Learning how to use your body is like learning a language—🧠 it comes more naturally to us if we start at an early age. To teach a puppy 🐾 how to use their feet means they can be proficient in it as adults! 😉
Proprioception is something we should introduce for all dogs 🐕, as it benefits everyone—from puppies to seniors, injured to healthy. It helps them know where their feet and body are in space, keeps them physically fit 💪, mentally enriched 🧩, and builds confidence! 🐾✨
Running with dogs! 🐕🦺 Does your dog enjoy joining you for a run?
Here we were running on a rough gravel road, and since Lars has very sensitive paw pads (unlike Mavie, who isn’t bothered at all), he wears little boots to protect them. 🐾
Nothing warms up my heart more than seeing Brie, our 13-year-old, enjoying our walks together like this. Rolling in the grass is life! 🥰🌿🐾
Read this 💡⬇️
Dogwalk safety is currently a hot topic. The only thing we can do right now is make sure our dogs are physically prepared for this task. If you are following this profile, you know the importance of conditioning by now. I am here today to tell you to take your skills out from the living room and transfer them into dynamics ⏩️ because when running 6 m/s all the static core strength and balance might not be enough!
Kobra is presenting:
🚀 posture freeze on 2 platforms, improving lateral stability and paw placement
🚀 jump over the bar onto plank/platforms, 30 cm wide, additionally working on reaction time
🔴 I intentionally share the mistakes in execution
🟢 because it means I found the weak spot and I can work on it to improve her safety and performance. If your fitness sessions are 100% perfect - it means you are at plateau level and… stuck.
🥰 A short evening heelwork session with Tide. My criteria are:
- Focus up towards my armpit (not searching for my eye contact) 👀
- His shoulders aligned exactly with the point of my knees (not in front of them, nor behind) 🦵
- His body parallel to the direction of my hips, maintaining a sufficient gap of space between us (not touching or leaning onto me) ↔️
I cue him to follow my movement, freezing in a stand position often to check in with his precision requirements before we add automatic sit in stops. So far so good - I just love how he transferred his position precision simply from investing lots of time to platform training!
There are many ways to teach heelwork, but we went with platform training, nose touches, focus games, and a multiple reward system established. I feel like this fits both of us the most, using clear loops of training, and setting him up for nothing but success. 🎉
Giga is our youngest team member! 🐶 She’s a Portuguese Water Dog who has just recently swum in the sea for the very first time. 🌊🐕🦺
Going over cavaletti rails is an excellent exercise to improve strength 💪 and body awareness 🧠. As the dog navigates the poles, they must lift their paws higher 🐾 and push forward with greater force, enhancing active knee, elbow, carpal, and tarsal joint range of motion. This exercise engages the core and activates all the large muscle groups of the limbs: biceps, triceps, quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and glutes 🦵.
Cavaletti exercises are typically performed at a trot 🐕🦺, but they can also be done at a walk 🚶!
Walking over cavaletti poles can be particularly beneficial for improving functional limb use and active joint range of motion. This controlled, low-impact exercise is especially useful in the early stages of rehabilitation post-surgery 🏥, as it allows for gradual muscle and joint strengthening without the high demands of faster gaits. Additionally, walking over cavaletti poles is ideal for dogs that find trotting challenging or need to avoid moving at a trotting pace (for example, dogs with severe joint issues). If your dog prefers to walk or lacks the strength to trot fluently over the setup, consider performing this exercise at a walking gait instead.
Cavaletti exercises, regardless of the speed, are excellent for training proprioception and improving range of motion 🎯. While dogs can practise both walking and trotting gaits, cavaletti at a walking pace demands significantly more control and concentration, especially for dogs that tend to rush through exercises 🏃♂️.
Dive in! 🐬
The summer is going away slowly and autumn is smiling from behind the corner.
How will you spend some of the last summer weeks?
🐾 Our Little Shop in our center in Slovenia 🐾
What do we offer?
💊 Nutritional supplements,
🍖 Treats in various flavours, suitable even for dogs with allergies,
🥩 High-quality dog food (raw and cold-pressed),
🏋️ Dog equipment for therapeutic and fitness exercises (cavaletti, balance pads, balance discs, etc.), and
🧩 Some additional equipment for the mental stimulation of dogs.
