Psst....Wanna know secrets to canine fitness?

Are you interested in canine fitness but find yourself overwhelmed of where to start? It looks like so much fun, right?  All those social media pictures and videos of people and their canine partners doing fitness exercises on bright colored inflatable bones, discs and peanuts looks like a lot of fun to do with your dog.  But what equipment do you buy? Which piece of equipment is right for your dog? How do you teach THAT fancy exercise to your dog? Where do you begin?  It can be overwhelming for someone new to canine fitness and they can tend to focus on elements of fitness rather than seeing the overall big picture.

Can we share a secret to canine fitness that may help you focus on what is the most important factor to improving the fitness and health of your dog? You do not need hundreds of dollars in inflatable equipment or expert dog training skills.  To have meaningful fitness results for your dog, you need a commitment to a consistent and balanced program. A balanced canine fitness program is one that includes strengthening, balance, flexibility, cardiovascular, and mental stimulation.

We do the same thing with a canine fitness program that we do when we’re trying to eat healthier or lose weight. We know that what it takes drop those pounds is as uncomplicated as eating less and exercising more, but we still buy all manner of diet books and fitness equipment. We think we’ll find the magic bullet that will take us on a short cut to meeting our weight loss goals. Or we follow the latest trends to help us stay motivated, so we focus on following the latest diet craze, search for the perfect treadmill, bike, weight systems, and get distracted by the stuff instead of focusing on an overall goal of eating healthy, and exercising on a consistent basis to improve our overall health.

It’s the same when developing a fitness plan for our canine buddies. We get distracted by the bright colors of equipment or the newest streaming video with that fancy exercise requiring multiple layers of dog training skill to execute. These can interfere with our straightforward goal of getting and keeping our dogs in shape.

The key to improving your dog’s fitness level is implementing a consistent and balanced program that includes strengthening, flexibility, cardio, balance, and mental stimulation. A successful program is not about having the latest or greatest fitness equipment; or spending all your time training complicated skills. A successful fitness program can be composed of simple and easy exercises performed on a consistent basis. Yes. It’s really that simple.

Many dog owners believe hiking or swimming is plenty of exercise. Those activities are a great start, but your dog also needs other key components in their fitness plan. Along with the fun cardio activities, your dog needs to work on flexibility, strengthening, and balance. They need a balanced program that strengthens all parts of their body like their rear limbs, trunk/core, and front limbs to keep them strong and reduce chance of injury.  Strong healthy muscles are vital to your dog’s functional movement.

My introduction to fitness began several years ago after my border collie was injured. Even though there wasn’t as much information available then as there is now, it was still overwhelming to decide what I needed and how to get started. Rather than buying a bunch of stuff from the marketplace, I developed a spreadsheet of the rehab exercises from my vet to ensure I was working a balanced exercise program, made my cavaletti sets out of Styrofoam and PVC, and bought two human inflatable discs. I supplemented my homemade and purchased equipment with household items such as chairs, mops, and I even used a surfboard on the water. 

The exercises were not complex and layered, and they didn’t require intensive training on various equipment. The workouts were straightforward and simple, and it didn’t take us long to learn them. The exercises and plan were from a trusted professional who I worked with to ensure my dog was executing them correctly. 

After a year of consistently participating in a balanced and consistent program, my border collie returned to normal health. Not only that, he resumed agility and was even stronger than before. We continued to compete in agility for five more years without another injury. What finally pushed him to retirement was not related to his body health; it was his eye sight.

I saw first-hand what it meant to my dog’s health to participate regularly in a fitness program. I knew I wanted to work with my other dogs in the same way as well as help other doggie owners.

I want to offer some tips and ideas for you to develop a fitness plan for your canine buddies. Canine fitness doesn’t need to be overwhelming if you follow these tips.

1. If you are unsure if your dog can implement a fitness program, first schedule an in-person visit with your veterinarian so that your dog can be properly examined. They can put their hands on your dog, and you can be assured your dog does not have any underlying issues. No one knows your dog better than you and your regular vet.
2. Ensure you have had proper instruction from a credentialed canine fitness professional before implementing a program, using inflatable equipment for your dog or trying an exercise you see on social media. This is when people can get overwhelmed. An exercise that is labeled “foundation” or “easy” on a social media site doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate for every dog. Invest in your dog’s wellness and get started on the right foot working directly with a canine fitness professional. This person can get to know you and your dog and guide you in areas such as the best exercises for you and your dog, how many reps and sets you should perform, proper form, and how to detect areas of weakness for your dog.
3. Once you have had the proper instruction to get started, focus on a 30-minute balanced fitness session three times a week. It’s vital to be consistent.
4. Make it fun. The more you and your dog enjoy the program, the more likely it is that you’ll stick with it, which is necessary to see improvement in your dog.
5. If getting shiny new equipment, like inflatables, make you excited for canine fitness then go for it! We enjoy having a variety of equipment for our pups too! But realize, apart from a few key pieces like a plank, a set of inflatable equipment appropriate for your dog’s size and fitness level, and a few other key equipment choices, purchasing or making equipment is more for your enjoyment and variety than is truly purposeful for your dog to have a successful fitness program.
6. If you enjoy training and teaching your dog new skills or exercises, ensure your training time is balanced. Make sure these new activities are built on the foundation of a consistent, balanced, and simple workout with exercises your dog already knows.
7. We have developed a free webinar on “Strategies for a Consistent Fitness Program” that discuss our four pillars: P.A.W.S. (Plan, Access, Woofout, Scribe/Notes). This webinar will help you with tips and strategies to implement a consistent fitness program.  For your free webinar, click here:  https://www.coach4paws.com/pl/2147496296

Interested in learning more about how to get started with a consistent, safe, and effective canine fitness program? Our step-by-step, veterinarian approved fitness program opens for enrollment only a few times a year.  In this course and membership, we teach you simple but effective exercises for your dog and how you can develop a custom fitness program to improve your dog’s fitness level and health.  We are with you every step of the way to coach and offer guidance.  The program also grows with you while you learn.  We teach you how to progress from simple foundation exercises to more challenging ones for you to add variety to your fitness program. You and your dog will learn exercises that utilize a variety of equipment for those who prefer that in their fitness program. We also offer household substitution solutions, and one-of-a-kind fitness tools to help you.  If you want to be notified when we open enrollment or want to be on our mailing list for freebies and canine fitness tips, please click here: https://www.coach4paws.com/join-our-waitlist