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Home Pets The Woof
Gang The
WOOF gang: Resolve to make your dog's New Year healthier

The

Friday, 01 January 2010 22:17
Laura Garber

With the holidays
behind us, even our canine family members have packed on a few extra pounds.
Fortunately, some of our everyday tricks
make for a great workout. And given the cold and inclement weather, you might be
happy to hear that there’s plenty you can do inside!

Indoor
Activities

“TAKE A BOW” or
“DOWNWARD DOG” (a “doga” pose): The bow (front legs on the
floor, standing on back legs) is a natural stretch, one that dogs will often do
when they first rise from a nap.  It’s a great way to start out an exercise
session.  Some dogs will easily go into a bow position by luring as if for
a “down” but doing it from a stand rather than from a sit.  Other dogs go
directly to the down, whether from sit or stand.  If this is the case, then
you’ll have to shape the behavior.

Laura
Garber

Starting from a
stand, take the lure just a few inches below your dog’s nose level, so that he
has to tuck his neck down a bit to follow the lure.  Say “Yes!” and
treat.  When this is repeatable, try moving your hand a few inches lower
but still not entirely to the ground.  Again your dog will hopefully tuck
his head even lower but remain standing.  If he flops down to the floor,
then go back to your previous stage and inch down the hand signal more
gradually.

At each stage where he’s tucking his head, maybe even bending
the front legs, but remain on his back legs, say “Yes!” and give a treat.
Even jackpot him for each new criteria he achieves.  Before you know it,
your dog will be bowing pretty as can be!

"TUG": No
doubt one of your dog’s favorite pastimes!  Fortunately, it’s a great
strength-building exercise, as well as a fun bonding activity that we can do
with our dogs.  By holding the tug at head level, your dog is working out
his rear legs.  By tugging at ground level, he’s working out his front
legs.  Caution: It’s important that you do not jerk the tug toy quickly
from side to side or up and down, as this can cause injury.

Variations on
“Shake”

"SHAKE": It's more than a
trick.  It helps your dog get more comfortable with people touching his or
her paws.  It’s also a great strengthening exercise for your dog’s
shoulders.

With your dog in a sit, hold a treat above his head and off to
one side.  By rocking him to the side, often he will pick up the opposite
front paw to reach for it.  Mark it with a happy “yes!”, grab the paw with
your other hand, and open the treat hand to reveal the treat.  After he is
consistently offering a paw, say the verbal command “shake” or “give paw” in
front of it.  By switching sides, you can train a “left paw” and “right
paw” behavior.

Strength
training: Once your dog has gained fluency, give the hand cue from higher
up so that he has to lift his paw higher.  Start with 5 repetitions each
side and gradually increase to 20 repetitions, cuing from both the front and the
side.  Do this exercise every other day, with the day off in between to
allow the muscles to mend.

"HIGH 5": Just change the
position of your hand so that it’s ready to receive a “high 5” when your dog
does the “shake” behavior.

"WAVE": Now give the cue for
“shake” but instead of keeping your hand stationary to receive your dog’s paw,
move it horizontally in front of him.  This will cause him to lift his paw
a little longer and perhaps even make another swipe to meet your hand.
Especially reinforce the extra jabs in the air.

Others

"BACK
UP": A great workout for the core and hind leg muscles.  The
easiest way to shape the back-up behavior is to hold a treat at the level of
your dog’s chest with you facing him and then walk towards him.  Let him
nibble the treat along the way to keep him interested and playing the
game.  As he becomes more fluent, you can reduce the physical cueing
necessary to effect the behavior.

"SIT-STAND-SIT": The rear legs are often the first to
weaken as your dog ages, so it’s important that you keep them strong.
Moving your dog between a sit and stand can accomplish this.  By holding a
treat above your dog’s nose and moving it back over his head, you effectively
push his butt down into the sit position.  Now put the treat at nose level
and pull it forward just enough to lure your dog to a stand in a single
step.  You want him to be pushing off with his rear legs for maximum
benefit and not pulling himself forward with his front legs.  Note: If your
dog uses more than a single step to rise to a stand, it’s likely that he’s used
his front legs rather than his hind legs.

For a greater workout, do this
while facing uphill.  Alternatively, face sideways on the hill, first one
way, then the other, to target each side individually.  Start with 3 to 5
repetitions, then gradually increase to 10 or 20 repetitions.  Do this
exercise every other day, with the day off in between to allow the muscles to
mend.

"STAND-DOWN-STAND": Moving from a stand to a down
and back again is a great workout for the whole body.  Hold a treat at your
dog’s nose and push back and down, causing him to fold into the down
position.  Now put the treat at nose level and pull it forward just enough
to lure your dog to a stand without moving forward.

