True CYJ. A dog is just physically built and anatomically designed to walk at a leisurely pace. A dog walking by your knee would have to walk for miles, maybe not even measured in hours but in days. It was way things were intended. Like most things there are tons of different methods to the same end goal. I use a six foot lead with a lightweight pulling harness. I leave the collar on and I made a small double snapped lead to connect the two. (there is no tension on this, just ties the collar to the harness. We were walking two dogs in a field once and one was pulling to get at the other dog, spun around and backed out of the pulling harness. It nearly cost two forfeits. So I use the small double snap as an insurance item). I like the dog to drag me where we are going. I want the lead tight and my arm extended. Same when he is pulling chains. I use the long lead in a field on the warm up and cool down periods.


I too have a long cable between a tree and the bumper of my truck. It is about 300 or so feet but has stops around 275-290 ft. I hook him up and zing by on the four wheeler. They chase me back and forth for sprints. I think they get as much from this as anything. It is an exercise that they are pouring in all their effort with no prompting or equipment, just natural all out effort. I do not think a person can dictate that amount of effort into a dog.


On the equipment side I am a carpet mill fan. I try to use it two-three-four times a week depending on the dog and the weather. I too like mine low to the ground as it is un-natural for the dog to stand on something that is moving under him. They learn to do it and make it look like a breeze but it just was not meant to be. And some actually enjoy it and that is always a plus. But I agree a dog up off the ground is in a tense state and that has to be factored in the work load. A dog that is comfortable running on the ground can do it for so long but a dog that is tensed and 'just doing it' can't go as long. That is where reading a dog is so important. Using another persons written keep is nothing more than a guide. Forcing ten minutes on a dog today because that is what the keep schedule says is where a lot of keeps turn south. The dogs are not machines. No one can turn them on and off like a light switch 100% of the time. Learning to read a dog and in turn resting a dog is about the finest art there is in these dogs. Any dingaling can force hours of work upon a dog but on show night that dingaling will have his ass handed to him more times than not, with good dogs being piled up along the way. EWO