THE DOG’S CORE – Center of gravity!

We tend to concentrate on primary movers (big muscle groups of the rear legs and front legs), because we want a powerful and muscular dog, but often forget about this important link between front and rear – the core. The importance of the core is to provide efficient front and rear limb work. If this system (abdominals, lower back) is not efficient, the body is not going to respond to all of the high demands placed on it while our dogs are running, jumping, and turning.

THE DOG’S REAR END FITNESS EXERCISES

A split image showing two different scenes of a dog. On the left, a brown and white dog runs up an inclined plank outdoors as part of an agility course. On the right, a black, white, and brown dog stands on an orange balance disc inside a brightly lit room with green and yellow walls. The text "THE DOG'S REAR END" is overlaid at the bottom center of the image. The image appears to be related to canine exercise or physical therapy.

If 60 % of a dog’s body weight is carried by the front, the rear end acts more like the engine, responsible for pushing the body forward in sports performances and daily tasks. Learn more how to improve the strength in your dog’s rear end musculature, boost his acceleration abilities and takeoff power, as well as provide great support also to the hips and knees!

THE DOG’S FRONT END

The dog’s front end plays a big role in performance in sports such as agility, flyball, obedience, frisbee, and canicross as well as in everyday life. Because the front limb is attached to the body not by a joint but by muscle, it is more prone to injury. So let’s take a look what can be done in order to properly strengthen this part of the body!

Know-how for dog fitness: Understanding weight distribution is the key

If you are already doing fitness exercises, or are interested in starting them with your dog, you need to understand the dog’s neutral position, weight distribution, and what is happening during specific actions, activities or sports performances – how and why something as simple as the direction your dog is looking in can affect your dog’s body, AND how to use this to your advantage when doing fitness!

Is your dog’s sloppy sitting something to worry about?

Have you ever observed your dog’s posture when sitting? Standing up from an improper or poor sitting position applies greater lateral bending forces to the knees and hocks, and doesn’t activate correct muscles. So how can we achieve a proper sitting position?

Stable vs. unstable surfaces in dog fitness

Who doesn’t love to watch all those cool workouts performed on various unstable surfaces? But, is it as beneficial as it is fancy-looking?
Again, we like to look at some facts first. 🙂