Post by APBT Answers on Sept 17, 2007 22:06:45 GMT -5
How well muscled a dog is depends on a few factors.
1. Genetics
A dog may be naturally toned and easy to condition further genetically. He will show muscle without working hardly at all. Just from everyday activity. The same is true of "soft" dogs. These dogs are genetically less muscular and will take a lot more work to build up.
2. Nutrition
What you feed your dog will also have something to do with the degree of muscle. If they are on a poor diet they will not be as muscular as they could be. They might even have a rough or dull coat. Sometimes poor nutrition will cause them to be too lean, lack muscle or be obese. If you underfeed your dog they will not put on muscle and if you overfeed your dog they will always be soft because they are too fat.
3. Activity Level
If you have a very active dog who is always running/playing they will be giving themselves a little workout all the time. In this they are building muscle and keeping toned/fit. If you have a dog that lays on the couch all day he is likely to have less muscle, although some couch potatos will have no muscle and some fairly good tone depending on genetics and diet.
The rest is up to you. The 4th is going to be your conditioning methods. The more work you put in a dog with the right nutrition and a health dog the better they will look.
Dogs also genetically have different muscle, some of which can be muniplulated by the of work they do too.
If you have a working dog, long, lean muscle is desired due to the fact that short, bulky muscle heats up faster and cools down slower. If you are showing your dog to original working standards you will want them to look similar to a conditioned working dog. The muscle types are caused by genetics just they a lot of natural muscle or lack there of is.
1. Genetics
A dog may be naturally toned and easy to condition further genetically. He will show muscle without working hardly at all. Just from everyday activity. The same is true of "soft" dogs. These dogs are genetically less muscular and will take a lot more work to build up.
2. Nutrition
What you feed your dog will also have something to do with the degree of muscle. If they are on a poor diet they will not be as muscular as they could be. They might even have a rough or dull coat. Sometimes poor nutrition will cause them to be too lean, lack muscle or be obese. If you underfeed your dog they will not put on muscle and if you overfeed your dog they will always be soft because they are too fat.
3. Activity Level
If you have a very active dog who is always running/playing they will be giving themselves a little workout all the time. In this they are building muscle and keeping toned/fit. If you have a dog that lays on the couch all day he is likely to have less muscle, although some couch potatos will have no muscle and some fairly good tone depending on genetics and diet.
The rest is up to you. The 4th is going to be your conditioning methods. The more work you put in a dog with the right nutrition and a health dog the better they will look.
Dogs also genetically have different muscle, some of which can be muniplulated by the of work they do too.
If you have a working dog, long, lean muscle is desired due to the fact that short, bulky muscle heats up faster and cools down slower. If you are showing your dog to original working standards you will want them to look similar to a conditioned working dog. The muscle types are caused by genetics just they a lot of natural muscle or lack there of is.