Conditioning a dog UP TO WEIGHT??

[No Quarter Kennel]

So back to the original question. Since we all agree that AIR is a top, if not THE TOP PRIORITY, then it makes most sense to condition a dog DOWN to his best weight.

[Officially Retired]

So back to the original question. Since we all agree that AIR is a top, if not THE TOP PRIORITY, then it makes most sense to condition a dog DOWN to his best weight.

I agree. A certain healthy degree of muscle mass, and even certain (minimal) amounts of fat, are necessary for optimal health, let alone optimal performance.

So to force a dog to go through the rigors of a hard keep as a "wet noodle," with an insufficient amount of muscle and trace fat ... all so that he can be brought "up" to a peak weight (which itself is too low for a dog to stay at normally) ... simply cannot be "best practice" for the dog.