3 K9 Fitness Exercises Using FitPaws TRAX Targets
One piece of canine fitness equipment that I’ve loved adding into many of my K9 fitness exercises is targets. Targets can help aid your dog in proprioception, aka teaching your dog where their feet are, which is extremely helpful especially as you start to train different K9 fitness exercises.
One of the newest K9 fitness targets out there are the FitPaws TRAX Targets! This piece of canine fitness equipment is super versatile, very durable (it’s heavier compared to previous FitPaws targets which I like) and it has nice high bumps which help send signals from your dog’s feet to their brain to teach them where their feet are.
In this post, I’ll be sharing 3 K9 fitness exercises using the FitPaws TRAX Targets to build strength in multiple muscle groups of your dog. P.S. There may be a bonus exercise shared at the end!
Important Note:
Before you begin any dog fitness exercises, it is important to note that canine fitness is intended for healthy dogs to prevent injury. It is not a replacement for surgery. If your dog has any underlying conditions or is currently in rehab for an injury, please speak with your veterinarian, orthopedic specialist or any other specialist before beginning the exercises with your dog to keep them safe.
Dog Fitness Exercise 1: Fine Tuning Feet Placement
The first K9 fitness exercise is to see just how well our dogs know where their feet are. Since this is an exercise that is done on the flat, dogs of all ages and sizes can practice this!
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog should be able to put their feet on the target in whichever cue you give (i.e. your cue for front paw targeting, rear paw targeting, or both).
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: This teaches the dog where their feet are and helps create proper form with proper target placement.
Step 1: Place your FitPaws TRAX Targets on the floor and cue your dog into any of the following mentioned in the dog fitness goal. With Annie, I like to put one in front and one in back to fine tune her front and rear paw targeting combo as shown below.
Pro Tip: If you’re new to teaching feet targets, just start with one (I’d recommend front paw targeting). To help your dog in this, put both FitPaws TRAX Targets side by side to give them more space for success. Then, as they get better, gradually switch down to one to test their skill.
Pro Tip: If you have a larger breed like my dog Diesel, I also like to add in the FitPaws K9 FitMat for additional space and communication during training.
The best way to use the FitPaws TRAX Targets to fine tune your dog’s front and rear paw targeting is to toss the treat behind your dog in different directions and see if they come back to the place you cue them to every single time. If you haven’t done this before, start by tossing the treat directly behind them. Once they’re confident there, then you can start throwing it off to the side. Ideally, with rear paw targeting, your dog should be able to laterally step back onto the target when cued from the side.
Dog Fitness Exercise 2: Fold Down To Stand
I love using the FitPaws TRAX Targets for improving Annie’s fold down to stand! In my opinion, just this little extra piece of communication has helped perfect her form.
Before beginning this exercise, I recommend your dog know the following:
- Nose Touch
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog’s front feet should stay stationary while their hips and shoulders rotate together.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Strengthens spinal and core muscles while teaching the dog to push up with rear legs into the standing position. This in turn also strengthens your dog’s stifle extenders.
Step 1: Place your FitPaws TRAX Targets in the correct position for a proper stand for your dog.
Step 2: Ask your dog to place their front and back feet on the targets.
Step 3: Lure your dog by holding the treat at their nose and then ask them to follow the treat between his front legs (towards their chest) to encourage him to shift his weight back and to a down position without moving his front feet.
Pro Tip: You don’t want your dog nibbling on your hands the whole time. However, when first teaching your dog this exercise, the treat can be very beneficial to show them what you’re asking. Once they understand, this is where the nose touch comes in!
Step 4: With a treat in hand, or using a nose touch command, place your hand where your dog should end up back in a standing position. Immediately reward when they stand.
Pro Tip: This does take practice. Sometimes I have my hand up too high and other times I reach it a bit too far which puts Annie and Diesel in a bit of an extended position. It happens to all of us! The biggest tip here is to grab your phone, prop it up against something and record yourself. Or if you have a mirror, do your canine fitness training in front of it. Our body position impacts everything our dogs do and is one of the top reasons why our dog doesn’t understand what we’re asking!
P.S. Please ignore Annie’s awful down in the first picture on the left. She was extra excited about a cookie and we couldn’t get the perfect shot without her wanting to jump back up into her stand, ha!
Dog Fitness Exercise 3: Contact Point Practice
For my dog Annie, her rear paw targeting cue is the same as her contact point cue in agility. Because of this, I thought it would be great to show how you can use the FitPaws TRAX Targets as a great way to train and fine tune dog agility contact points!
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits (Rear Paw Targeting) Strengthens shoulder stabilizer muscles and builds hind end awareness.
Now, everyone trains contact points a little differently. Some use running contacts, some don’t. At the time I’m writing this, Annie and I don’t use running contacts. So, instead of sharing steps below, I thought I would mostly show a photo breakdown of how I use the FitPaws TRAX Targets on a walk-it to practice our contact points!
Pro Tip: You can practice rear paw targeting and that cue on any piece of canine fitness equipment your dog already trains on. This will not only strengthen your dog but also the verbal cue that can be transferred to the agility ring!
BONUS Dog Fitness Exercise
In a previous K9 fitness blog post I wrote, 3 FitPaws Balance Disc Exercises I shared a great exercise for strengthening shoulder stability, adduction/abduction and chest strength.
This exercise is a great way to level up your dog’s rear paw targeting but also build even stronger shoulders! This is exercise 3 in the post and you can find more information on proper form, canine fitness prerequisites, exercise benefits and more in my post!
I’m constantly using the FitPaws TRAX Targets in tandem with so many other pieces of canine fitness equipment in numerous canine fitness exercises. I always say this, but I’m so big on getting something that’s really versatile so the investment is always worth it!
If you found this helpful, definitely join my K9 Fitness with Caitlin Facebook group, check out my YouTube channel for tons of K9 Fitness videos, and of course visit some of my other posts below for even more exercises & tips so you can learn all about dog fitness!
- 5 Blue-9 KLIMB K9 Fitness Exercises
- 3 FitPaws Balance Disc Exercises
- 3 Beginner FitPaws K9 Fitness Exercises
- 3 Easy Stretches For Dogs
- 5+ K9 Fitness Exercises with FitPaws Balance Pad
Want to get 5 FREE K9 Fitness exercises sent straight to your phone? Sign up for my newsletter below to get my Mini K9 Fitness Exercise Guide and get a special invite to my private Facebook Group with even more K9 fitness exercises & tips!
Photography: Kate Kelley Photo