More winter training for Maria and Flyte, this time with FitPAWS canine conditioning

Sheep dog on ball

Us agility folk are very aware of the physical demands our sport places on the body of our dogs and although they are first and foremost our family pets, they are also athletes in every sense of the word.  Now we all know that the body of an athlete should be physically toned and in tip-top condition to enable them to perform and excel in whatever sport or task is required, achieved with the appropriate training, nutrition and body conditioning.  We wouldn’t expect our Team GB sports stars to head off to PyeongChang for the Winter Olympics with zero preparation and the same should also apply to our canine sports stars.

Although all dogs need daily exercise, ones who regularly work or perform need a more expansive exercise regime to maintain top physical form.  Physical conditioning involves not only exercise, but also stretching and warm-up and cool-down exercises.  Most dogs do not exercise themselves with peak conditioning in mind, so it is important to make different forms of exercise part of our dog’s daily routine to maintain top body form.

With Flyte’s agility specific winter training going well and her nutritional needs taken care of (thank you Cotswold RAW!) we wanted to brush up on our body conditioning skills, so we booked onto a FitPAWS canine conditioning for sports workshop with Ann Harmes which was being hosted by agility club, Megagility.  Ann’s company, Camddwr Canine is partnered with FitPAWS USA and is the UK Distributor for FitPAWS equipment.

After an introductory presentation giving us a general overview of canine conditioning we then moved on to the practical side of the workshop with Ann taking us through a variety of exercises with a step by step explanation on how to train each one correctly and how our dogs would benefit before we all attempted the exercises individually under Ann’s supervision and expert eye.

It was great fun for both dog and handler brushing up on skills we already had, fine-tuning where appropriate and learning new exercises using a variety of equipment including Bench Steps and FitPAWS Balance Discs and Fitbones.  The introductory level exercises we practised, ranging from putting front paws on an object, pivoting with front feet on an object, back feet awareness and high fives are all designed to help the dogs to use different muscle groups and by adding this strengthening activity to our dog’s training activities many benefits can be seen, including increased core strength, stabilisation of weak areas to help prevent possible future injury, improved balance and body awareness, improved reaction and control, increased range of motion in joints and elongation of muscles and last but not least, strengthening the bond with our dog through interactive positive training.

I must just point out that you don’t need to own the entire range of FitPAWS equipment to be able to exercise your dog in this way.  With a little imagination and improvisation using different sized boxes, a step or stairs and sofa cushions, the same results can still be achieved, whether you own a sporting dog, you want to try puppy foundation work, help your dog with a weight loss programme or aid with the rehabilitation and recovery of an injured dog.

Flyte and I really enjoyed learning more about canine conditioning and adding new exercises to our repertoire and can’t wait to start perfecting our new skills and trying out more advanced exercises before too long on another of Ann’s FitPAWS Workshops.  Happy exercising everyone.