conditioning?

[eskinner45]

I got an eight month old pup I'm working with im exercising her when I work with her but not a lot do I need to be running her a few miles everyday to keep her stamina up so when shes ready to go hunt she wont be out of shape? If so how often and how far?

[1bludawg]

In my experience dogs aren't physically or mentally mature until around two years old .At 8 months i wouldn't worry to much about getting a pup in shape.Let it run and play all it wants and don't worry about conditioning for a few more months .jmo.

[eskinner45]

That males sense but what about when she ks old enough?

[1bludawg]

During the off season i take the dogs out at least once a week and road them from 10 to 20 miles.

[pegleg]

Depends on what you hunt and how and where. But 5-10 miles as often as you can in off season and push them for a few weeks before season . a lot depends on how you hunt. I'm rethinking how many miles s dog travels in a full day after watching the garmin for a few months. I always figured 3 or 4 times what I traveled but it seems to be much more

[tstillwell]

I think she should be hunting now. I start my pups at 6 months.

[eskinner45]

She hasnt really started doing anything with the scent I have and I dont have another dog to take hunting with her that has ever run a cat I have two broke coondogs and when I try to put them on bobcat tracks they dont act a bit interested. My biggest problem is my lack of knowledge I dont really have much of a clue of how to get her to take to the scent.

[dwalton]

I have trained several young dogs by getting on the bobcat track and walking it up. In the snow just show then the track again and again. old luck Dewey

[eskinner45]

That makes enough sense she has at least started acting interested in the cat tracks around the house just smelling them and stuff