Want to keep pet parents happy and dogs thriving? Incorporating fitness into your training sessions is a powerful way to reinforce behaviors and support your clients’ overall health.
Benefits of Canine Fitness
Build a Strong Body
Mobility is the foundation of a dog’s overall well-being. When you incorporate intentional fitness exercises into your training sessions, you do more than burn energy. You’re actively helping dogs preserve their joint health, maintain lean muscle mass, and stay limber as they age.
Balance exercises are a great way to help gain body awareness and build muscle. A great tool to use is an exercise disc, such as this FitPaws Balance Disc. These can be used in beginner balance exercises, in more advanced conditioning exercises, and even for rehabilitation – making them a wonderful tool for a trainer who wants to begin to incorporate fitness on any level into their work.
As a bonus, if you’re working with a shy or fearful client, using balance can help build their confidence! The unsteady surface requires the dog to work to stay on top, helping to build the confidence you’re looking for.
Increase Focus Through Movement
Physical activity isn’t just about the body; it fuels the mind too. Dogs that are mentally under-stimulated often struggle with focus or impulse control. By adding a physical component to sessions, you offer mental enrichment that keeps them alert, engaged, and more motivated to follow through on commands and keep sessions more productive.
Confidence Through Controlled Play & Social Exposure
Fitness-based activities, especially those that encourage play, can ease anxiety and support socialization. Whether it’s group agility drills, a structured game of tug, or an obstacle course with other dogs nearby, these moments give clients a chance to build confidence in unfamiliar or social settings. They get to move their body and practice calm, controlled behavior around new sights, sounds, and smells.
Take Valor for example – this border collie started fitness-forward training at 6 months old and greatly benefited. “When Valor was a really young puppy, he didn’t have a lot of confidence in himself, and he was kind of a nervous, shy dog, but agility really helped him gain more confidence and get out of his shell.”
Fitness Forward Training Methods
Incorporating fitness into your sessions doesn’t mean reworking your entire program – it means being intentional about how movement and physical activity support behavior and learning. Here are a few tried-and-true methods to get you started:
Agility Training
Agility is a natural fit for fitness-based training. Use walking boards, weave poles, and jumps to reinforce commands. These exercises will challenge a dog’s coordination and build both strength and focus while shaping behavior.
Structured Walks
Structured walks are great opportunities to combine physical fitness and training. Layer in obedience cues like “sit”, “stay”, and recall drills to reduce distraction and keep your client mentally tuned in.