Tag Archives: Jeris Pugh

Functional Canine Conditioning Part 4: Endurance

The 4 Elements Of A Functional Canine Conditioning Program:
Power. Athleticism. Speed. Endurance. (P.A.S.E.)

Part 4: Endurance

How do you build your dog’s cardiovascular Endurance? Should you do High Intensity Short Duration or Low Intensity Long Duration. What about muscle endurance? How long should a set of Puppy Push Ups or Squats last? Or how long should an entire conditioning sessions last? At The Martial ARFS™ we use three components to develop dog’s endurance: Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscle Endurance, and Mental Endurance. Continue reading Functional Canine Conditioning Part 4: Endurance

Functional Canine Conditioning Part 3: Speed

The 4 Elements Of A Functional Canine Conditioning Program:
Power. Athleticism. Speed. Endurance. (P.A.S.E.)

Part 3: Speed!!

When you see a dog run and think to yourself, “Wow that dog is fast!”, what are you looking at? Is it how fast the dog runs in the open field? What about how fast the dog runs an agility course? Is it how fast the dog starts? Stops? Or changes direction? At The Martial ARFS™ we define speed using 4 components:  Reaction, Direction, Acceleration,  & Sprint, and you must train them all to improve your dog’s performance.

Continue reading Functional Canine Conditioning Part 3: Speed

Functional Canine Conditioning Part 2: Athleticism

The 4 Elements Of A Functional Canine Conditioning Program:
Power. Athleticism. Speed. Endurance. (P.A.S.E.)

Part 2: Athleticism

How do you define athleticism? What are the components? I personally think there’s a difference between being an athlete and having athleticism. A marathon runner is an athlete;  a basketball player has athleticism. Sled dogs are athletes; agility dogs have athleticism. At The Martial ARFS we use four components to define athleticism: Body Awareness, Balance,  Coordination, and Rhythm. Continue reading Functional Canine Conditioning Part 2: Athleticism

Functional Canine Conditioning: Part 1: Power

The 4 Elements Of A Functional Canine Conditioning Program:
Power. Athleticism. Speed. Endurance. (P.A.S.E.)

Part 1: Power

Each of the 4 elements are comprised of several key components that make up that element. Ignoring any component of any element ruins the integrity of the entire process and you will most likely never see the result you’re hoping to achieve. There are 4 components to developing a “functionally” more powerful canine athlete. They are: Strength, Stability, Flexibility, Connection.

Continue reading Functional Canine Conditioning: Part 1: Power

More Than Canine “Core” Conditioning.

 By Jeris Pugh

In my intro post, I wrote that the foundation to conditioning was based on functional strength and how to build it. But we can’t use that concept as a foundation to conditioning our dogs if we don’t know what conditioning means. Sure we can copy what someone else does, but we have no Cooper 6 copyidea if that is what we should be doing for our dog.

When I trained people, I was taught “The Core”, in short, were the muscles that stabilize, flex, extend, and rotate the spine. A weak core will usually be the result of a sedentary lifestyle and most likely result in lower back issues now or in the future, along with poor and inefficient athletic movement. Continue reading More Than Canine “Core” Conditioning.

Martial ARFS™ Canine Conditioning Principles Introduction

By Jeris Pugh (Owner, Martial ARFS™)

Over the next few weeks and possibly months, The Martial ARFS™ Blog will be posting a series of entries. These entries will be based upon the conditioning principles that we use to improve performance and prevent injury in canine athletes and active companions.border_collie_balance_fitpaws_donut

Though many people talk about canine core conditioning and body awareness we have taken the tedious process of specifying what that means and how you can apply it to a specific conditioning program for your dog.

Continue reading Martial ARFS™ Canine Conditioning Principles Introduction