Working on Dog Fitness and Canine Conditioning benefits dogs of all ages and breed types. There are specific items designed for this which are designed with dogs in mind but of course they are priced accordingly. I use canine conditioning equipment myself as I use it regularlyfor my own three dogs, I use it for a wide range of different dogs I’m working with and I need my equipment to be long lasting and look good!
However the cost can be worrying for many dog owners and be what prevents getting their dog started on fitness, strengthening and conditioning work that will help them for the rest of their lives.
The good news is that there are many ways to replicate exercises at home using household items in a way that is both safe and effective. As a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer since 2014 I have given dog owners suggestions for ways to use equipment they have at home to practise their homework and have printouts I use in conditioning classes with lots of alternative suggestions.
Here are four top canine fitness exercises that can suit most dogs (adapted to suit each dog’s needs) with suggestions on how to recreate at home without needing to buy specific equipment.
Paws Up Item
Front Paws Up on an item can be used with warm ups, strengthening exercises, coordination, targetting specific areas of the body, stretches and cool downs.
Items ideally should be non slip for your dog to stand on and also non slip on the floor. It also needs to be study enough to support your dog’s weight.
I use aerobic steps quite often at training but you can use:
💜 Bath steps
💜 Decking squares
💜 Upside down down down bowl with rubber base (this gives a rubber top for the dog’s paws)
💜 Stools, folding stools, foot stools
💜 Boxes – check your dog doesn’t slip on them and fill with books if needed to support your dog
Cavaletti Poles
A row of Cavaletti is useful for strengthening and body awareness and I use plastic or wooden pole sets on rugby cones mostly as Cavaletti are more about encourage the joints to move and less about forcing a dog to lift their leg high to step over.
You can create Cavaletti for a single pole, 2 poles or more and still have benefit;
💜 Broom handle(s) – the whole broom or just the handle. Also other garden or kitchen equipment with handles
💜 Thinner pipe insulation
💜 Lengths of plumber piping
💜 Gift wrap rolls / middle card from gift wrap rolls
💜 Tightly rolled towels
You can place on the floor or use something to bring them slightly off the floor or to prevent them moving about such as rugby cones, trainers, cans of soda / bottles to prevent poles rolling
Textured Mat for Proprioception
Using textures helps dogs to notice their paws more especially the rear paws they cannot see easily which helps keep signals to and from the brain stronger for longer.
I use sensory mats and discs but you could also use;
💜 Textured doormats – rubber, carpet, coir, woven etc
💜 Kids sensory stepping mats
💜 Packaging materials that are safe – card, bubble wrap if your dog isn’t noise sensitive
💜 Various blankets of different materials
💜 Cheapie bath mats – padded, non padded, corded etc
Non slip flooring to work on
It’s so important that dogs are not sliding or slipping when they are working as slipping contributes to long term issues with joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments. There are so many ways we can provide a non sliding surface;
💜 Yoga mats
💜 Rugs that don’t slide on the floor
💜 Use a different room with a non slip floor
💜 Interlocking floor mats (without the holes!)
💜 Bath mats with rubber backing
💜 Gymnastic matting or padded mats
These four exercises are ones I often use in the first couple of sessions of Canine Conditioning with dogs as we focus on groundwork and don’t rush to bring in fancy equipment. Non slip flooring is an absolute MUST, not only for fitness but with any activity including your dog walking from one end of the home to another.
For help with getting started with your dog on fitness and strengthening we have online canine conditioning masterclasses which show you tutorials on exercises, why we do them and how they help, tutorials with me working my dogs and ways to combine exercises for short workouts.
Our most popular online canine conditioning masterclass is Trim in Ten – tutorials and workouts that take around 10 mins, some take 15. Take a look at Trim in Ten
