Paws to Performance Pt 3: Level UP, Increasing Difficulty in Canine Fitness

OK, you've been conditioning for several months. You and your dog are are proficient with your exercises and are ready to level up. Your dog is stronger, more flexible, and the beginner exercises are too easy. Your dog hit a plateau and now we're bored. You're ready to increase the difficulty in your canine fitness routine. How do we do that?

Echo is ready to work!

1. Add height:

Elevating your dog's front will put more weight on the rear and focus on strengthening the hips, flanks, abs and spine. Reward high so the dog's spine stays straight.

Gradually increase the height of your platform. This little adjustable step stool is a favorite. Maximum platform heights can vary depending on the exercise.

Please pay close attention to the "Prop Notes" section in each exercise description.

This platform is about the same height as Echo's wrist. As a general rule, that's about where you want to start when first introducing your dog to height. Her rear end has to work harder to go from a sit to stand. (I think she likes it, look at that fluffy waggy tail!)

Nike strengthening her shoulder stabilizers

Elevating your dog's rear puts more weight on the front and on strengthens the shoulders, neck, and front part of the ribs and spine. Reward low so the dog's spine stays straight.

In this shoulder stabilizer exercise, Nike's rear end is higher than her front and my reward placement is on the ground. Her shoulders are working really hard here because her rear is elevated!

When adding height, your dog's muscles are working harder. Decrease criteria and be aware that your dog will fatigue faster. Decrease your sets and reps.

My dog is 85% proficient with height.

Now what?

Getting Dagon in a better position on the paw pods

Add Inflatables

Your dog's muscles have to work hard to maintain balance and posture on

unstable equipment.

More air in your inflatable equals more stability. Start with your inflatables about 3/4 full, and gradually decrease the air.

Position your fitbones so they line up with the end of your stand/down plank or your aerobic bench. Yep, stack your stable stuff on top of your inflatable stuff.

*Make sure the stable platform is won't tip over when your dog stands on it.

Ask your dog for a square stand to a fold back down or a tuck sit. Notice how much harder your dog has to work to do this. You may need to decrease your criteria when you first start replacing stable props with inflatable ones. Your dog is using more muscles here, so they will fatigue faster.

I'm using a hand target here to convince Dagon to line up his paws a little better.

(Notice I've only replaced the front foot target and not all of them? He's not ready to have his rear paws on pods yet.) Do your square stand, cookie stretch or bow stretches on an inflatable instead of your solid foot targets.

Replace the front foot targets first, then the rear.

My dog is 85% proficient with inflatables. Now what?

3. Add Instability AND Height

This should take a year or more to get here.

Start using donuts and peanuts. Make sure your inflatable is in a secure holder so it doesn't slip underneath your dog. If your inflatable is big enough, you can turn your Klimb upside down and use the legs as a peanut holder.

There's lots of variables you can add to the exercises in the Free Intro and Novice Programs to make them more challenging for your dog.

Conditioning is NOT competition. Please go at your dog's pace and don't rush these exercises.

*Some links in this post are affiliate links, which I may make a small commission if you use the link to purchase an item.

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