How can a dog have so much stamina?

Kaneman · 02-23-2009, 08:52 PM

This is Jethro, he was an out of control and dog aggressive Boxer that my wife and I adopted. I promptly gave him a job and put him to work as a puller and transporter. We began with wild unpredictable runs on rollerblades and progressed to impressively controlled marathons and then to a kid-pulling cart.

He's about two years old and I've had him for over a year. He's about 95lbs and I'm about 195. He pulls me (without the cart) at a consistent 20mph for a while and levels off around 15mph with occasional bursts. He knows left, right, whoa and stop so I've managed to survive these daily excursions in spite of running across a rabbit or squirrel here and there.

Last Tuesday I took him to a local park with paved trails to do some skating/pulling. I took a GPS with me to track our mileage and speed. He pulled me right at 6 miles (don't have the speed since we stop for breaks). He does not trot, he runs the entire time save for water breaks. At our half-time I let him swim in the river and he proceeded to chase ducks up stream for 100yds....then he was ready for more running. Once we got home he still had enough energy left to wrestle with my choc lab.

At the dog park he outruns 95% of all the dogs he coerces into chasing him. He rarely tires. He can pull the cart with two kids in it and me for great distances as well, though we've never gone as much as 6 miles. He pulls me up long steep hills...like the little engine that could.

He doesn't eat a great amount of food (5-6 cups a day) and he folds up into a space small enough to occupy only one couch cushion. My question is how does he manage to have such unbelievable stamina and strength. Or any dog for that matter. How do their bodies run so much more efficiently than ours or does a dog not feel fatigue or muscle burn?

Thoughts?

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CHEVROLET S-10 EV SPECIFICATIONS

Lamnidae · 02-23-2009, 08:55 PM

Dogs are awesome.

Nuff said.

Dave · 02-23-2009, 09:00 PM

you hit it in the second half, way more toned

the chi · 02-23-2009, 09:51 PM

That is hilarious, I am LOVING the cart. Awesome dog and well, they just dont feel or think the way humans do. Our mental weakness accounts for most of our weakness and inability to do things. If we never knew what we COULDNT do, there would be no limits to what we can do.

We tell ourselves "I can't", and they never stop to think about if they can or not, they just do!

Ducati Diva · 02-23-2009, 09:53 PM

I want to ride in the cart!!! That looks like a blast!
Dogs are amazing creatures!

OneSickPsycho · 02-23-2009, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Chi

That is hilarious, I am LOVING the cart. Awesome dog and well, they just dont feel or think the way humans do. Our mental weakness accounts for most of our weakness and inability to do things. If we never knew what we COULDNT do, there would be no limits to what we can do.

We tell ourselves "I can't", and they never stop to think about if they can or not, they just do!

So is that why my cat can stand in front of the fridge and jump to the top without even running... and I can't jump onto the roof of my two-story condo no matter how much of a running start I get?

Dave · 02-23-2009, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

So is that why my cat can stand in front of the fridge and jump to the top without even running... and I can't jump onto the roof of my two-story condo no matter how much of a running start I get?

i wanna see video. max's vertical range is about five feet

jtemple · 02-23-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Chi

We tell ourselves "I can't", and they never stop to think about if they can or not, they just do!

If you can beat that mind game, you can really push yourself at the gym, that's for sure. I'm slowly discovering that no matter how bad an exercise hurts, I can usually keep going. I surprise myself quite a bit!

Don't forget dogs have a much shorter lifespan. All that pushing and pushing might be wearing them out. They sprint through life, we jog.

Kaneman · 02-23-2009, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Chi

That is hilarious, I am LOVING the cart. Awesome dog and well, they just dont feel or think the way humans do. Our mental weakness accounts for most of our weakness and inability to do things. If we never knew what we COULDNT do, there would be no limits to what we can do.

We tell ourselves "I can't", and they never stop to think about if they can or not, they just do!

That's a great explanation actually, we could all learn more from our dogs! haha

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ducati Diva

I want to ride in the cart!!! That looks like a blast!
Dogs are amazing creatures!

You totally could no problem. Actually, we're about to move to a place where the roads aren't as great for rollerblading and I'm developing a Boxer Chariot. Plan to use the same platform but modify the balance point on the cart so I can stand up gladiator style. Expect pics of that in a couple months!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtemple

Don't forget dogs have a much shorter lifespan. All that pushing and pushing might be wearing them out. They sprint through life, we jog.

That's a good point too, but shut your mouth anyway 'cause my dog will live to be at least 60.