As with
the Sit-Stand-Sit exercise, increase the difficulty of this exercise by doing it
while facing uphill, or by facing sideways on the hill, first one way, then the
other, to target each side individually.  Start with 3 to 5 repetitions,
then gradually increase to 10 or 20 repetitions.  Again, allow a day in
between for recuperation.

"ROLL OVER": For the benefit
of working your dog’s core muscles, do this exercise in both directions.
Once in a “down” position, notice which hip your dog is settled on.  Lure
his nose around the opposite shoulder and, as he twists his neck, he will roll
first flat, then on his back, and then onto the other side.  If he has
trouble doing the whole movement right away, reinforce approximations.  For
greater challenge, do several rollovers in one direction, then back in the other
direction, or do the rollover up an incline.

"SIT
PRETTY": A great workout for the core muscles and aids balance.
From a sitting position, lure your dog into a beg position by pulling a treat
back and above his nose.  As he becomes more fluent with the behavior,
start putting the verbal cue in front of the hand signal.  Build duration
in the time he remains in position.  For increased difficulty, cue him to
give left paw, right paw, or both paws at once.  Also lure him to turn his
head and upper body by leading his nose with a treat, first one way, then the
other.

"CRAWL": Great for working out a
dog’s forelimbs, trunk and rear limbs.  From a “down” position, drag a
treat along the floor just in front of your dog’s paws.  Mark and treat for
any slight forward movement with a paw.  Gradually start to mark for more
and more movement forward (as long as your dog never stands up to come
forward).  When your dog is fluently offering the behavior, put the verbal
cue “crawl” in front of the hand signal.  To encourage crawling, you can
use props such as a low table or poles across chairs.  You can increase the
distance of the obstacle course or the number of repetitions as your dog gains
endurance.

"SPIN": A propriaceptive exercise, one that
challenges body awareness through limb placement and balance.  With your
dog in front of you, hold a treat at your dog’s nose height.  Lead him
around in a tight circle, first in one direction, then the other.  If you’d
like, you can precede the hand prompt with the verbal cue “spin!” once the
behavior is coming fairly fluently.   To increase its benefit, this is
an exercise you can do on a variety of surfaces, such as gravel and
grass.

Outdoor
Activities

"DIG": Some dogs are
unabashed diggers (the dachshund, for example, was bred to dig in search of
rodents). This is a good source of exercise – it’s a great workout for the
forelimbs.  So, rather than trying to inhibit the behavior completely, it’s
better to reach a compromise by giving your dog a designated digging area or
sandbox in which to exercise this instinctive behavior.  In order to
attract the behavior to the designated area, dig a shallow hole and lightly bury
a ziplock baggy of treats.  As he digs to reveal the baggy, open it up and
produce a treat for him.  As he progresses, plant the baggy slightly deeper
in the dirt.  You can use a heavier dirt medium or pack it more tightly for
added challenge.

You can also bury stuffed puzzle toys in the soil for
his search and recovery.  Make sure to supervise so that you can discourage
your dog’s wandering to other parts of the lawn.  For building a canine
athlete, do this exercise 3 or 4 times a week.

"RETRIEVE": Always a great exercise. You can expand on
its efficacy by throwing uphill to work your dog’s hind limbs, and retrievals
through water are a great full-body endurance workout.

"WALKIES!" : Taking your dog for a walk is not
necessarily beneficial if the walk is a slow saunter as he sniffs p-mail and
leaves his own.  In order to get cardiovascular benefit and build
endurance, you want your dog to settle into a trot gait.  Start your walk
at a clip fast enough so that your dog needs to trot to keep up.  After
he’s settled into this gate, you can often slow your own speed and he will
continue on at a trot.

Canine
Sports

Sports such as agility, flyball, and winter
skijoring are great sources of exercise for dog and human alike.  Consider
signing up for a class at a local training facility.

A Word to the
Wise

Remember that outdoor activity is still an essential
component of any exercise regimen, giving your dog a change of scenery, which is
mentally stimulating, as well as burning physical energy.  Consider your
dog’s athletic program with the same caution and care as you would your
own.  As with any exercise regimen, start gradually.  And consult your
vet about whether there are exercises you should avoid because of your dog’s
physical limitations.

Have a healthy, happy New
Year!

* The DVD “Building the Canine Athlete” by M. Christine
Zink DVM, PhD and Laurie McCauley DVM is a great resource for building strength
and endurance in your canine athlete.

Dog trainer Laura
Garber of Hoboken regards training as an exercise in building relationships
rather than obedience. She believes such an approach promises greater
understanding and symbiosis within our family packs. Laura works with private
clients in Hudson County and beyond. For information, go to myWoofGang.com or contact her
directly at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript
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