No, I got your point. But I guess I wasn't clear enough in making mine.

Sport or work...doesn't make a difference. Both carry risks to greater or lesser degrees. The point of fitness is to prepare for those risks. But one doesn't incorporate those risks into training. It's totally counter-intuitive to risk injuries with the intention of preventing them.

We are kind of on the same page. Like you said, even though live rounds may be fired on the job...you don't do that in training. Just because a suspect might smack your dog with a wine bottle, doesn't mean you do that in training. Just becaue the dog might take off on a cold sprint on the job, doesn't mean you should do that in training (though you certainly prepare for it). Force doesn't not strengthen structures....but it can certainly compromise them. Low-force exercise, on the other hand, does strengthen them but will NOT compromise them.

"We sweat in training so we don't bleed on the streets."

Exactly. We're just not quite in agreement as to how.

I'm sure you will find most law enforcement handlers will do anything they can to ensure thier dogs health and safety, however when the time comes to perform, the only concern is, the dog performs until it is no longer able.

No point of contention here.

However, I will say I'm talking out my ass when it comes to exactly HOW one can apply these principles to a canine body. I really have no idea, and I'm not even gonna get into it. It'll suffice to say I'm gonna look for a way!

Are you guys talking training or conditioning?

You train for what can happen, you condition to do the best job possible of getting the body ready for what can happen.

Training- In the middle of a shift you take your dog to a training scenario at a strange place and work it with your decoy just like a real situation. Cold out of the car and right into the shiznit.

Conditioning- You put your dog in the water, do some miles on the bike or treadmill, play ball uphill, Blah blah blah. . . Keep it as safe as possible, within reason.

Two different things, both necessary for work.

Woops...Conditioning, yes. Thank you. Every instance in which I said "training" replace it with "conditioning." <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Perhaps that will make more sense now.

I will make at times make him work to his physical limits.

As far as conditioning goes, this should be the norm. More precisely, trying to surpass the previous physical limit. But I regress to the last paragraph of my last post.

No arguement here, as you say, we seem to be on the same page. At any rate, conditioning is certainly a vital process during training that ensures the best performance.

DFrost