Why are so many Schutzhund folks... - Page 6

lol...4pack your funny

Despite the fireworks, this is actually a valid post.  The reality of the situation is that SchH is a TEAM sport.  To achieve maximum performance, both dog AND handler should be in optimum physical condition.  The obesity problem is not unique to women.  Both men and women are affected by this malady.  It's sad to say that obesity has become the #2 cause of premature, preventable death (after smoking) in America.

I encourage all handlers to take a critical look at their physique, diet, and lifestyle.  There are a few behaviors that really get my goat...

The handlers that rail against the pet food companies for having the audacity to put corn meal in dog food (oh the horror!), all the while chowing on a Twinkie (filled with empty calories, trans fats, and enough preservatives to keep an Egyptian mummy in good form).

The handlers that tweak their dog's sides, obsessing over one rib showing instead of two, while their own midlines spill over.

And my personal favorite...

The handlers that claim you don't love your dog if you don't feed a raw diet, all the while sucking on a cigarette upwind of their puppy on a leash.

Here's the deal, folks... this is not personal, this is not a woman vs man thing, or even a work vs show line thing (there's a first).  You and your dog are a TEAM.  To get the best possible TEAM performance, BOTH dog and handler should be in good form.  Check out the article on Backpacking with your GSD that I wrote in the upcoming USA mag for an idea of an alternate activity that you and your dog could come to enjoy if you give it a shot.

There's more to life than dog sport.  When my schedule gets hectic, and I have to choose between exercising my dog and training my dog, I'll pick exercise every time.  If it takes me an extra year to title my dog, so be it.  After all, it's "all about the dogs", right?

Yvette

I guess yoga is out of the question?  

I just hate it if I have to miss a class! There is lots to learn from a dog, (about exercise anyway)! 

• Downward Dog

• Puppy Dog Stretch

• Dog (and Cat) Tilt

• Flipping the Dog

Did I forget anything else? Great for your body, mind and soul, especially if you are over 30!

I dont know what you all are talking about. I was at a trial about a month ago that was full to the brim with gorgeous women who did an awesome job on the field.

I took a friend along who had never seen any schutzhund at all. He said "I like it when they yell that "Platz", what does that  mean?...I said..."pretty much lie down and stay there"....he said "works for me...."

yoga makes me to sleepy..i like weight lifting and running up and down my stairs 40 times a day...although i've been slacking on that the last couple weeks..darn computer..

Me:  I get up at 3:30 AM.  I let the dogs each take a turn outside.  Clean the litter box, finish any dishes fromt he night before and start the dishwasher.  Clean up what I can after the puppies and feed/water Minka.  Clean the cats litter box, feed the special needs diet cat and make sure the others don't steal his food, top off the other cats dry food dish, rince and refill cats and dogs water dish in the kitchen.  Get dressed, put together my lunch if there is anything to take and head out the door at 4:35 to catch the van pool.

Me at work:  up and down stairs all day, no elevator real stairs.  Time split between desk and factory. Long walks between areas, where the van pool drops off and where it picks up.

Jim:  Get up and cycle dogs out.  Feed dogs. Clean up after puppies. Get dog situated for the day is various yards, and kennels.

Me:  get back to the van pool drop off at 3:00 PM.  I stop at the grocery store, pet food store, any other store that we need stuff from.  Get home between 3:10 and 3:30.  Switch dogs around from yards to kennels to crates.  Give yard time to thse that were in kennels. 

Both of us: Feed dogs, clean water dishes, clean up after puppies, mop puppy area.  Get puppies food ready, goats milk and solid gold puppy.  Take puppies out to outside playpen, take mushy food out to puppies.  Add other toys to playpen as needed.  Grad Abe and head to the barn.  Feed and water the mules, sheep, goats, ducks, geese, pheasant pens, barn cats.  Clean water tubs as needed, mostly nightly.  Summer at least don't have to break ice or pack hot water. Power wash kennels every couple days.

Come back to the house. Cycle dogs out after dinner.  Fix our dinner, do dishes, play with dogs.  Put puppies to bed from afternoon in the yard with mushy food and toys.

By this time it's 7:30 or 8:00 PM and time for me to be in bed.

I have no time for additional official excercise.  And much of our daily activities would be considered excercise by many.  Guess I'll be fluffy.

I forgot to add, after Jim's morning stuff with the dogs he heads off to work and gets home about 4:00.

animules--3:30 ! u get up at 3:30 ! there is no way i could do that..somtimes im still up at 3:30..but i would never wake up at 3:30...and here my hubby complains about having to get up at 5:30..lol..

 "and much of our daily activities would be considered excercise by many"-------------i found this site where you can put in daily activities and it tells you how many calories you burn for the amount of time you do it...it makes it eaiser to do all those chores when you can think..hey im buring so&so calories sweeping this floor and so on...what i like about it was that it is like a to-do-list with a reward, every little chore i did i'd go add it to the chart and get rewarded with 10,30,50...more calories burned...now let me find the site link....FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal...here it is..even if someone doesn't care to much about dieting , it's still kinda cool to see how many calories you actually burn when you don't really think your doing much..like washing dishes..

SchHbabe...wait until you sqeeze out a pup or two, your in your mid 30's, quit your "super" job because of your kids. I could go on and on....

What are you? 23

Gosh, you people have it easy.

My dogs know this routine and feed them selves when ever they please from they're constant food bowls. My dogs go with to my farm and wait for me to return. I go my farm @ 4:30am feed/water the horses, muck the stalls, feed all the stray cats there, load 4 horses and go to the race track about 20 miles away. Unload to the recieving barn at the track(5:30 ish) go to my barn up the hill feed/water and muck my 6 horses there... groom them and have them ready one by one with tack. Take each horse one by one to the track to train, shower and prep for the evening. Depending on races entered they take longer to prep. Clean the shedrow, set up feed and timothy/hay/alph for the evening. About 9:30am usually by now. Go back down to the recieving barn, one by one I take them to the track, shower and load for the trip home. The track closes for training @ 11:00am so breaks are rare. Most the time I have a 1/2 hour for myself and gallop other trainers horses for 15.00 a lap. But, those are the crazies that no one rides.   Easy money for me. Take my 4 horses home, if I need to buy feed or hay, or the pastures and grass needs mowed I do that now too. Clean shedrow and come home for lunch. I pay someone to evening feed if no horses are entered to run. Relax, spend time with my son beings it's summer and he's home all day and of course the internet is fun. I have Vet school @ 6:00pm for 2 hours 2 days a week. We feed the wolves and wildlife on my mountain after I get home from school, I like them to stay near the cabin through the weee hours.   Keeps the snakes away.  By now it's about 9:00 in the evening and time go home and do house chores .. I go to bed around 11:00 sometimes later. Do it all again in the morning, every morning. I pay help to do all the farm and track stuff Fri, Sat, and Sun. So I have time to train my dogs and take my son places. We've been going regular to the Bay house this year and the dog club along the Bay is beautiful and friendly, I think Christopher want's to move there.  Aug. is now here and another round of plowing fields and bailing has to fit in ... it just never ends. I need to find a man, so I can be a lady.  

If I have a horse or two entered to race that night, after school I need to go there right away, and then everything after that gets done later into the early morning and the house chores usually don't get done.   The dogs run cattle nutz all day, I just know it. LOL