Introduction

The most important step in any good program is the first one, and by arriving here you’ve already taken it! And while some congratulations is definitely well-deserved, the path to better fitness is a lifelong journey between you and your pup. This first article is intended to serve as an introduction to canine fitness and what that means for your dog.

What is canine fitness and why is it important? Canine fitness (and fitness in general) is about building and maintaining muscle, improving balance and body awareness, and increasing overall conditioning. Just like in humans, improved physical fitness can increase life expectancy, reduce the risk of serious injury, improve bone and muscle strength, and in general lead to greater quality of life (by extending the ability to do everyday activities). Beyond physical gains, there are also other benefits such as promoting positive stimulation through training and building better relationship with your dog.

While every dog can benefit from better fitness, each dog will have its own needs and/or limitations. Perhaps you have a dog competing in agility that could benefit from more exercises focused on improving their performance during competitions -or- you could have an older dog that just needs help getting around the house. We always recommend consulting a certified fitness trainer (and/or veterinarian) before embarking on any program - they can assess your dog and help identify what goals make sense.

The exercises included here are some of the basic/foundational building blocks of a developed program. These exercises should be safe for most dogs however, as we are not there to watch and consult, we stress that you practice safety and patience first and foremost. These exercises are not intended to be a substitution to fully-developed fitness program, only a some snapshot of what you can expect should you pursue training with us.