[Training Tips] How do I train my sports dog?

Foreword

At Inlandsis, Our passion for dog sledding sports goes beyond the quality of our equipment. We support you at every step of your sporting adventure with your dog or team. Explore our equipment guides or contact our customer service for any specific requests. Thanks to our "Training Tips," get inspired by the training methods used by the best teams of the moment for a performance-driven and respectful sporting practice with our four-legged companions. And like our athletes, feel free to share your feedback with us to help the community progress !

The basics of training for harness dog sports.

In this first article, we provide you with the basics and main concepts of training a sports dog:

• What is training a sport dog ?
• Why train your dog for sports ?
• Training Planning: Anticipate and Adapt
• Warm-up, work, recovery: structuring your training sessions
• Nutrition: When to Feed Your Sport Dog ?
• Endurance, strength, and speed: 3 training areas for sled dogs.

What is training a sport dog ?

Definition

Training a sport dog involves enhancing the physical and mental performance of your dog or dogs through a series of exercises.

During training, it's very rare to focus on pure performance. Instead, the aim is to properly execute the planned exercise with a view to achieving performance for one's goal. Rémy Coste World Champion mid-distance

A good training session is therefore achieved when the planned exercise is properly executed. For example, an endurance session that should be done at low intensity, but for a long duration, will only be effective if you have managed to control your dog or team well at low speed and without pulling.

WHY TRAIN YOUR DOG FOR SPORT ?

There are several benefits to training your dog for sports:

• having a fit and balanced dog through regular and controlled exercise
• prevent injuries by controlling your dog and maintaining regular training
• achieve performance goals for races or personal sports objectives

Adopting a structured and quality training will bring you the satisfaction of having a dog in great shape and enjoying its potential. By focusing your attention on your dog and its balance, you will also strengthen your relationship and share great moments of companionship through sports.

Training Planning: Anticipate and Adapt

Planning your dog's training involves creating a roadmap of the trainings to be completed until reaching your goal. It can be more or less detailed depending on your needs and the level of performance you seek. A good method is to plan your training in the form of backward planning, starting from your goal (a race, a trip, a sports challenge) and then working backwards.

When you tackle planning your workouts, it is useful to keep these principles in mind:

• Regularity : shorter, regular, and frequent sessions are better than long, infrequent ones
• Progressivity: gradual increase in training load to manage fatigue and limit the risk of injury
• variability: vary the routes and exercises as well as the training loads
• recovery: it can be active (at the end of a session or after a race round) or passive by letting the dogs rest for a few days after a big training block, for example.
• adaptability: to train your dog throughout the year, you will need to adapt to your constraints (professional, family, geographical...), the weather, and the current condition...
•  Individualization: Each dog is unique and may react differently to training. Individualizing the training is essential for each dog to thrive in a team. It also allows you to have a more homogeneous team, and therefore more effective.
• specificity : specific work on endurance, strength, and speed will be much more effective. You can also dedicate sessions to obedience or other very specific areas where you wish to improve (maneuvers, use of new equipment, etc.).

Planning involves creating a roadmap for your training sessions while taking these different principles into account as much as possible. It can help you organize your training cycles in preparation for a sports event or integrate and anticipate your various constraints. This roadmap is not fixed and should be regularly updated. Be sure to compare it with the sessions completed, their results, and adjust it if necessary.

Warm-up, work, recovery: structuring your training session

A training session is always divided into three parts:

• The warm-up : essential for preparing your dog for exertion. It should last 15-20 minutes, be done in control and without pulling the dog, on foot or on a bike behind you. Some mushers also use a "walker," a type of large carousel, to warm up their dogs.
• Work : it is the time when you perform the exercises planned during your session.
• Active recovery : immediately after the workout session, perform 15-20 minutes at low speed and under control to allow your dogs to cool down and eliminate muscle waste produced during exertion. You can perform a second active recovery session 5-6 hours after a major effort using the same principle.

Gentle massages with a massage gel can also aid recovery. Performed regularly and without causing pain to the dog, they can help you detect certain muscle tensions or traumas that need attention.

During a race, follow the same structure: warm-up, race or stage, recovery.

Nutrition: When to Feed Your Sport Dog ?

Dogs must have completely finished their digestionBefore exerting effort. Indeed, a full stomach increases the risk of stomach torsion. Additionally, during exertion, digestion is disrupted, which can lead to issues such as diarrhea or vomiting. We therefore advise feeding and hydrating your dogs after active recovery and conducting the next exertion 15 to 18 hours after the last meal.

Hydration of your dogs outside of meals can be encouraged by adding some kibble, a bit of meat, or some oil to water to increase palatability. Make sure your dogs drink well during recovery and 1-2 hours before exertion.

Endurance, strength, and speed: three training focuses for sled dogs.

To be effective, training dogs, like humans, must be structured around three specific but complementary main areas: endurance, strength, and speed. Through this specific work, you will subsequently improve your dog's overall performance.

Endurance 80% Strength 15% Speed 5%

Endurance: The Foundation of All Performance

Endurance is by farthe most important part of any trainingPhysics. It must representat least 80%Of training volume, even if you are sprinting. Through long sessions at low intensity, you develop foundational qualities and the necessary base for any performance while limiting the risk of injury.

Endurance work is performed at low speed, without harnessing the dog, and is therefore generally done off-leash under control or on a leash. Requiring very little energy from the dog, it can be done for a large part of the year, or even all year round. Constantly controlling the dog is essential in this type of exercise. Prior training is crucial to ensure the dog stays well behind you.

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A post shared by Rémy Coste, Aurelie Delattre (@coste_racedog)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rémy Coste, Aurelie Delattre (@coste_racedog)

Strength: Developing Pulling Power

The sport of dog harnessing is unique in that it requires strength, and therefore power, from the dog. To develop these qualities, you can perform some...low-speed harnessed sessions with a heavy load. Strength training sessions should only represent about15%Of your total training volume. The distance traveled does not matter. It is mainly important that in each session, all the dogs are harnessed and pull with strength. The dogs must remain calm during the breaks between each session to recover well.

As with any harness work, strength sessions should not be performed at temperatures above 12°C.

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Speed: increase top speed and average speed

Speed sessions represent approximately5%Training. This very intense work is done harnessed and therefore at temperatures below 12°C. In the form of more or less long series depending on the fitness level, we willrun the dog or the team at maximum speedWith breaks between each set. By developing its Maximum Aerobic Speed (the famous MAS, well known to athletes), the dog is able to run faster and longer.

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A post shared by Rémy Coste, Aurelie Delattre (@coste_racedog)

These three training blocks (endurance, strength, speed) are common to all disciplines of canine harness sports. It is up to you to adjust the training volume dedicated to each area of work according to the qualities you wish to prioritize for your dog or team. As a sprint race approaches, for example, you may choose to significantly increase the speed sessions.

To remember

• Training is not a race, but an exercise.
• Schedule your workouts for better organization.
• Ensure that your dog has fully digested its meal before exertion (15 to 18 hours).
• Always start with a 15-20 minute warm-up at low speed, in controlled free mode.
• Don't forget active recovery (15-20 minutes) after each session or race.
• Basic endurance work should represent 80% of training time and is done in a controlled free manner at low speed.
• Strength is developed through low-speed pulling exercises and should account for 15% of training time.
• Speed work accounts for barely 5% of training time, but it is very intense.

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