The Lazy persons' way to condition dogs for AD - get a friend, put long leashes on dogs, get a pickup truck, and a long gravel or dirt road. Put all together and voila! You can sit there on the tailgate holding leashes of dogs trotting behind truck on dirt road going 7-9 mph, clocking the distance, while listening to music (have to have a friend to drive of course or this formula won't work) - but you can get multiple dogs fit this way, also condition their feet, and they seem to really enjoy the exercise. I've conditioned all of my dogs for AD and breed surveys in this way - of course this doesn't help condition me at all, but oh well.
Molly
Eichenluft Working German Shepherds
http://workinggermanshepherd.com

What about the exhaust from the vehicle? That can't be all that good for the puppers.

Find a nice big field or park and get yourself a Chuck-It http://leerburg.com/772.htm It's the only way I've been able to truly exercise my work dog….. and it’s less impact that hard surface running.

I belong to the same club as Dennis ( old fat guys club, memberships availble through out the U.S. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) and I'm trying to keep *four* dogs in shape.

My sub-division circle is 6/10 of a mile long. I bike each dog at a fast trot for three laps, giving them 1.8 miles at a brisk pace ( a bit faster than I've done AD's at ), and then I rapidly switch out the dogs. I can do all four in about one hour, 15 mins. I'm trying for four exercise periods per week, now that it's cooled down a bit here in the deep South.
Probably better exercise for me than it is for them, but it's a good base, and they all also get worked several times weekly tracking, and doing OB and protection.

Added benefit - really helps out with keeping the dogs nails short. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Will - that's the ONLY way we can keep Ceili's nails trimmed, it seems. She's so petrified of having her nails cut, and my husband and I got tired of wrestling with the alligator or taking her and having the vet do it (Petsmart, etc won't touch her).

So - he went back to running, and voila. Asphalt dremel. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> My 9-year-old bikes with them, which is helping her stamina and condition, too - she's got the Regional Oireachtas (Irish dance championships) in three weeks!

Now if I'd just get my hiney off the chair and go do something...can I claim baby weight when my youngest is 3???

Does anyone have any suggestions for indoor exercise? its been raining for three days here.

I belong to the tailgate club. We have some great rural places to road dogs around here. They are far enough back from the truck that the exhaust doesn't bother them.

The dogs figure it out pretty quick.

With field hounds, we do distance at a trot 2 days a week, long walking out (at a walk/light trot 5+ miles) one day a week, and sprints 2 days a week. This works both endurance and "twitch".

Scootering and skijourning are a blast. Behind two big greys you really fly. I caught my kids trying to rollerblade behind them once -- thank the gods they were wearing pads!

Don't know any way to indoor condition except treadmills. We bought some jointly years ago. I like what the combination of sprint/walk/trot accomplishes better.

You might be able to adapt this. I knew a handler (dobes) years ago who's dogs always looked great. Good muscle, deep cuts. Since he was on the road showing so much, and not exactly the most fit guy in the world, I wondered how he managed it.

He used to mark out a "ring" a little bigger than a show ring (20' on a side). He trotted his dog 20 laps in one direction, 20 laps in reverse, and then threw the ball for them 20 times. Rinse and repeat 5x. I know he started them at 5-5-5 and worked up all the reps.

Treadmill sounds like a good idea, I'll buy one and tell the Mrs. its for her. if you don't hear from me for a while you can figure out what happened. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />