If your dog is making steady gains but you just know there’s still more room for improvement then make sure you read this article carefully because we are going to share Three Tips for More Gains with your Fitdog.
TIP 1: Add MORE Fat!
Yes you’re probably wondering if you read correctly?! Why add fat when you want a leaner dog? Well unlike humans a dogs primary energy source is not carbohydrates, its fat! But not just any fat. High quality animal fat. You see, fats have many important functions…Not only do they provide energy, but they’re also necessary for the normal development and function of your dogs cells, nerves, muscles, and body tissues. Fats help to regulate your dogs normal bodily functions, reduce inflammation, and help with nutrient absorption. Fats are an optimal source of energy for canines since:
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Dogs get 2.5 times as much energy from fat as they do from carbs.
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Dogs metabolize 90-95% of fat they eat
HOW MUCH FAT SHOULD YOU FEED YOUR DOG?
It’s important to remember that all dogs are individuals and vary based on their breed, age, gender, health and activity levels. However, Dr Ben Holding a greyhound nutrition expert recommends a daily fat intake of at least 40% Fats for elite performance dogs such as greyhounds.
SO, WHAT ARE GOOD SOURCES OF FAT?
Good sources of fat for dogs are all animal based fatty meats. The highest animal fat can be found in Beef, Lamb, Pork and Fish. Some of the best cuts of Fat are Organ Meat – examples include liver, tripe, spleen, sweetbreads, brain, intestines, Testicles, and kidneys.
TIP 2: INCREASE INTENSITY
Most people think a 1 or 2 hour walk is enough to keep your dog healthy and fit. The truth is walking is not enough to maintain your dogs cardiovascular health and certainly not enough to stimulate muscle growth or burn excess fat. The reason is walking is just not intense enough. It might be for you, but the average dog has two more extra legs than you and walking is just not a challenge for them! The harder you make the exercise the more their heart has to work to pump blood around their body which increases their metabolism and put them into a fat burning, muscle growth state.
There’s many ways you can increase the intensity of your dogs exercise. Some of the easy ways are as follows:
- Add a weighted collar – For as little as $70 you can add a weighted collar to your dog walk, game of fetch or spring pole session to make it more challenging. The extra resistance from the collar stimulates your dogs testosterone levels (yes even bitches) and puts them in an anabolic state to burn excess fat and grow lean muscle.
- Use a weighted harness – This is one of the best ways to add strength and lean muscle to your dog. It not only increases your dogs gains but it’s also fun and improves the dog – handler bond.
- Track your dogs work to rest ratio – The harder you make your dog work followed by short rest intervals the more they will burn fat. Don’t believe us? Give it a go yourself! Try doing a round of 30 second sprints followed by a 30 second rest repeated 5 times. That would give you a 5 minute workout. Compare that to a 10 minute walk and you would have burned more energy in 5 minutes than the 10 minute walk. The same is true for dogs! We have actually created the Ultimate 12 week canine Ball workout using this philosophy. >>>>>Try it Now.
- Slatmill sprinting – One of the ultimate intense workouts a dog can do is Slatmill sprinting. The reason being you can fully control the rest period of the dogs workout as they cannot get distracted. Plus its a workout you can do rain or shine!
TIP 3: do ENDURANCE LAST, ALWAYS!
One of the biggest mistakes we see is when people start their dogs workout session with endurance based activities. Wrong! Why? Well, Endurance is defined by moderate intensity, steady state activity. Examples include spring pole, bike work, jogging / running, tug of war, regular fetch and swimming.
The problem is, this kind of exercise uses up your dogs phosphagen and glycolytic energy system. When this happens your dog goes into a catabolic state and won’t be able to burn fat and grow lean muscle effectively. That’s why you should always leave this types of workouts to the end of the workout session. To understand the canine energy system better read the full article here >>>>canine energy systems
That’s it for today! Comment below and ask us any question you like!
Keep Them Fit!
FITDOG NATION
P.S.
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