How can a dog have so much stamina?

[Kaneman]

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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[Lamnidae]

Dogs are awesome.


Nuff said.

[Dave]

you hit it in the second half, way more toned

[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!

[Ducati Diva]

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

[OneSickPsycho]

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?

[jtemple]

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]

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

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!

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.
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[Dave]

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

[OneSickPsycho]

Originally Posted by Dave

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

I've only ever seen it happen once... He's fuckin' lazy, but I'll try to coax him...