I have been asked to set up a treadmill conditioning plan for some agility dogs. They have access to both an UWTM and a land treadmill (Dog Pacer). These dogs already do other fitness exercises, but were looking to increase endurance, stamina and speed. They already have a balanced fitness program focusing on strength, flexibility and proprioception through a fitness trainer. One dog is a corgi and the other is a border collie, these owners will do anything, but I would like to be more targeted in my recommendations.
I have been looking for journals or reputable discussions on how to set this up, but it is hard to find specifics on how to start and how to assess to increase difficulty. HIIT seemed to be the preferred method to increase speed and stamina.
Questions I have as I try to think through this are:
1. Where to start, these dogs are healthy, active in their sport, walk/hike 1-3 miles a few times a week. 1 dog also runs with its owner 3 miles 2-3 times a week the other strictly walks/hikes.
2. Is there a benefit of land over UWTM or vice versa? Or are they both similar enough that it is personal preference?
3. Is the max speed a fast trot or is there any benefit for faster sprints (if the machine is capable)?
4. UWTM what water height would you recommend? Hock or stifle for trotting or even higher?
5. I would think that trotting is the more beneficial for these dogs vs fast walking but then the water adds more resistance so that could be beneficial too
6. The Dog Pacer has its own programs, do you know if these are adequate? I can't imagine running the corgi on the programs, but it looks appropriate for the border collie.
I am sure I will have more questions but I wanted to start somewhere. It just seems like the information that I could find was very vague and often more about research than real life.
Thank for your help
Setting up treadmill conditioning programs
Re: Setting up treadmill conditioning programs
Hi Julie,
Okay… so, I’m going to firstly direct you to the FourLeg Training Videos 201 & 202 – these are my parts 1 & 2 of Conditioning the Canine Athlete. It’s a good place to start.
Now, beyond that I’d say to think about, What is the baseline? What is the goal?
These dogs aren’t needing the treadmill – land or water – to work on coordination, skill, balance, or even strength. They are getting that from their other training. So, the treadmill (wet or dry) is a bit more about cardiovascular training. What does an agility dog need in this regard? They need to be able to do short bursts of high intensity exercise. They need to train their anaerobic system, and train it to be able to work at its best several times a day (in a trial scenario). Those pieces of information give us a place to start.
So, you are absolutely correct that High Intensity Interval Training is the best way to do this.
Warm Up… at least 3 – 5 minutes.
Then increase speed significantly. The tricky part is, that it’s a ‘perceived’ exertion level that matters – so, it’s a bit of guess work, or WATCH and see work, as you / they figure it out.
The increase in speed will only be for 20 – 30 seconds in the beginning.
Slow down to a walk for 2 – 3 minutes.
Repeat.
Gradually, you increase the TIME in the High Intensity Phase, and you increase the INTENSITY in the high intensity phase. You can reduce the rest / walking phase… but not too much, the point is to allow the body to recuperate. According to the International Sports Sciences Association,
“Optimal rest periods between sets can vary from 30 seconds or less up to 5 minutes! We know that it takes 2.5 to 3 minutes for the phosphagen (Creatine Phosphate/ATP) stores to fully recover from a set of intense exercise.” So, you want to allow the restoration of CP & ATP… and build up the body’s tolerance do depleting these elements, as well as provide the impetus to restore them as quickly as possible. Here is where it becomes an ‘art form’… test, trial, evaluate, repeat, or reinvent.
Overall, you are looking at creating shorter 15 – 30 minutes (maximum) sessions of HIIT. Fortunately, with athletic dogs, you can start working towards this sooner than later. With a chubby ‘potato’ of a dog, you would need to incorporate a basic cardiovascular (slow and steady) phase of training before moving into too much in regards to the HIIT elements.
Now, the other parts of your question are just preference or sorted out by trial and error:
Land over UWT: you can do either. UWT adds a component of water resistance and via the height of the water, can change the way the dog moves and therefore which muscle groups are activated most. (i.e. water at or near a particular joint has been found to increase the flexion range at that joint…). So, you could argue that you have a greater ability to make an UWT workout more challenging, more targeted, and more unique than a land treadmill work out.
The question about what is best: Trial and error. See what the dog does at various water heights. See what tires the dog out most. Observe the quality of movement. Observe the perceived exertion. There cannot be and should not be one size fits all.
