Down to Stand
Teaching a fold-back down to stand is a great exercise to improve flexibility in elbows, shoulders and hips.
Turning on a plank
Not only is this an important body awareness exercise, it’s also an important Active Range of Motion exercise (AROM). Because the dog is using their muscles to bend their own body, the muscles are actively working, contracting concentrically (shortening) on the inside of the curve, and contracting eccentrically (lengthening) on the outside of the curve.
Along with the abdominal muscles working to bend the spine, the hip and shoulder stabilizers are working hard to balance the dog while they navigate this narrow platform.
This is one of the best body awareness exercises to teach large dogs about their rear end! This is a safe turning exercise for growing dogs, and will have a big positive impact for dogs competing in agility, flyball, disc or other sports that require a tight turn or significant mobility.
Strength Training
Strength Training
One of the major benefits of incorporating muscle building and strengthening activities into your dog’s daily exercise is that it helps to prevent injury.
Building muscle supports and gives stability to joints and tendons, and increase bone density.
Rock back sit to stand
Rock back sit, push forward stand.
We’re working towards power ups and increasing hindlimb control.
First time at this height, probably a little too much to be honest and should have stopped after the first two reps as she starts to move her hind feet more. So I’ll reduce the height a little for the moment.
Aiming for her to push off from behind soon and bring both front feet up together.
Advanced Side Stepping
Improves strength in the shoulder abductors (lateral shoulder) and adductors (medial shoulder).
🦴Unlike humans, dogs do not have a collarbone to aid in shoulder stability and distributing lateral forces applied to the thoracic limb... So strengthening the shoulder complex against lateral forces is especially important. 🤯🤯
⚠️ IMPORTANT ⚠️
1. Rear feet stay still and provide stability via strong core engagement, targeting the iliopsoas.
2. Beginner Level: Start by rewarding a single side step to the left. And then a single side step to the right.
3. Intermediate Level: Slowly increase width over time with the maximum width being ¾ withers height.
4. Front foot targets MUST be stable even at the Expert Level.
Through using proprioceptive training we can teach our dogs to be more bodily aware which will:
🐾 improve their balance
🐾 increase flexibility
🐾 build their strength
🐾 boost motor skills
🐾 improve speed and accuracy in sports
🐾 enhance free movement in the ring
This is important for ALL dogs, older dogs, youngsters, pet dogs, competition and working dogs, they will all benefit from improved proprioception.
Day 19 - Double Clip Game
Today we are sharing a game which will be really transformational for your walks. We often find that the sound of the lead being unclipped can be the trigger for your dog to run off, as well as signifying for your dog that their walk is ending and the fun is over.
Make this event super unpredictable and you’ll never have to chase your dog down again when it’s the end of a fun a walk. This is a great tool to have in your toolbox and a game we play all the time.
Day 18 - Go Sniff
Dogs often get distracted by scents on walks. Have you had this struggle? For today’s game we dive into how to harness the power of scent in your training to teach your dog that getting to do what they love to do (sniffing) can be a reward for working with you!
This is really powerful because when you harness what your dog really loves to do, you have a whole new level of reward.
Day 17 - Side
In today’s game we are again working on proximity, teaching our dogs to come into position at our side, which we reinforce with a lot of value.
This is a great alternative for larger dogs (or smaller owners) where Middle is a bit of a challenge.
LEAP into the fun with this simple, and incredibly effective, game that encourages your dog to be close, close, close! After all, how can they be tugging on lead, chasing that squirrel, or chasing those joggers if they are magnetised to YOU?
Day 16 - Plant Pot Prison (level 2)
We love to make progress and achieve next level sexiness in our training, and today we are ALL about next level.
We are all about adding layers and developing concepts so that they apply to real word challenges.
Today we are talking about just that, taking Plant Pot Prison and adding more challenge at a level that our dogs are prepared for and ready to take on!
Day 15 - Plant Pot Prison (level 1)
Today we’re going to be teaching our dogs to ignore the squirrel – using a plant pot! What we’re building towards here is our dog choosing us over distractions, choosing to back off things they find exciting – choosing to make the right decision. This is a game that sets you and your dog up for success.
Using things you can easily find in your house, you can start teaching your dog how to move away from food even when it is right there in front of them! How exciting is that? Not only that, but this game transfers to a lot more than just food – even those lovely distractions you wish your dog could disengage from without hesitation!
The first step to this game is teaching our dogs that exciting yummy value comes from under the plant pot. Once we’ve built a lot of value in that first level we then ask for our dogs to show some control around the food and the plant pot. As soon as we see a clear choice of moving away, we reward our dogs by letting them get it.
Day 13 - Flippin’ Recall
Up until now we’ve been working on building the joy, the desire and the happiness for being in proximity to us and making that a really good deal for our dogs. Now we’re going to introduce a recall – but not just any old recall – a flippin recall! We want to see a reflex reaction, where your dog literally flips back at you!
We’re going to encourage you to teach a brand new recall word – one that has no past history of your dog ignoring it – and ideally not your dog’s name, which can be over-used and become a little bit like white noise
Day 12 - Conversation Starters
When we go to new environments our dogs can struggle to focus, so we love Conversation Starters.
These games all have a very clear visual element and they help us to start the conversation with our dogs the right way, rather than allowing the environment to be the thing that gets our dog’s focus and attention.
By teaching these games at home and then taking them out and about to new locations, we help our dogs generalise their focus, engagement and confidence.
Day 10 - Paint the Town Red
Let’s paint the town red! In today’s game, we build real desire and pulse for following you and being in proximity.
Think about that squirrel just a few centimetres in front of your dog’s nose, and the desire and speed with which your dog pursues it! We’re going to use that principle to supercharge interaction with us!
Day 9 - Weather Games
Today we are introducing three incredibly dynamic, exciting games that will supercharge your dog’s proximity and focus on you as you become much more engaging than the environment around you.
With each game encouraging creativity and flexibility, your dog will never know what to expect except guaranteed fun.
Day 7 - Proximity Zone
Let’s get close… closer… okay, a little closer. That’s it! Right there, we are in the Proximity Zone!
Wouldn’t it be amazing if your dog didn’t want to leave your side, not even for that jogger that just ran by, looking like the perfect distraction to chase and frolic with? In today’s game, we are going to discover just how fun and essential the Proximity Zone can be.
Is your dog opting in, being attentive? If not, this is the game for you!
Day 5 - Happiness
Today we are talking about how we can unlock and use our dog’s happiness and joy about something as a reward.
Every dog has behaviour preferences, things they love doing more than anything else and which light them up – so we love to build these behaviours and then use them as part of our reward experience and our battle against that sexy squirrel!
Get ready to learn to leg weave!
