Conditioning for lure coursing

[llidvm]

My practice is mostly injured dogs - IVDD, DM, and CCL make up the vast majority of the patients I see.

I recently saw a healthy grey hound who competes in lure coursing. Owner came to me because he was interested in underwater treadmill for cross training. He is also interested in any other type of cross training.

I have available FitPaws equipment, underwater treadmill, medium size DogTread treadmill.
My thought was that she should focus on endurance and core strength because they do fast starts, stops, and turns.
As far as underwater treadmill goes, my thought was to find the depth and speed to allow her to trot.

Any and all thoughts greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Lisa

[lehughes]

This is an interesting question!

So, I think you need to 'reverse engineer' the question to find the answer:

What does the dog need?
Flexibility
Cardiovascular capabilities
Power

What would be functional?
Burst training
Balancing in dynamic situations (i.e. on a lean and/or with controlled movement)
Better proprioception

So... check out the Functional Exercise Video (Dec 2016) and think about function.

Balancing just for the sake of balancing won't be functional and is not likely to translate to improved performance. Endurance training on the treadmill (water or land) won't improve sprinting.

Sprinting improves sprinting... so if you are going to use the land or UWT, then do interval training. Warm up, then run hard for 30 seconds, then slow for 2mins, then run hard again, repeat... for 10 - 15 minutes total, + cool down.

Work agility (so as to be agile on the field)... retrieves, tug of war up and over pieces of equipment, weaves, games of chase or keep away.

Does this make sense? Go back to thinking of function and what would be functional.
I hope this helps!

Laurie

[llidvm]

Thank you for your response, Laurie.

My thinking is that she needs to sprint, turn quickly, and potentially stop faster than I would imagine.

I had talked to the owner about retrieves to practice sprinting, but I don't think that was possible for them (I don't remember why). I like your idea of interval training in the treadmill so will introduce that this week.
My thoughts for functional exercises for turns were controlled abduction / adduction (lateral steps with either her front feet or hind feet on the treadmill and with her body perpendicular to the treadmill; side stepping onto equipment like in your video; targeting either the front feet or hind feet on a piece of equipment and pivoting around) and weaves.
My thoughts for slowing down (she will use the same muscles for deceleration as she goes into a turn and also at the end) was to do anything going backwards.

Am I on the right track?

Thanks again,
Lisa

[lehughes]

Hey Lisa,

So my concern is just that we can tend to prescribe and practice exercises as if this were a rehab dog... and as such, only come up with 'safe and controlled' exercises.

Safe and controlled exercises do not train the body to be able to adapt to real life situations where twists, turns, uneven surfaces, bursts, decelerations, are going to come into play.

It's hard to figure out for a dog... but it's a balance between dynamic retraining and safety (i.e. a safe environment)

To make sense of how I'm thinking, I went online to find some videos... I saw a great one not long ago about how the Norwegian downhill ski teams train. I'm still looking for it. However check out the following:

How the Norwegian ski jumpers train:
https://youtu.be/yaieYu9QWfU

Martial arts flexibility drills
https://youtu.be/u8mJfTTnWAk


Ohhh! I found the Norwegian Alpine skiers video! It was on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RethinkingPhys ... ref=SEARCH

So to sum it up, what I'm saying is that you need to be safely aggressive. Check out the videos. Happy to discuss further and brainstorm more ideas.

(And no, I don't think you'll improve deceleration by going backwards... so that is one area I'd like both of us to think of. That's why I was suggesting retrieves. Can they not do it in a hallway?)

Fun thinking!!!

Laurie

[jb4dogs]

Good ideas, ladies - but a few comments. Greyhounds & several other sighthounds are not apt to be natural or enthusiastic retrievers, they follow motion, which is why they lure course. Once the action has stopped (retrieval item has landed) it is no longer interesting.
Even though Greyhounds are sprinters, endurance & general fitness are important to maintain - a regular lure course, at least in the western US, usually is between 600-800 yards & each hound will run a minimum of twice, often 3-5 times in a day if they are doing well. At the big national events they may run as much as 2 miles in a day.
Thanks, interesting topic! I'll be following as I have a great lure courser who is back in fitness training after a couple of months of too much snow, still limited to indoor work for a couple more months. Best wishes, Jill Bryson
Fast turns are frequent, fast stops are rare.

[lehughes]

Good thinking Jill!
It makes me think of a couple that had their Scottish Deerhounds at the field the one day I had taken my Borzoi to lure course. They were warming them up by getting them to chase a ribbon on a long stick (it looked kind of like a stock whip).
They were also getting them to jump up after it, which I didn't think was appropriate.

However, perhaps something similar that can engage them in short distance chase and turn (in a safe environment) could help to build these skills!



Laurie