Photograph thanks to Steve Pettit and Riverfront Working Dog Club
A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to be able to attend Dr. Jimi Cook's seminar on Canine Conditioning and Injury Prevention - a huge thanks to my dog club (Riverfront Working Dog Club) for hosting it. During the seminar, Dr' Cook talked about the importance of not only conditioning your dog for work, giving them the proper warm-up and cool-down period, but also of cross training. I've done a lot of cross training with my own personal dogs; when I was introducing Inigo to Dr. Cook for his evaluation, I highlighted some of the sports that we currently train in (IPO/Schutzhund, Agility, Dock Diving, Nosework, Barn Hunt, Flyball, Disc Dogs, Rally and Competition Obedience, and even a little bit of Weight Pull).
While all of this seems no big deal to me, I realized that not everyone has access, or has been exposed to much more than walking their dog and basic tricks.
Benefits of Training Your Dog
Again, to me this is sort of a given, but I forget how many people don't even think twice about training their dog. Not simply for good manners, a little training goes a long way! It can:
Dog Sports
More than simply basic obedience, Dog Sports are an outlet for you and your dog to enjoy each others' company, to appreciate each others' strengths, and to build up each others' weaknesses. Some of the more well known Dog Sports include:
Benefits of Cross Training Your Dog
Just like a human athlete - your dog needs to be conditioned to the sports you would like to participate in. Contrary to popular belief, a dog sport shouldn't be selected for the purpose of getting your dog to loose weight (there are other activities for that) while dog sports are a great way to keep your dogs exercised and in good body condition, a healthy weight should be maintained prior to beginning training in a dog sport. If you've ever followed human sports, you will notice that successful athletes, while they may strive specifically in one sport, routinely participate in various different sports. More often than not, these different sports all require very different skill sets - we call this cross training; and like their human counterparts, canine athletes can also benefit tremendously from participating and training in varying sports. Benefits of cross training include:
I realize that not everyone is lucky enough to have been given the exposure of such a wide variety if activities to enjoy with their dog - to hopefully help expand your horizons, I plan on highlighting a different dog sport each month. Happy training!
While all of this seems no big deal to me, I realized that not everyone has access, or has been exposed to much more than walking their dog and basic tricks.
Benefits of Training Your Dog
Again, to me this is sort of a given, but I forget how many people don't even think twice about training their dog. Not simply for good manners, a little training goes a long way! It can:
- Strengthen the bond between you and your dog.
- Create a path of clear communication between you and your dog.
- Act as both physical and mental stimulation for your dog.
- Alleviate boredom and prevent unwanted bad behaviors and habits.
Dog Sports
More than simply basic obedience, Dog Sports are an outlet for you and your dog to enjoy each others' company, to appreciate each others' strengths, and to build up each others' weaknesses. Some of the more well known Dog Sports include:
- Agility
- Barn Hunt
- Dock Diving
- Rally Obedience
- Lure Coursing
- Flyball
- Nosework
- IPO (Schutzhund)
- Herding
- Caning Freestyle
- Weight Pull
Benefits of Cross Training Your Dog
Just like a human athlete - your dog needs to be conditioned to the sports you would like to participate in. Contrary to popular belief, a dog sport shouldn't be selected for the purpose of getting your dog to loose weight (there are other activities for that) while dog sports are a great way to keep your dogs exercised and in good body condition, a healthy weight should be maintained prior to beginning training in a dog sport. If you've ever followed human sports, you will notice that successful athletes, while they may strive specifically in one sport, routinely participate in various different sports. More often than not, these different sports all require very different skill sets - we call this cross training; and like their human counterparts, canine athletes can also benefit tremendously from participating and training in varying sports. Benefits of cross training include:
- Strengthens the bond between you and your dog.
- Prevention of boredom and monotony from working the same skills repetitively.
- Exercise and conditioning of all of the muscles in the body (since different sports and skills require the use of different muscles).
I realize that not everyone is lucky enough to have been given the exposure of such a wide variety if activities to enjoy with their dog - to hopefully help expand your horizons, I plan on highlighting a different dog sport each month. Happy training!
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