In regards to speed – again, watch for perceived exertion. That’s what matters when doing a HIIT program. A fit dog can always do more than a fast walk – even in the UWT. If your athletic dog is just fast walking in the UWT, then in my humble opinion, it’s a waste of time… they’ll get more benefit from a romp at the off leash part or by playing a game of fetch in the back yard. If you are truly conditioning a dog… it should be work, and it should look like work.
In regards to pre-programmed units for conditioning, I would stay away from these at all costs. They are not designed with the ‘user’ in mind. Are they too slow, too fast, anaerobic focused, aerobic focused, or what? They are not going to be created with the specifics in mind for creating a tailor-made program for an individual dog.
I guess this is as good of a place to start as anything. And as for journals or discussions – go to the human side. The canine athlete conditioning world is really just in its infancy. I always go to the human side and figure out the most practical way to take it to the dogs.
I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Laurie
Okay… so, I’m going to firstly direct you to the FourLeg Training Videos 201 & 202 – these are my parts 1 & 2 of Conditioning the Canine Athlete. It’s a good place to start.
Now, beyond that I’d say to think about, What is the baseline? What is the goal?
These dogs aren’t needing the treadmill – land or water – to work on coordination, skill, balance, or even strength. They are getting that from their other training. So, the treadmill (wet or dry) is a bit more about cardiovascular training. What does an agility dog need in this regard? They need to be able to do short bursts of high intensity exercise. They need to train their anaerobic system, and train it to be able to work at its best several times a day (in a trial scenario). Those pieces of information give us a place to start.
So, you are absolutely correct that High Intensity Interval Training is the best way to do this.
Warm Up… at least 3 – 5 minutes.
Then increase speed significantly. The tricky part is, that it’s a ‘perceived’ exertion level that matters – so, it’s a bit of guess work, or WATCH and see work, as you / they figure it out.
The increase in speed will only be for 20 – 30 seconds in the beginning.
Slow down to a walk for 2 – 3 minutes.
Repeat.
Gradually, you increase the TIME in the High Intensity Phase, and you increase the INTENSITY in the high intensity phase. You can reduce the rest / walking phase… but not too much, the point is to allow the body to recuperate. According to the International Sports Sciences Association,
“Optimal rest periods between sets can vary from 30 seconds or less up to 5 minutes! We know that it takes 2.5 to 3 minutes for the phosphagen (Creatine Phosphate/ATP) stores to fully recover from a set of intense exercise.” So, you want to allow the restoration of CP & ATP… and build up the body’s tolerance do depleting these elements, as well as provide the impetus to restore them as quickly as possible. Here is where it becomes an ‘art form’… test, trial, evaluate, repeat, or reinvent.
Overall, you are looking at creating shorter 15 – 30 minutes (maximum) sessions of HIIT. Fortunately, with athletic dogs, you can start working towards this sooner than later. With a chubby ‘potato’ of a dog, you would need to incorporate a basic cardiovascular (slow and steady) phase of training before moving into too much in regards to the HIIT elements.
Now, the other parts of your question are just preference or sorted out by trial and error:
Land over UWT: you can do either. UWT adds a component of water resistance and via the height of the water, can change the way the dog moves and therefore which muscle groups are activated most. (i.e. water at or near a particular joint has been found to increase the flexion range at that joint…). So, you could argue that you have a greater ability to make an UWT workout more challenging, more targeted, and more unique than a land treadmill work out.
The question about what is best: Trial and error. See what the dog does at various water heights. See what tires the dog out most. Observe the quality of movement. Observe the perceived exertion. There cannot be and should not be one size fits all.
In regards to speed – again, watch for perceived exertion. That’s what matters when doing a HIIT program. A fit dog can always do more than a fast walk – even in the UWT. If your athletic dog is just fast walking in the UWT, then in my humble opinion, it’s a waste of time… they’ll get more benefit from a romp at the off leash part or by playing a game of fetch in the back yard. If you are truly conditioning a dog… it should be work, and it should look like work.
In regards to pre-programmed units for conditioning, I would stay away from these at all costs. They are not designed with the ‘user’ in mind. Are they too slow, too fast, anaerobic focused, aerobic focused, or what? They are not going to be created with the specifics in mind for creating a tailor-made program for an individual dog.
I guess this is as good of a place to start as anything. And as for journals or discussions – go to the human side. The canine athlete conditioning world is really just in its infancy. I always go to the human side and figure out the most practical way to take it to the dogs.
I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Laurie
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES