4 Dog Cavaletti K9 Fitness Exercises
Using cavalettis for dogs during K9 fitness training can be very beneficial and are one of my favorite pieces of canine fitness equipment to use! Dog cavalettis can be used to train beginner dog fitness exercises and also be combined with other pieces of canine fitness equipment to create advanced K9 fitness dog training exercises!
Here you’ll learn 4 dog cavaletti K9 fitness exercises you can do with your dog using the FitPaws dog cavaletti set. If you have the FitPaws Hurdle Set, you can use that too! The hurdle set is great for these dog fitness exercises plus many more!
P.S. Want even more K9 fitness exercises and tips? Check out my blog K9 Fitness section, my K9 Fitness YouTube Playlist and join my K9 Fitness with Caitlin Facebook group!
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: Walking Forward & Backward
One of my favorite ways to warm up a dog is to do some walking backwards and forwards. This gets the shoulders moving, the quads moving, pretty much everything! By adding in a dog cavaletti, you’re now asking your dog to step up and over as they are reaching forward and then creating an added hind end awareness challenge when they step back!
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog will walk forward and backward over a cavaletti pole, ensuring they’ve made it all the way over before reversing.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Increases strength in the forelimb and hamstring while improving rear end awareness.
Step 1: Set your cavaletti pole to the lowest hole height.
Step 2: Have your dog start in a standing position behind the cavaletti pole. Starting behind helps them to know there’s something there before attempting to back up over it.
Step 3: Ask your dog to walk forward and completely come over the cavaletti pole. Immediately reward.
Step 4: Ask your dog to back up completely over the cavaletti pole. Immediately reward.
Pro Tip: It’s completely normal for the pole to be knocked down initially. This is something I do with Annie all the time and even with her pretty extensive hind end awareness, she still has moments where she either knocks it down or actually steps on it. Also, make sure to not have your dog walk so many steps in front of it that they’re taking too many steps when they back up, making it harder for them to find the pole. We want to set them up for success not failure.
Dog Fitness Exercise 2: Sidestepping
Sidestepping is one of my all-time favorite K9 fitness exercises. It’s great for adducting/abducting the hips and shoulders and really strengthening multiple muscle groups! Adding in a dog cavaletti creates and added front and hind end awareness challenge and the added step builds additional strength as your dog lifts and lowers each foot over the cavaletti pole!
Before beginning this exercise, I recommend your dog know the following:
- Sidestepping on the flat
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog’s back should remain flat, front and rear feet keep a natural distance part and the legs can spread and touch or cross while walking over the dog cavaletti.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Activates the hip and shoulder abductors/adductors and the muscles that support shoulder and hip stability while creating an additional front and rear foot awareness challenge.
Step 1: Set your cavaletti pole to the lowest hole height.
Step 2: Standing either beside or in front of your dog (whichever way your dog sidesteps with you), ask them to sidestep over the dog cavaletti. Immediately reward.
Step 3: Repeat the same in the other direction. Immediately reward.
Pro Tip: Using a targeting cue with your hand or stick would be very helpful here in keeping your dog focused and their body straight. When first attempting this, some dogs might come in a bit crooked until they figure out the parameters of the dog cavaletti cones. When I use a nose touch or chin rest targeting cue with Annie during this, I find that she stays straighter going over the pole.
Dog Fitness Exercise 3: Figure-8’s
Another amazing K9 fitness exercise that is great for supporting the spine is figure-8’s! Your dog will be wrapping around the cone to increase flexibility while also getting an added front and hind end awareness challenge when the dog cavaletti pole is added.
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog will walk around each cone before crossing through the middle to walk around the second cone.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Bends and warms up the spine and limbs for lateral stability.
Pro Tip: It’s best to train this K9 fitness exercise without the dog cavaletti pole first. The pole adds an additional challenge and the Figure-8 dog fitness exercise can be challenging enough for some dogs as is.
Step 1: Place two cones on the ground (no pole yet).
Step 2: Guide your dog (or cue your dog) around the first cone. Mark and reward. Repeat with the second cone.
Step 3: Practice this until you can create a flowing sequence from cone to cone.
Pro Tip: Before adding in any cones at all, you can also increase the challenge of this exercise by moving the cones in a bit closer. See example below:
Step 4: If your dog has built strength with the Figure-8 exercise, add in the pole to your dog cavaletti set at the lowest hole height.
Step 5: Repeat step 2/3, ensuring your dog is stepping over the pole as they cross through the center.
Dog Fitness Exercise 4: Weave Dog Cavaletti
This last dog cavaletti K9 fitness exercise is another one of my favorites, especially for senior dogs! This is a great exercise to keep your dog moving, help them to learn (or keeping learning) where their feet are and to improve overall balance (something we all need right!).
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog will walk or trot in and out of each cone.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Improves proprioception and balance.
Step 1: Set up four of your cones and place a pole between each one on the lowest hole setting, creating a straight line.
Step 2: Ask your dog to walk or trot in and out of each one until they get to the end of the line. Reverse and repeat in the other direction.
Pro Tips:
- If this is new to your dog, rewarding after each step will be helpful!
- If your dog is going too fast, make sure you’re not matching their speed. Move slower.
- If your dog is going too slow, add some encouragement with your voice, a toy, or speed up your pace.
I hope these dog cavaletti K9 fitness exercises inspired you to start learning some dog fitness with your pup! Canine fitness is not only great for building strength and flexibility, but it’s also an incredible confidence builder!
If you found this helpful, grab a copy of my Mini K9 Fitness Exercise Guide here, check out my YouTube channel and Instagram account for tons of K9 Fitness videos and of course join my K9 Fitness With Caitlin Facebook Group to get even more exercises & tips so you can learn all about dog fitness!
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