________
Weed Vaporizer

Kaneman · 02-24-2009, 08:42 PM

Here's the article I referred to. A lil more scientific explanation on the extreme end of dog athleticism.

Why sled dogs are super dogs
Study: Athleticism of Alaskan huskies is superior to most other mammals
Discovery Channel
updated 12:27 p.m. CT, Thurs., Sept. 25, 2008

Alaskan huskies that participate in the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race must run 1,100 miles while enduring heavy blizzards, temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 60 miles per hour, all of which earn the hearty canines status as the world's premier ultra-endurance animal athletes.

How do they do it? New research suggests the canines are superior to most other mammals, including humans, in at least three key areas: They are unusually adept at adapting to exercise, they have superior aerobic capacity and are unusually efficient in using food as fuel.

Michael Davis, a professor at Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, and his team have been studying Iditarod-racing dogs for 10 years.

He added that as the program developed, thanks to the support of mushers, he and his colleagues started studying dogs in other races and even began to conduct simulated races that could employ more scientific controls, such as monitoring the dog's heart and lung function.

"Overall, in the past 10 years, we've probably studied well over 5,000 dogs in various studies," he said.

Davis and his team noted that Iditarod dogs, which compete each March by running from Anchorage to Nome, do not usually suffer the adverse effects that are more common in other athletes. These include immune suppression, fatigue, muscle damage and stomach ulcers.

Husky vs. human
Probing deeper into the dog's physiology, they made three other determinations, which will be outlined in a presentation at this week's American Physiological Society conference in South Carolina.

First, they found that the dogs rapidly adapt to sustained, strenuous exercise. Four days into the Iditarod, the dogs' biochemical profile returns to where it was before the race began, as though nothing had happened. Elite human athletes, in contrast, show signs of fatigue after continuous exercise and require recovery time.

Second, Iditarod dogs possess an enormous aerobic capacity, which refers to the ratio of volume of oxygen to body weight per minute. A fully conditioned sled dog's aerobic capacity is twice that of an untrained sled dog.

Finally, each approximately 55-pound sled dog can burn up to 12,000 kilocalories per day, which is the equivalent of 24 McDonald's Big Macs. A human would have to consume and efficiently process the equivalent of 72 Big Macs to fuel a day's Iditarod run.

Davis believes the dogs possess very thin cell membranes within their muscle fibers that enable the canines to absorb nutrients from the bloodstream while exercising.

"The muscle has two choices for the source of energy ? use what is abundant in the bloodstream, or use what is stored in muscles," he explained. "The latter is limited, and the more the muscle taps into those limited stores, the faster it fatigues."

He suspects sled dogs can consume a commercially-produced racing diet, supplemented with everything from salmon to congealed lard balls, and quickly convert it to usable energy.

Yet another animal could be nipping at the canines' top status, however, as man's most attentive follower.

In a separate study, Clive Wynne, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Florida, and his colleagues compared the performance of wolves against stray domestic dogs, to see which would be better at following human signals in a "watch and point to a can" test.

The wolves won.

"When it comes to watching humans, anything dogs can do, wolves can do just as well," Wynne concluded, adding that, "arguably, the wolves are better."

With their wild ways, wolves aren't exactly lining up for the Iditarod, though, which requires training runs that began this month.
? 2009 Discovery Channel

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26889282/
________
PRILOSEC SICKNESS

02-23-2009, 08:52 PM	#1
Kaneman AMA Supersport Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Odessa, TX Moto: 2000 Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird Posts: 4,931	How can a dog have so much stamina? This is Jethro, he was an out of control and dog aggressive Boxer that my wife and I adopted. I promptly gave him a job and put him to work as a puller and transporter. We began with wild unpredictable runs on rollerblades and progressed to impressively controlled marathons and then to a kid-pulling cart. He's about two years old and I've had him for over a year. He's about 95lbs and I'm about 195. He pulls me (without the cart) at a consistent 20mph for a while and levels off around 15mph with occasional bursts. He knows left, right, whoa and stop so I've managed to survive these daily excursions in spite of running across a rabbit or squirrel here and there. Last Tuesday I took him to a local park with paved trails to do some skating/pulling. I took a GPS with me to track our mileage and speed. He pulled me right at 6 miles (don't have the speed since we stop for breaks). He does not trot, he runs the entire time save for water breaks. At our half-time I let him swim in the river and he proceeded to chase ducks up stream for 100yds....then he was ready for more running. Once we got home he still had enough energy left to wrestle with my choc lab. At the dog park he outruns 95% of all the dogs he coerces into chasing him. He rarely tires. He can pull the cart with two kids in it and me for great distances as well, though we've never gone as much as 6 miles. He pulls me up long steep hills...like the little engine that could. He doesn't eat a great amount of food (5-6 cups a day) and he folds up into a space small enough to occupy only one couch cushion. My question is how does he manage to have such unbelievable stamina and strength. Or any dog for that matter. How do their bodies run so much more efficiently than ours or does a dog not feel fatigue or muscle burn? Thoughts? ________ CHEVROLET S-10 EV SPECIFICATIONS Last edited by Kaneman; 05-09-2011 at 07:33 PM..

