Have you ever noticed your dog leaning when they are taking a tight turn. (If not, just look at the above photo.) Interestingly, if they’re turning right, they lean on their right side. If they are turning left, they lean on their left side. This isn’t just true for your dog, if you’ve ever seen a person turn on a motorcycle, they lean so much it’s hard to understand how they don’t fall. Runners do it too. Sprinters in the 200 meter are taught to “lean in” to the turn as they come around the track. Continue reading Conditioning Tighter Turns For Agility Dogs
Category Archives: Canine (Dog) Exercise, Conditioning & Fitness
Blog posts that emphasize exercise, Conditioning, & Fitness
The Need For Canine Conditioning
Proper conditioning doesn’t just make your dog stronger, it makes your dog more sensitive to the amount of muscle contraction necessary to move most efficiently. Without conditioning, your dog will only be able to perform as well as they’ve learned to while participating in their sport or life activity. Continue reading The Need For Canine Conditioning
Injury Prevention For Dog Agility And Canine Athletes
In an article written by Dr. Sherman Canapp for Clean Run magazine he states, “Traumatic incidents result in active eccentric muscle contraction, in which the muscle is activated during a stretch, such as slipping into a splay-legged position” (read the original article or a revisited article) In short, while the muscle is getting longer (from the movement during 
the slip) the dog contracts and tightens it in order to prevent continued slipping. The slip alone might cause a tear after the muscle has stretched beyond it’s normal range of motion. However, the contraction of the muscle while it’s lengthening almost guarantees the tear because the muscle is already over extended from the leg slipping.
Continue reading Injury Prevention For Dog Agility And Canine Athletes
Your Dog Doesn’t Want To Be Fat
Overweight dogs don’t choose to be that way. Sure they eat when given food but they don’t know the ramifications of doing so when done in excess. The responses from owners when talking about how much they overfeed their dogs are “He acts hungry”, or “He really likes to eat”. This can be frustrating because many owners act as if they can’t deny their dog something that it enjoys so much.
The Problem With Canine Conditioning
Canine conditioning as it is generally practiced is not really geared toward canine athletic performance. There are a lot of great 
exercises that ultimately will not translate to improved performance or injury prevention because the execution will never advance beyond a dog simply going through the motion of the exercises. That’s because the overwhelming majority of canine conditioning exercises never move beyond their canine rehabilitation roots. Continue reading The Problem With Canine Conditioning
8 Reasons To Exercise Your Dog In A Pool
At The Martial ARFS™ we use our pool for a variety of water based exercises that go well beyond swimming. We call them Open Water Exercises (OWE) or Aquatic Conditioning, and you can have your dog perform them in a pool or any other open body of water. The purpose of Open Water Exercise is to incorporate a variety of exercises into a canine athlete or a companion dog’s conditioning program that use water to provide resistance, buoyancy, instability, challenge, and/or safety. Continue reading 8 Reasons To Exercise Your Dog In A Pool
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
Martial ARFS™ Student Spotlight: Beezus
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