Fatigue warning signs?

My Amstaff male was real good at telling me when he wasn`t `feeling it` that day, but my 9 month female pet bull has 10x`s the energy and drive of that old boy (rest his soul) So as training progresses toward a sled pulling harness for her, are there any signs I should be watching for that may suggest she`s over doing it? She slept till noon today, for instance, so we gave her the day off.

 

Today after mile 2 on a familiar trail, her hind legs would get real far apart when she`d tear off after birds or rabbits, and only when chasing, no limping and perfectly normal when walking-though she had lost the `spring` in her step by then. She`s never run like that before and sure looked goofy. Fatigue, normal?

 

Well it sure looked like fatigue, so I completely cut our usuall 2 mile morning leash walk today but she did not appreciate that much so, back to the routine and her normal 2.5 miles in the evening. The city keeps some huge wood chip piles behind a local cemetery and tomorow my wife and I will run her up and down it a few times and see how she does- slightly easier than sand IMO.

 

To wrap things up, this morning was hot and there was only 1 rabbit to chase on the trail not 6 like usuall. The wood chip pile was awesome, she really had to dig that last 6 feet to the top. No goofy legs this time but she was still full of it so I flirt poled her for a few mins. She turned 10 months today, Im sure she was showing fatigue before due to too many hard days in fields and woods, but she recouped 110% with the 1 day off and the half day with just hand walking.

 

you seem to read her fine. A dog acting diff then normal can be a sign, as well as a large tongue and panting excessively. Not showing as much enthusiasm could be a sign. Always give at least one full day a week off (i give 2) and don't work them hard several days in a roll. Like you said above, work hard, then an easy day of hand walking and romping in the backyard then another hard day kinda routine.

 

Thank you Kristi, most days her I fear her body will wear down long before her enthusiam does.