02-23-2009, 09:53 PM	#5
Ducati Diva just learning Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: western nc Moto: 1996 M900 Posts: 1,348	I want to ride in the cart!!! That looks like a blast! Dogs are amazing creatures! __________________ Todays mighty oak is just yesterdays nut who stood it's ground!

02-24-2009, 08:42 PM	#10
Kaneman AMA Supersport Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Odessa, TX Moto: 2000 Honda CBR1100XX Blackbird Posts: 4,931	Here's the article I referred to. A lil more scientific explanation on the extreme end of dog athleticism. Why sled dogs are super dogs Study: Athleticism of Alaskan huskies is superior to most other mammals Discovery Channel updated 12:27 p.m. CT, Thurs., Sept. 25, 2008 Alaskan huskies that participate in the grueling Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race must run 1,100 miles while enduring heavy blizzards, temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds up to 60 miles per hour, all of which earn the hearty canines status as the world's premier ultra-endurance animal athletes. How do they do it? New research suggests the canines are superior to most other mammals, including humans, in at least three key areas: They are unusually adept at adapting to exercise, they have superior aerobic capacity and are unusually efficient in using food as fuel. Michael Davis, a professor at Oklahoma State University's Center for Veterinary Health Sciences, and his team have been studying Iditarod-racing dogs for 10 years. He added that as the program developed, thanks to the support of mushers, he and his colleagues started studying dogs in other races and even began to conduct simulated races that could employ more scientific controls, such as monitoring the dog's heart and lung function. "Overall, in the past 10 years, we've probably studied well over 5,000 dogs in various studies," he said. Davis and his team noted that Iditarod dogs, which compete each March by running from Anchorage to Nome, do not usually suffer the adverse effects that are more common in other athletes. These include immune suppression, fatigue, muscle damage and stomach ulcers. Husky vs. human Probing deeper into the dog's physiology, they made three other determinations, which will be outlined in a presentation at this week's American Physiological Society conference in South Carolina. First, they found that the dogs rapidly adapt to sustained, strenuous exercise. Four days into the Iditarod, the dogs' biochemical profile returns to where it was before the race began, as though nothing had happened. Elite human athletes, in contrast, show signs of fatigue after continuous exercise and require recovery time. Second, Iditarod dogs possess an enormous aerobic capacity, which refers to the ratio of volume of oxygen to body weight per minute. A fully conditioned sled dog's aerobic capacity is twice that of an untrained sled dog. Finally, each approximately 55-pound sled dog can burn up to 12,000 kilocalories per day, which is the equivalent of 24 McDonald's Big Macs. A human would have to consume and efficiently process the equivalent of 72 Big Macs to fuel a day's Iditarod run. Davis believes the dogs possess very thin cell membranes within their muscle fibers that enable the canines to absorb nutrients from the bloodstream while exercising. "The muscle has two choices for the source of energy ? use what is abundant in the bloodstream, or use what is stored in muscles," he explained. "The latter is limited, and the more the muscle taps into those limited stores, the faster it fatigues." He suspects sled dogs can consume a commercially-produced racing diet, supplemented with everything from salmon to congealed lard balls, and quickly convert it to usable energy. Yet another animal could be nipping at the canines' top status, however, as man's most attentive follower. In a separate study, Clive Wynne, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Florida, and his colleagues compared the performance of wolves against stray domestic dogs, to see which would be better at following human signals in a "watch and point to a can" test. The wolves won. "When it comes to watching humans, anything dogs can do, wolves can do just as well," Wynne concluded, adding that, "arguably, the wolves are better." With their wild ways, wolves aren't exactly lining up for the Iditarod, though, which requires training runs that began this month. ? 2009 Discovery Channel URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26889282/ ________ PRILOSEC SICKNESS Last edited by Kaneman; 05-09-2011 at 07:35 PM..

02-23-2009, 09:00 PM	#3
Dave Chaotic Neutral Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Cherry Hill NJ Moto: GV1200 Madura, Hawk gt Posts: 13,992	you hit it in the second half, way more toned