conditioning has transformed Rozzie mentally and physically–she’s a lot more confident, with bright eyes and more energy.  Being third in the pack, and not trained as intensively for obedience as the other two, I’ve worked hard this year to build her confidence.  The jogging and agility class have done the trick.

A side note: when I was showing my gordon setter in conformation years ago, a judge told me afterwards that she needed to be in better condition.  This puzzled me, as she had daily runs in the country and was in excellent shape.  As we talked, I realized by conditioning, he meant coat rather than muscling.  While I know today that not all conformation judges prioritize the dog this way, I remain almost as bewildered by this attitude now as I was then.