Cross training to enhance your dog's fitness

Recently, there’s been a lot of research in the field of canine conditioning, mostly to improve the performance of canine athletes and performance dogs. Just as has been done with human athletes, a training program that shaves a second off a dog’s time when running an agility course, for example, can mean the difference between winning and losing. As such, conditioning programs have been developed to help these dogs reach or keep peak fitness levels so they can perform at their best and reduce the risk of injury. One program, developed by canine physical therapist Sasha Foster, involves the idea of cross training, a method that blends balance, strength, endurance and flexibility exercises into a complete fitness program that can be tailored to any dog at any life stage. Regardless of age or activity level, your dog will benefit from such a program. You’ll notice increased mobility, vitality, improved body awareness, more confidence, and a general sense that your dog feels better.

So what are these components and what’s the exercise focus?

Balance is the body’s ability to know where it is in space at any given time and respond accordingly. It helps a dog offensively and defensively, and protects from injury. For balance control, the body makes use of a dog’s vision, hearing, and input from muscles and tendons. Balance is the most important component of a cross-training program. Balance exercises involve improving core strength, proprioception, and hind-end awareness.

Strength helps the body move. All activities require strength in certain muscles, and if the strength isn’t there, the body is at risk for injury. When the required strength is there, movement becomes fluid and the body is protected from injury. Strength-training exercises primarily focus on building the muscles in both the front and rear legs.

Endurance keeps the body moving. Without enough endurance, there’s little energy to move. There are two types of endurance – one used for sprints, and another used for long distances. When developing an endurance-training program, we focus on exercises for the different distances. More than any other component, an endurance building program needs to take into account the dog’s age. You don’t want to over exercise puppies or dogs who are older. Endurance training builds the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and improves the muscles’ ability to perform continuously without fatiguing.

Flexibility allows joints to move through their full range of motion. Having good flexibility is critical to ease of movement and prevention of injury. Good flexibility helps with posture, improves performance, reduces muscle soreness, and can even improve digestion! Just as with humans, as dogs age they lose flexibility. To maintain or improve a dog’s flexibility, the muscles around the joints are stretched in specific ways. When stretching, care needs to be taken to ensure the joint is fully supported, and the stretch is in the natural plane of movement, otherwise injury can result.

A good cross-training program that takes into account balance, strength, endurance, and flexibility greatly benefits all dogs. Depending on the needs of the dog at any given time, the exercises that make up each component can easily be modified. That’s the beauty of this type of conditioning. If you would like more information, please contact us at 407-295-3888.

Sherri Cappabianca, an expert in the field of canine health and fitness, is the author of two books on canine health, and co-owner of Rocky’s Retreat, an intimate and personal boarding, daycare, hydrotherapy and fitness center, and Barking Dog Fitness, a Gym for Dogs, both located in Orlando. For more information, visit rockysretreat.com or barkingdogfitness.com.