I’m guessing dogs are like people, you can’t just whip open a can of “let’s go run 12 miles, doggy” without proper conditioning, even on dogs, like mine, who looks built for running with Dean Karnazes.
I’m breaking in my 2 year old collie, who is a spastic ball of running energy, in my backyard. So, I take her out for a run on the leash at lunch, intending to run 6 miles. First mile, she’s going good, ahead of me. Mile two, even with me. By mile 3, she’s dropped back, and we are going slow: 9:15, 9:28, 9 something. By mile 4, she’s not going anywhere.
I’m very upset with her lack of conditioning and diet. Maybe her form is off. Is it her hydration? Her spending too much time doing interval work in the backyard. Maybe she needs to try The Pose Method for dogs.
I don’t have a dog, running or otherwise, but I did a 50k ultra a few years ago, and a fellow had his dog with him. The dog did the entire run with his human, and got his own t-shirt. Note that 75% of the run was on trails.
My male black lab will take whatever I throw at him–4,6,8,10, whatever. I do ensure that we periodically pass h2o of some type so that he stays hydrated. He likes to roam around the secluded areas we run, but when he gets tired he’ll pace next to me. He is an absolute terror and I’ve been told by others he’s the fastest, best conditioned dog they’ve ever seen.
I have two mutts (sisters). We don’t know their origin short of the South Central Pound variety. I think they are shepard and border collie mix. One is skinny and has never fallen back on a run. The stocky one hit the wall at about 5 miles. She just dove belly first on a patch of grass and stayed there for about 2 minutes. I pleaded and she finished the next mile at a slightly slower pace.
A little extra weight on dogs is just as bad as on people. I used to run my australian shepherd on trails and we would go up to 20 miles. She’s old now, so is happy to go 3 or 4 with my wife. Try and run at your dog’s trotting speed. Once dogs go from trotting to galloping, their endurance goes way down. My dog endurance would go from many miles down to a few blocks as soon as we go past trotting speed.
Back 7 years ago or so, he was my constant running companion. 3 mile speed work, 5 mile easy runs, and 14 mile lsd. I lived 1 mile from the strand at Newport Beach. We would run there and to the pier at Huntington Beach. Side by side, no leash, would stop if I stopped, but would go as far as I would take him. The only reason to stop was to give him water at regular intervals. To start the run, he got a Clif bar. He would go nuts, because Clif Bar meant long run!
When we got home, I would feed him and he would crash for about 24 hours.
I have a two year old Novia Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. I have a big field loop near my house thats about two miles around. He handles whatever I can and more but whats funny is there are two families of turkey on opposite ends of the field (they live on the edge near the woods). Whenever they have chicks the moms get really aggressive and chase his butt all over the field. Pretty funny stuff.
My Vizsla will heel for a good eight miles, after that I think he gets bored begins to lose interest. I rather run on trails with him because I get my workout in and just let him go bird crazy. I’ve only gone as far as 12 miles with him.
I have a male black lab (got him from the pound). He is a bundle of energy. In the winter, he skis with my husband on trails and never tires. In the spring and fall, I run him on the rail trails around my home and on the trails in the local conservation area. He can go for a good 90 minutes at about 7 to 8 minute mile pace and never tires. I do stop frequently for him to cool off in the local streams and to hydrate. In the warmer weather, however, I don’t take him, because it is just too hot and he slows too much. I do notice that he needs to be conditioned in the fall just like us. Because he doesn’t run all summer due to the heat, he is out of shape and can only last for about a 3 mile run early in the fall. However, by ski season, he is ready to go for 90 minutes in deep snow with no problems. So, to make a long story short, you do need to train them just like humans. Start slow and short and increase as they tolerate. I am not looking forward to his aging, though. He is eight years old now and I am sure that soon he will slow down and be very unhappy when he can’t run and ski with us anymore. But, right now, he is right and happy and ready to go whenever we are. So, just start out slow with your dog and train them just like a human. Make sure you have those rest days in there too for them. I notice that if he misses a rest day, he doesn’t have the stamina and speed that he needs. Good luck!
Booth, I have had Collies since the 70’s and very few modern Collies make good endurance running dogs. They, like most dogs, are built for bursts of energy, not long distances. This has a lot to do with the over breeding in the 50s- 70s due to Lassie’s popularity. The result was dogs that are great pets but don’t have the structure, soundness or work ethic to be true working, athletic dogs.
