Is your dog an athlete? Perhaps a working herding or hunting dog? Or maybe a canine sports competitor?
It takes a little extra care to bring a dog to this level of performance. Peak Performance: Coaching the Canine Athlete by M. Christine Zink will walk you through the process.
Peak Performance starts off with the dog’s body, how it is built, and how it moves, complete with useful diagrams the whole way. Next comes some guidelines for those looking for their next canine athlete, whether a puppy or an adult dog.
This preliminary information addressed, routine maintenance takes center stage. Matters such as grooming, feeding, and veterinary care are covered, followed by a particularly meaty chapter on conditioning your dog in both mind and body in a way that maximizes stamina and avoids burnout.
The subsequent chapters of Peak Performance discuss problems that may arise, including lameness and other health problems that can hurt performance. The ethics of performance-enhancing drugs for dogs are discussed. The final chapter covers stress and how to reduce its effects.
This is not an average dog care book focused on couch potatoes or even backyard pets. This is for the serious canine coach with an athlete to train. That said, it is surprisingly nontechnical. The information is readily accessible without much prior knowledge. Therefore, the owner of the aforementioned couch potato may still enjoy Peak Performance for its illustrated and beginner-friendly presentation of canine anatomy!
Highly recommended for diehard dog lovers.
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