Is your pup fit?
There are lots of different kinds of dog fitness, as I’ve been learning recently from my fitness coach (my sister Fran! Check out her Fitness Over 50 blog & Facebook group!).
Aspects of dog fitness:
Stamina
French Bulldogs aren’t supposed to like the heat – but Teddy doesn’t worry about what he’s “supposed” to do!
One aspect of dog fitness is stamina, something I’ve had to work on with my French Bulldog, Torque. He’s the first of the three Frenchies I’ve owned who’s had an issue with heat sensitivity. I know all descriptions of the breed mention it, but he’s of mine who’s actually had it. Dax and
Teddy both adored heat and would lie out in the sun on the hottest days, with no ill effects. Silly dogs.
Flexibility
Another part of dog fitness is flexibility. And it’s another one that Torque isn’t great with, mostly because he’s built like a brick. We’re working on it, hoping to improve his “torquing!” Especially since he’s dipping his toes into the agility arena these days. We’ve also recently found that Booker, Fran’s Boston Terrier, isn’t as good bending to the right as he is to the left. With both of these guys we’re just doing a simple exercise, holding a treat to the side, a little further back as we see improvement, and having them turn their heads to get it. Not too much at a time – we don’t want to do any damage or give them stiff necks!
Tango, Fran’s Brussels Griffon, is possibly the bendiest dog in the world. This boy can practically fold in half. One of his nicknames is “Gumby!”
Strength
So we were really surprised when we realized that Tango doesn’t have much core strength at all. He was having trouble balancing and keeping himself upright. We were shocked!
Tango sitting on the balance disc.
It’s been a while since Tango’s done agility, so it could be his core strength has diminished without the jumping, climbing, weaving practice. But he’s still a very active nine-year-old dog, who loves doing Rally, “killing” his brother, and guarding the house with every vocal cord he has. So we want to keep our little guy in shape for as long as possible to keep him as healthy as possible.
One of the exercises Tango’s doing is sit-stand on an inflatable balance disc. This works his core as well as his legs. He’s getting better, but still falls off occasionally and has some trouble maintaining his balance in a sit. You don’t have to invest in a disc to do this – anything that’s not too firm will do, especially for our small dogs. A couch cushion on the floor would work just fine.
Tango standing on the balance disc.
Fran also has Tango spin both ways on the disc. At first, he just followed her “cookie hand” around in a circle. Again, he’s getting better, but still tumbles off the disc. (Is it really bad that it makes us laugh a little bit when he falls off?) This is another one you can do on a cushion.
Every day we try to have individual time with our dogs. Lately we’ve been playing dog fitness games. And we love seeing them getting fitter and stronger while they play with their moms!
