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What is conditioning?One of the biggest concerns for the owners of canine athletes like our dogs, is the risk of injury. Performance dogs often compete across several sports, and like human athletes they require fitness and strengthening work to maintain the physiques they need to compete at peak levels of performance, without getting injured. Conditioning, fitness and rehabilitation work has become very commonplace in dog sports over the last few years, and performance dog owners, like ourselves, often have conditioning programs developed by vets, physios and myofunctional therapists specifically for the sports we compete in with our dogs to ensure we are targeting and strengthening the right muscle groups for our chosen sports.
Fitness and conditioning work has become such a big part of dog sports that Do More With Your Dog (who also oversee online Trick Dog titles), developed a series of fitness and conditioning titles in 2019. While these titles aren't ANKC recognised, they do provide a basis for people to begin conditioning work with their dogs as they test the 5 major components of fitness and conditioning - flexibility, balance, stamina, coordination and strength. |
Quick Facts
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Training level required: ☆☆☆(moderate - ongoing)
Training type: online/at home Equipment cost: $$$ (moderate) |
Overseeing body: Do More With Your Dog
Minimum age: 8+ weeks (age appropriate) Breed restrictions: None! Open to all breeds |
What equipment do I need?Conditioning is very accessible for all dogs as exercises can be done with as much or as little equipment as you have and owners can spend as much or as little as they can afford. While many people (ourselves included) have spent thousands of dollars on conditioning equipment that makes the exercises harder on the dog and therefore, more effective, there is a lot to be said for DIY gear, and many people with very fit, well conditioned dogs have never purchased conditioning equipment specifically designed for dogs. The benefits of free running, swimming and simple conditioning exercises like sit to stands should never be underestimated and all the equipment in the world can't make up for poor form or bad training if the dog isn't doing the exercise correctly.
Most dog specific gear - fitpaws peanuts and fitbones for example - are designed to de-stabilise the dog's core while they are performing the exercise so their muscles have to work harder to keep their body in balance. There are some shortcomings to working out exclusively on unstable equipment like this however and this is where a lot of DIY gear shines, as most home made pieces of equipment are stable surfaces (small platforms, bricks, plants, DIY cavalettis, PVC ladders etc) which are used to perform dynamic exercises. |
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How much training is needed?The training needed for conditioning is dependent on what you are trying to teach. The aim with conditioning and fitness is not to get the dog to do things quickly, or learn to
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Titles
There are five DMWYD Canine Conditioning Fitness titles dogs can achieve. These titles are not currently recognised by any National Kennel Club, but are undertaken for fun.
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