Coming from a fitness background, I understand the importance of cardiovascular exercise for humans. The question: is cardiovascular as important for your protection dog? It is not only important, but vital. After all, what good is a personal protection dog, if you have to deploy your dog to take down an unwelcome intruder at 50 yards or more, and they are not conditioned to get into the fight when they get there.
A good protection dog has to be in top-notch shape, just like a professional boxer, to be effective. There are five components to total fitness: muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, body composition, and cardiovascular. We at Command Control K9 have all of our protection dogs do cardio’ every day to keep them in top shape, whether we run them with the quad, have them follow us on the bike, or simply go for a long power walk.
As my good friend Cesar Millan would say; “Exercise, discipline, affection… in that order!”
Tags: Belgian Malinois, canine exercise, Cardiovascular, German Shepherd, Guard Dog, Protection Dog