Even good running breeds have to be conditioned like any athlete. The majority of dogs in this country are overweight! Dogs also suffer from paw pad wear, especially if run on pavement. A foot sore dog will limp or just quit. Iditarod dogs wear protective boots. Most dogs aren’t natural born runners (actually dogs trot for endurance) and a pace that is comfortable for them may not match yours, another reason why dogs will “quit” on a long run.
Dogs, even of the same breed have individual attitudes. Some like to run, some just want to sprint. All dogs are affected adversley by heat. Racing sled dogs have problems with overheating when the temperatures are in the 40s!
I have a 6 month old German Shepard. Will he be too big too be considered an “endurance dog”? I would like him to run with me, but I don’t want to do anything that could negatively effect him.
Talk about timing…me and the ‘kids’ just got back from our regular Thursday night hammerfest/tempo run. Tonight, it about a 7 mile workout with two sections of tempo - the first about 2 miles and the second about 3. We were hitting 6:30-6:00 on the second one, and my boy was still pulling on the leash. Of course, he always waits to do that on the days that we swim hard in the a.m. so my shoulders are already cooked. I’ve got a brother/sister pair of Weimaraners. They’re 6 years old and we’ve been running together pretty regularly for about 5 years. The female knows her limitations, but my boy will hit it hard as long as I’m willing. The longest they’ve gone was about 16 miles, but that was back in their youth. These days, I try to keep them to an hour or so, tops. They still dig it, especially if we go out on the trail where they can go off leash (they’re extremely well-behaved and obedient). They’re putting in about 25 miles a week these days and they still get all fired up when they see me pull out the running gear. Don’t know much about Collies and their running ability - could be that she just needs to learn a little pacing and get her base miles in. Even if she never becomes a high-mileage training partner, she’ll be great motivation to get out the door - take her out for a few miles, drop her off at home (and give her a treat) and head back out to finish up - it’s a win/win for everybody! Good on ya’ for seeing to your dog’s health and happiness.
I have a Labrador Retrieiver. He was a great runner until advancing arthritis shut down the running for him. Ironically, that was right around the same time that the herniated disc in my back really started to act up, so no more running for either of us these days. He was great though. The wetter and colder the better. I recall one run in the winter in Vancouver. It was cold by Vancouver standards, about -5C with a few cm of snow on the ground. We hit the trails and the beach( he was in and out of the ocean several times) and he was coated in mud, ice and snow by the time we finished that run. I wish that I had taken a picture. He was a total mess, but had that dumb sort-a grin that Labs have when they finish up doing something thet really love to do.
If running with your dog, be sure to have them checked regularly for arthritis, other joint abnormailties and general joint dysplasia. They won’t tell you when there, elbow, knee, hip, etc. . is killing them. They’ll still be keen to run 8 miles in pain - that’s the way they are. When they do pull up lame, it is usually pretty bad!
My cat loves to do intervals with me. Whenever I go to my parents house I bring my cat. They have a loop in their house going from the kitchen through the dinning room and into the living room. He will go as fast as me. When he catches me he will attack my leg. He can go until i stop. it was funny one time we were runnign for like 20 minutes straight in the dark. You could hear him breathing hard but he never stopped.
Dont worry we built up his base by first running back and forth in my old apartment which was about 10 feet long. Then moved up to my current apartment which has a good length hallway.
2 siberian huskies, one male, and one female…the male is big for a husky and can only handle about 1-1.5 hours running on trails (hates flats) while our other is small and I have run 7 hours with her on the trails while training for an ultra (obviously slow pace). Normally run about 30-50km’s a week with her on the trails…the male I run every second day for an hour. Great mt. bike dogs as well, especially in north vancouver where the trails are too technical to go too fast…just have to watch out for deer…huskies love deer:)
My dog, 3 y/o ‘bird-dog,’ seems to not like running with me very much. Well, off leash, she will go for miles and miles. I’ve never seen her get tired. Running on leash, she tires after about two miles. I’m not sure if it’s being forced to hold a pace (instead of running ahead and laying in a puddle till I catch up, then sprinting ahead again) or being frustrated at not being able to chase down whatever scents cross our paths. But, the compromise is that we go on hikes, and she goes with me on short post-bike runs around the neighborhood.
I don’t think it’s an issue of fitness. I think she isn’t of the temperment to jog along beside simply because that’s what I’m doing. She needs entertainment. I often wonder who is the alpha in our relationship.
A healthy, well stuctured German ShepHERD (not shepARD) dog is built to trot long distances and can be an ideal running partner. As I said before, your run pace may not be the same as his though. A dogs ability to maintain a trot is dependent on him using his own natural stride. Keep him trim and fit and make sure he has no joint issues (hip displasia, etc).