K9 Fitness Requires the “Team” Approach

There are so many facets to strength and body awareness training that it is important to use the “team” approach applying information from the dog owner, veterinarian, rehabilitation professionals, physical therapist and fitness instructors.  

It is important to recognize subtle changes in how the dog moves or performs exercises. As a Fitness Coach, I don't diagnose injury, but with a careful eye on the dog’s movement, it allows me to refer to a qualified professional. 

Who is the team: 

• Dog owner
  
• Family Veterinarian
  
• Veterinarian with a special interest in sports medicine
  
• Rehabilitation practitioner (CCRT, CCRP)
  
• Veterinarian who is a Diplomat of American College of Veterinarian Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation 
  

Some situations where a referral is needed:  

• When working with a "healthy" dog to improve their weight distribution sometimes I find other unexplained movement abnormalities. I then refer the dog to a professional who can help diagnose the problem and put the dog on the path of recovery. Once that dog is released to normal activity, we then can resume coordination, strength and weight distribution exercises. 

• During the course of training, after several appointments, if it becomes clear that something has changed in the dog’s health status or there is an injury or discomfort, I will refer the client to the appropriate professional.  This often happens with a healthy performance dog that has fallen off a piece of equipment, landed wrong going over a jump, etc.  

• Dogs that are “Off” in their movement and cannot perform certain exercises need to be diagnosed and released by a professional prior to designing a fitness program.  
  

If a dog has been performing strength and body awareness exercise regularly and does happen to get injured performing their sport or chasing a ball, then dog is already trained to do exercises similar to those recommended by the rehabilitation practitioner. This speeds up recovery because the dog and the handler have an understanding of what is needed and they do not have to go through the initial learning process.   A dog that has been performing fitness exercises has been exposed to different pieces of equipment and training any new exercises is much more efficient.  

Performing a proper evaluation and reviewing a medical history on each dog helps to address what exercises to perform and if a referral needed.   The list below addresses key points to consider: 

• current and past health history or concerns
• current exercise schedule
• age and activity level of the dog
  
• client goals 
• information on any sports in which the dog participates 
• information on previous injury 
• equipment that the owner has and can use at home
• information on exercises they are already performing
• perform a fitness test

Each client receives a written lesson plan for their dog after each session, detailing how often to do each exercise, instruction for each exercise (including photos and video support) as well as observations or tips to work with the dog.    A copy of this lesson plan is sent to the veterinarian or rehabilitation professional, if needed.   These records are also saved in a client file for future reference. 

Perfect dogs for K9 Fitness

• Dogs that have been cleared by a Veterinarian with a good health history 
• Performance dogs 
• Pet dogs that need more exercise and mental activity 
• Dogs with previous injury who have been fully released to normal activity but may not be using their body efficiently or performing at the level that the owner would like. This is where exercises to improve the dog's proprioception can enhance weight distribution, strength and coordination. Many of these dogs come to me a year or more after surgery and are still not using their body proficiently. 
• Dogs that love to learn and bond with their human
• Sensitive or soft dogs – Fitness training builds confidence

Referring clients to a qualified professional when needed improves communication with professionals in the field and fosters a “team” approach to K9 Fitness.  

Bobbie Lyons, Cert CF
pawsitiveperformance@yahoo.com

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