remy
Active Member
I’ve decided to make a thread about conditioning since a few of you were interested in learning more! Canine conditioning exercises can build muscle mass, increase flexibility, and strengthen weak or underutilized muscles which can prevent injury. It’s a good mental workout for the dogs too! “By implementing form based exercise methodology we can improve functionality, hasten recovery time, reduce pain/stiffness, and improve the health of sport dogs and pet dogs alike…” - Canine Conditioning Coach
This initial post will primarily be about the different resources I use. Eventually I will record more videos of Remy’s routines and share them here as well! I do conditioning exercises with him 3-4 times per week, each session typically lasts 10 to 15 minutes. I hand feed him his dinner during these sessions.
I primarily use canineconditioningcoach.com. She is a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer and offers many free tutorial videos along with paid programs. There are also some great blog posts (which I will link below) about common issues and how to improve them. I haven’t done any of the programs yet but am interested in doing one eventually! She also has a FaceBook group called Canine Conditioning and Body Awareness Exercises.
The conditioning exercises get progressively more difficult. This means foundations are very important! The beginning stages are focused on body awareness, don’t rush and skip over this! Under the link (above) for the free tutorials, you can filter by difficultly. Do the foundation and beginner videos first! The majority of exercises are first taught on stable, non-slippery surfaces. If you have slick floors I recommend using a yoga mat, rubber stall mat, area rug, etc… while doing the exercises.
Most of the equipment geared towards canine conditioning is quite expensive. Thankfully some of it can be DIYd at home or replaced with things you may already have. Here is an article Canine Conditioning Coach wrote about equipment. The nice thing about making the platforms at home is you can size them perfectly for your dog. In this post she talks about how to measure your dog and determine the size for your platforms. Lastly, this post details how to build the platforms.
This is all of the equipment I personally own and use:
•Propel Air Platform (also available on Amazon)
•Cato Plank XL Platform (also available on Amazon)
•Cato Board (also available on Amazon)
•Rubber Feed Bowls
•Cones for cavaletti (I use 1/2” PVC cut to 3’ pieces for the poles)
•Posture Boards
•Klimb (also available on Amazon)
•Paw Pods
•Balance disk
•Spot markers
Here are some articles written by Canine Conditioning Coach explaining common postural issues and how to improve them:
•What is East West in dogs? And does my dog have that?
•Understanding Canine Foot Alignment: Flat Feet, Splayed Feet, and Collapsed Arches
•Foot Strengthening Exercises: Improve Alignment to Reduce Injury Risk
•Correcting Cow Hock Alignment: Exercises to Improve Posture and Muscle Balance
•Is my dog high in the rear? And can conditioning help?
A few other conditioning trainers I like:
•Summer | Sport Dog Trainer KPA (TikTok)
•akita_inu.band (Instagram)
•sitstaysquat (Instagram)
Please let me know if there is anything you’d like me to discuss! I’d also love if anyone decided to start conditioning exercises and shared their experiences here!
This initial post will primarily be about the different resources I use. Eventually I will record more videos of Remy’s routines and share them here as well! I do conditioning exercises with him 3-4 times per week, each session typically lasts 10 to 15 minutes. I hand feed him his dinner during these sessions.
I primarily use canineconditioningcoach.com. She is a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer and offers many free tutorial videos along with paid programs. There are also some great blog posts (which I will link below) about common issues and how to improve them. I haven’t done any of the programs yet but am interested in doing one eventually! She also has a FaceBook group called Canine Conditioning and Body Awareness Exercises.
The conditioning exercises get progressively more difficult. This means foundations are very important! The beginning stages are focused on body awareness, don’t rush and skip over this! Under the link (above) for the free tutorials, you can filter by difficultly. Do the foundation and beginner videos first! The majority of exercises are first taught on stable, non-slippery surfaces. If you have slick floors I recommend using a yoga mat, rubber stall mat, area rug, etc… while doing the exercises.
Most of the equipment geared towards canine conditioning is quite expensive. Thankfully some of it can be DIYd at home or replaced with things you may already have. Here is an article Canine Conditioning Coach wrote about equipment. The nice thing about making the platforms at home is you can size them perfectly for your dog. In this post she talks about how to measure your dog and determine the size for your platforms. Lastly, this post details how to build the platforms.
This is all of the equipment I personally own and use:
•Propel Air Platform (also available on Amazon)
•Cato Plank XL Platform (also available on Amazon)
•Cato Board (also available on Amazon)
•Rubber Feed Bowls
•Cones for cavaletti (I use 1/2” PVC cut to 3’ pieces for the poles)
•Posture Boards
•Klimb (also available on Amazon)
•Paw Pods
•Balance disk
•Spot markers
Here are some articles written by Canine Conditioning Coach explaining common postural issues and how to improve them:
•What is East West in dogs? And does my dog have that?
•Understanding Canine Foot Alignment: Flat Feet, Splayed Feet, and Collapsed Arches
•Foot Strengthening Exercises: Improve Alignment to Reduce Injury Risk
•Correcting Cow Hock Alignment: Exercises to Improve Posture and Muscle Balance
•Is my dog high in the rear? And can conditioning help?
A few other conditioning trainers I like:
•Summer | Sport Dog Trainer KPA (TikTok)
•akita_inu.band (Instagram)
•sitstaysquat (Instagram)
Please let me know if there is anything you’d like me to discuss! I’d also love if anyone decided to start conditioning exercises and shared their experiences here!
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