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At Paragon Pups Dog Training,
Fitness Matters for All Dogs!
We are Springfield Missouri's FIRST certified canine athletic trainer,
Specializing in canine fitness training for ALL active pet and sport dogs.
All canine fitness programs are designed and instructed by a certified canine athlete specialist.
In addition to sports specific training, we also offer AKC Fit Dog classes, Canine Good Citizen testing,
trick dog, AKC STAR puppy/fundamentals and fitness, senior dog fitness and
Personalized fitness plans.
Give your dog advantage in the competition ring or the hiking trails.
Keep scrolling to see why canine fitness is the right fit for your dog.
Live classes are held in collaboration with Springfield Family Dog Training in Springfield MO.
We offer several online dog fitness classes as self study
to work at a pace that's best for you and your dog.
Your sport dog IS an athlete!
What does your dog do?
Think about all the activities your dog does.
Fetch?
Hiking?
Heeling?
Running?
Jumping ?
Scent detection?
Struttin' their stuff in the breed ring?
Canicross or Biking?
These activities require strength, flexibility, body awareness, balance and cardiovascular training so your
Pup can be their best, while avoiding injuries.
Does my Dog Need Conditioning?
Yes!!
ALL dogs benefit from STRUCTURED exercise from a canine fitness plan. Especially sport dogs. We ask our sport dogs to do unnatural repetitive things. Their bones, muscles and joints need extra support.
Have you heard of football or baseball players WITHOUT a personal trainer? No.
Your canine athlete needs a certified personal trainer who understands the dog's sport, movement, strengths, weaknesses and YOUR goals. Just like human athletes have a personal trainer, your dog deserves one too!
Form is Important!!
Each canine conditioning tutorial gives you proper form, proper reward placement, and troubleshooting tips and tricks. Form over flash.
Doing a dog fitness exercise wrong has consequences. Best case is it does nothing and is not effective. Don't get frustrated and give up because you're not seeing results.
Your dog may develop wrong motor skills, wrong muscle memory, or compensate by using a stronger muscle and causing an imbalance. This can lead to injuries, which is not what we want.
You DO have time for this!
Spend 10-15 minutes 3-4 times a week to see results.
Trade some agility, obedience or sport training time for conditioning time. You will start to see big differences in your sport dog's training progress.
A certified canine athlete specialist can help you create a dog fitness routine that works with your current work and training schedules.
Hand feed your dog's breakfast or dinner while you watch TV
Conditioning is for Pet Dogs Too!
Your dog plays fetch, hikes, or runs with you and chases things.
They need a fitness program too!
Or maybe you're looking for an easy way to do something fun and build their confidence. Dogs who practice body awareness exercises understand where they are in their environment. This extra confidence reduces their fears of things around them.
Canine Conditioning is a MENTAL and a physical workout.
10 minutes of MENTAL exercise is equal to about an hour of physical activity.
Leave the house guilt free knowing your dog had a
physical AND mental workout!
I'm New to Canine
Conditioning
Great! Welcome! Everyone starts at the beginning.
And I'm so glad you found Paragon Pups.
Start with the FREE Intro to Conditioning Plan.
or AKC Fit Dog Level 1. This is a great intro for humans and dogs new to the fun of canine fitness. You'll find easy foundation foot targeting, posture, strength and flexibility exercises, and some examples of tricks and agility ladder exercises.
What am I Getting out of each Video?
Headings that tell you the exercise category: body awareness, strength, flexibility, or cardio. Some exercises have two headings, because they fit in multiple categories.
Explanations of why we do each exercise.
Video tutorial with correct AND incorrect ways to do each exercise.
Most tutorials are between 30 seconds - 2 minutes long.
A criteria checklist so you know what correct form is.
Troubleshooting tips.
Prop setups.
Reward placement.
Slow motion clips and screenshots.
What am I Getting from my Canine Fitness Program?
All canine fitness programs include body awareness and balance exercises, strength training, flexibility and cardio components.
All sport specific programs are designed to reduce injury risks and
improve sport performance. I look at how dogs move when doing each sport, what they need to succeed and what the most common injuries are for that sport.
Exercises are hand-picked to mimic those movements.
For example, the agility program has a lot of shoulder, knee and iliopsoas strength and flexibility exercises, because those are the most common injuries in agility dogs.
Paragon Pups is an AKC Fit Dog Instructor too! These classes follow the AKC Fit Dog Curriculum in an online video library.
Come back every week for a new set of exercises to do at home with your dog. Send in videos each week as you exercise your dog.
When you and your dog are proficient with 8 of 10 evaluation exercises, send in a video for AKC Fit Dog Title points.
If you have an agility, obedience, rally, FastCAT or dock diving title on your dog, you may count those for points too.
And get points for walking your dog.
Please see AKC Fit Dog site for more details.
Paragon Pups hosts AKC Fit Dog Group Walks too!
Please see each individual class description for more details.
Start an Online Canine Fitness Plan Today!
Available Now
Are you new to canine fitness?
Is your dog new to canine fitness?
This is where to start!
Check out the FREE Intro Plan
Custom
You and your dog are
One In a Million!
Do you want a plan specific to your goals, your dog's structure, movement and sport?
Check out our
Coming Soon!
Subscribe to the Newsletter for Announcements & Discounts:
Obedience Athlete
Mini Courses:
Trick'd and Tone
Come See Us In Person!
Happening Now
Puppy Fundamentals/
AKC STAR Puppy
OPEN FOR ENROLLMENT!
Register at
Springfield Family Dog Training
click the button below for other classes