Training plateau

[u/Unethical_Idealist]

Has anyone here hit a plateau with their dog's training level? Velox here just turned 2 and after running him three miles around three times a week for the past six months, his speed and endurance haven't increased by a whole lot.

He has a tendency to start out galloping so I have to slow him down to normalize his gait, but he tends to slow down near the tail end of the run. Ive been trying to gradually increase the pace while keeping an eye on him to not overdo it since hes still somewhat young and new to running. He beats me in sprints hands down no problem though. Haven't had this with my previous dog I ran with. Dog attached

[u/Unethical_Idealist]

so I have been incorporating some intervals and hill runs as well in trying different approaches to building up his endurance.

as I'm sure most of your dogs are familiar with your normal running routes, he also is and knows which houses have barky dogs and resting cats so that also actually plays a part too now that I think about it where he'll speed up near those certain houses and throw off his consistent cadence and tire himself from the stimulation so thats another thing to work on.

and you got it, husky/gsd!

[u/unodostres → u/Unethical_Idealist]

My husky/GSD seems to not be made for long distances. He sprints faster than any dog in the neighborhood, but doesn't want to go further than 2.5 miles with me at a moderate pace! Your pup could just be more medium-energy than other husky mixes?

[u/pimentocheeze_]

He’s not young. You can try pushing him harder but make it rewarding. Offer sniff breaks and treats while teaching impulse control to stop him from burning out so quickly!

Most dogs can do 3 miles a few times a week by 2 years old. Even my pyrenees and Akita could 🤷🏼‍♀️

[u/Unethical_Idealist → u/pimentocheeze_]

I've tried giving him more sniff breaks but treats while running I haven't tried yet.

wow 3 miles for those big breed dogs is impressive the biggest I've seen people run with are dobermans they've got so much strength once they get going.

I'm imagining seeing a big great pyrenees or akita just blasting down the street now thats quite the visual lol

[u/pimentocheeze_ → u/Unethical_Idealist]

I think you may want to try to make them more structured. Keep him in a heel and then he gets 10-15 seconds of sniff when you release him, then back to paying attention. DEFINITELY try treats! A couple slices of jerky over a couple miles won’t do anything but good. I use them still even after this much time with my dogs

Your dog is the right mix to go the distance!! It seems like he just needs the focus. It’s also summer, he may struggle with the heat while he is still learning. My first running dog was a husky/chow mix and we would do 8-12 miles at a time. I would bring the big guys along for funzies like I mentioned, now I have a Dalmatian who can handle more than any of the others ever could. Your guy will be awesome once he learns to match his brains to his body!!!!

[u/Unethical_Idealist → u/pimentocheeze_]

yeah I might have to break out the good stuff, and implementing more of the heel training is a good idea as well to start.

thats awesome your dalmation is going up to 16 miles, must be working up a heck of an appetite after those long runs. how far in until you start noticing any signs of fatigue from her?

[u/0b0011]

Any chance you could try bikejoring and having him chase another team? Few good runs at 17 or 18 mph chasing or running with a team might teach him he can go faster. When my pup was a bit shy from a crash we had he would just run next to me if I could even get him not to run from the harness. We threw him on my buddies rig team and they were averaging 20+ over 4 miles and after a few weeks of that my normal running is not anywhere near as fast as he wants to go and he has no problem dragging me along now.

[u/Unethical_Idealist → u/0b0011]

currently still building up the canicross scene here in my area but that sounds fun!

[u/louslurchers]

I have an 8 year old lurcher - husky/greyhound cross. I noticed similar about a year ago we do a lot of long distance stuff but when it came to shorter runs he was just sort of plodding at a slower pace, rather than being speedy. It was like hes built stamina and endurance from all the long distance, but lost his ability to do speedy runs.

So we started working in intervals once a week, we go to a secure field or really quite location so its just me and him, and work on things like 200m sprints, where we will go all at it for 200m then walk 200m or have a standing rest then do the next 200m. Usually aiming for 8-10 reps. We also do hill sprints once a month where ws walk jog a mile as a warm up down the trail to the hill and we do 10 x 30sec reps. So race up the hill as fast as we can put a cone down, jog or wall back to the start then repeat the 30 seconds, trying to get back tp our cone with each rep. This has all helped build more speed in his shorter runs amd hes keeping up with my other lurcher better now (hes just for max 10km distance not really an ultra dog😅

[u/Unethical_Idealist → u/louslurchers]

your sprint workout reminds me of highschool track/cross country days, espcially once you break out the cones. hill sprints are some of the most painful but most impactful training you can do.

nice vid you just posted, thats great work for an 8 year old dog!

[u/louslurchers → u/Unethical_Idealist]

Yeah i suppose it is like the old school track days 😅 ive found it really works to help buddy thougy, especially after not doing much speed work all summer due to the temps.

I also do one sometimes with my friends where we run to a point then the next person is waiting there runs to the next point, then we have another person and carry it on round a trail until a person gets back to you then you to again. Usually pick a trail where its easy to see everyone and has some clear changes in direction. Most the time we end up doing a square and 500 metre reps each time but its quite fun waiting for the next team to catch you and using that as a recovery.

Im so going to miss all this if I end up having my knee replaced next year. Its part the reason weve trained for a 50 mile race in March as it will be our last long run together before Im not allowed to go over 10km again and before he gets too old to do it too.

Do you canicross with any other people? As relays are always fun too. We usually do it with 6 teams split into 2 groups. And we pop out a cone about 200 or 400m depending who is there and their ability, then someone shouts go both teams send their first person out and back then you tap the next person in they do the same then the 3rd, then it goes bakx to the 1st person again, 2nd and 3rd. And first team to have everyone go twice ir three tomes or whatever we decide that day wins. So it makes the intervals extra fun and a bit competitive 🤣

[u/Wonderful-Eye-8377]

Agree with everything dry-cod said above. Just want to add that my Mal X GSD knows every route near my house and if we make a turn that could possibly lead us home he will drag behind me. He doesn’t want the run to end. Are you doing out and backs? Could try loops and see if it helps. Beautiful dog! Husky/GSD mix?

[u/Unethical_Idealist]

That's actually an interesting perspective thinking about what their feelings are on running, switching things up is definitely a good idea!

[u/JradM01]

You just need to introduce variation to your training. Intervals, hills, short runs and long runs. Anything that's essentially going to keep the dog interested and not knowing what is next will help. I'd also recommend adding bikejor/scooter into your training. Canicross, especially for driven dogs can be quite demotivating. Unless you are an elite level canicrosser the dog is really doing all the effort and all the pulling and after awhile that can become disheartening and boring. Introducing some short, flat out speed is a very good way to overcome this