Come spoil your dogs with quality products! 🥰
A simple bounce grid to boost your dog's acceleration and jumping power! 🚀
With Tide, I am using 150cm between the jump bump and first jump, and 190cm for every next jump.
For your reference, different dogs have their optimal spacing between jumps based on their stride length and build. But you can play around with your setting a bit to see what works best for your dog!
- Small dogs: 100cm (+/- 20cm)
- Medium dogs: 130cm (+/- 20cm)
- Intermediate dogs: 160cm (+/- 20cm)
- Large dogs: 190cm (+/- 20cm)
(dog sizes matching size categories in agility)
📌 Save this post for later!
Remember, jumping exercises should only be done after a thorough warm-up with your dog. Exercise smart! 🧠💪
Take a look at Tide’s first encounter with the underwater treadmill and how he enjoyed a towel rub after the session. 📸🐾
How do we introduce a dog to the underwater treadmill? 🌊🐶
The first step is to guide the dog through the open, dry treadmill without water, using their favourite treats for motivation. Usually, the owner, whom the dog trusts the most, walks through the dry treadmill with them at the beginning. 🍖
Next, we get the dog used to the sound of the door closing and the small amount of water that gradually fills the chamber from below. The first therapy session is typically dedicated to familiarising the dog with the underwater treadmill and the movement of the belt, with the therapist always inside the treadmill alongside the dog, providing encouragement and motivation. 🏋️💦
If your dog has already experienced the underwater treadmill, share your story with us in the comments below.
Why we swear by the long line ✨️
➡️ Fundamentally, we use a long line to shape your dog's view of the world so that they can learn beneficial behaviours and avoid learning undesirable ones (such as chasing a squirrel, greeting every dog or person they see, ignoring your recall, or keeping a significant distance away from you on walks). The long line serves both as a safety net and a tool that helps your dog make the right choices—choices that, in the long term, will grant them off-leash freedom and your trust in their social 🐶 and listening skills. 👂
Remember, if your dog doesn’t practise certain behaviours, they may never learn them. If your dog has the opportunity to run after wild animals, or consistently runs off to greet every dog, or ignores your recall, there is a high chance these behaviours will become their default. With the help of a long line, you can shape new behaviours and choices that you prefer. 💭
Use the long line to manage your dog's experiences and thus avoid unwanted behaviours. Make the correct choices easy to achieve. 👌🏻
Lots of our content seems to be agility-oriented, but Jana shares a great deal of love for Obedience too! Here are Jana and Genie at a recent OB competition earlier this summer. Love their attitude 🥰👏
Meet Pampa, a member of Chasing the Tale team, who has quite a couple of tricks up her sleeve 🥰 Pampa is a Thai cat and enjoys the learning process just as much as our dogs do! 🐈⬛️
Have you ever tried teaching your cat anything? How did it go? 🩷
This is Nati🐶, a 5-year-old mixed breed who came to us with a diagnosis of hip dysplasia and osteoarthritis. Her owners noticed constant trembling in her hind legs, but she had no other major issues.
At first, she attended regular therapy sessions once a week. Our treatments included deep shockwave therapy, therapeutic exercises, underwater treadmill walking, laser therapy, and manual techniques. Her owners diligently perform the prescribed therapeutic exercises at home as well. 🥰
Now we see her once a month for maintenance therapy, as her leg trembling has significantly improved. According to her owners, Nati now has much more energy for antics than before and doesn’t get tired even on longer walks.💪🐾
➡️ A small snippet from our Mobility exercise routine with Tilly:
I love to incorporate mobility exercises into all my dogs' exercise routines for various benefits!💕
1. They improve flexibility and active range of motion in a dog's joints and muscles.
2. They help reduce the risk of injury. Regular mobility exercises strengthen the muscles and ligaments around the joints, allowing the dog's body to handle training loads better.
3. They enhance performance! For working and sporting dogs, mobility exercises can enhance performance by ensuring that muscles and joints are functioning optimally. This can lead to better agility, speed, and body awareness.
Play bows, front feet up hip stretches, and cookie stretches, as presented in the video, are among our favorite mobility exercises, featured in all our courses for active dogs. We do them regularly as a part of all our sports training sessions.
A timelapse of the fitness session from our oldest four-legged member of the team - Vicky, who has turned 14 in May! 🥰
Do you take time for canine fitness with your dog? How often?
