Core conditioning training exercises

[onyx'girl]

Does anyone incorporate this type of exercises into your training program?

We've been working Karlo during the winter months on the peanut/wobbleboard and and wonder if anyone else is using inflatables for training.

FitPaws® Dog Exercise Balls / Canine Conditioning Exercise Ball
Also doing some of these as well.
Care Animal Clinic - Core Exercises for Dogs

[huntergreen]

i would think walking, jogging and swimming "in season" would take care of your pups exercise needs.

[onyx'girl]

Not necessarily. In Winter, walking doesn't always get it....and swimming around here is a no go. Exercising on ice/snow is a challenge.
So we work on these to keep the muscles strengthened and toned.

[KristiM]

I am seriously considering buying a peanut (likely will as soon as my pocketbook recovers from vet/physio bills.) How do you like the peanut?

I do some kind of core conditioning/body awareness almost everyday. I really believe that it is hugely beneficial especially for sport dogs. I started doing more rear end awareness with Odin in the last month and I see a VERY noticeable difference in agility. On top of all the exercises you posted in the link we also do sit up (beg), sit to stand/stand to sit with front feet elevated, perch work, lots of jump work (mostly pertains to agility) and having them place back feet on target etc. There is other stuff we work on but just to give you an idea. We also do off leash walks everyday and hike or snowshoe 2-3 times a month for 4-8 hours.


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[Bear L]

I did this when Bear was enrolled in agility class at the request of the instructor. I want to buy one but then dropped out of class and ended up using rocks or tree trunks on walks to do this instead.

[huntergreen]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

Not necessarily. In Winter, walking doesn't always get it....and swimming around here is a no go. Exercising on ice/snow is a challenge.
So we work on these to keep the muscles strengthened and toned.

we bought a cheap doggie treadmill about 5 years ago, but for the most part we have plenty of non packed snow areas to romp in.

[onyx'girl]

The back feet on the target is what we are working on....I'm using one of the fitpaws discs. Challenging for Karlo's long body, but he really does work his body and brain doing these exercises. The peanut we're using is the yellow one, and fits his 100# structure really well. My trainer is providing the equipment, not sure where she got the yellow one but I think from here:
PhysioRoll Exercise Balls - Peanut Balls
It's really durable & thick.

We go outside and romp/run in the winter too, but these exercises work different areas of the body, the abdomen and thighs~doing the upsits and down/backs aren't in a dogs normal movements so it does give a bit of a workout.

[huntergreen]

interesting, is this for a specific sport ? how long have you been doing this ? have you seen results yet ? tks.

[onyx'girl]

It can be used for anything...keeps the dog in shape!
We started using the peanut in early Dec, and then we took almost a month off because of vacation/holidays. Just got back into it this week. Introducing the dog to the equipment and getting the dog to move on the peanut is where we are at. We've been doing the other stuff, but the peanut is fairly new. We're using canned squirt cheese as the reward~very high value right now!
We do a half hour session of this stuff after working on jumps/retrieves/heeling/send out and long recalls.

It doesn't look like strenuous exercise compared to the above, but is intense as it works the mind as much as the body.

[KristiM]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

The back feet on the target is what we are working on....I'm using one of the fitpaws discs. Challenging for Karlo's long body, but he really does work his body and brain doing these exercises. The peanut we're using is the yellow one, and fits his 100# structure really well. My trainer is providing the equipment, not sure where she got the yellow one but I think from here:
PhysioRoll Exercise Balls - Peanut Balls
It's really durable & thick.

We go outside and romp/run in the winter too, but these exercises work different areas of the body, the abdomen and thighs~doing the upsits and down/backs aren't in a dogs normal movements so it does give a bit of a workout.

I started doing the hind end awareness with just an upside down rubber horse feed bowl. OMG I was sarting to think maybe Odin didn't have feeling in his back legs! Then one day the light bulb went on "you mean I have legs back there???" He is also quite long. I'm a big believer that the more conditioning you do the better off your dog is in the long run.

I was thinking of getting the big red peanut, they have a yellow one at the place I take them to physio. I will have to see how well Odin fits on it when I am there next week.