Preparing Your Dog for the Upcoming Season
Getting your dog into shape for a hunting season will benefit both parties involved. Not only will your dog be more willing and able to do what you ask of it, your dog will also be less likely to get injured during a season. There are many different ways in order to get your dog into peak physicaly condition before hunting season. But physical condition is not the only thing that must be done with your dog, going over basic commands will solidify the foundation that your dog has already built on for commands.
Running your dog is one of the best ways to get your dog to cardiovascular shape as well as losing weight that may have been put on during the off season. Some things to keep in mind with running your dog is not to overdo it right away. Easing into long sustained runs is the best way to train your dog. Too much running can cause a lot of wear and tear on your dogs joints, which is something that should be avoided for older dogs. Other potential issues that must be accounted for is damage that may happen to the pads on the paws if the dog is run on asphalt or concrete often. The best way to resolve this problem is to run the dog on grass fields.
Swimming dogs proves to be the best way to get your dog into shape. This allows your dog to work extremely hard while having the smallest amount of impact on joints. Another benefit of this is the you can incorperate simple retrieving commands. Generally dogs should be entering the water only when retrieveing, so any swimming should be done while practicin retrieving.
Expecting your dog to be at the top of his game after a long off season is something you should never bet on. Hunting dogs are the pride and joy of all hunters. They will make mistakes and forget a few things too, dogs are not perfect. The easiest way to crispen your dogs commands is to start at the very beginning again. If the dog is well seasoned, they will not need to take a extended period of time to go over the basic commands. Going over the basic commands and leading into the more complex commands that your dog is accustomed to will help to make your dog as sharp as possible when it is time to use them again.
