5+ K9 Fitness Exercises With FitPaws Balance Pad

I absolutely love K9 fitness! If you’re new here, I discovered K9 fitness in 2023 with my girl Annie, and since then, her and I have taken all three levels of the AKC Fit dog fitness classes, we do daily K9 fitness exercises and I’ve even introduced K9 fitness to my extra-large dog Diesel to keep him strong and healthy, especially after his TPLO surgery and as he gets older. 

It’s no secret that FitPaws is one of my all time favorite brands for canine conditioning equipment, but what I think is a secret is how versatile their dog fitness equipment really is. One piece of canine fitness conditioning equipment that can be used for numerous K9 fitness exercises is the FitPaws Balance Pad! This one piece can be used to do beginner, intermediate and advanced K9 fitness exercises, which is what I’ll be sharing in this post! Let’s learn how to do 5+ K9 fitness exercises using the FitPaws Balance Pad!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my entire K9 Fitness Section on my blog under Life With Diesel for tons of dog fitness exercises & tips and check out my YouTube Channel to see my complete K9 Fitness Playlist that has new videos added weekly (you might see some in this post too!).

1. K9 Fitness Exercise: Front Paw Targeting

The first K9 fitness exercise is a beginner dog fitness exercise called Front Paw Targeting. Front paw targeting is a great exercise that does the following:

• Improves coordination
• Increases core and limb strength
• Great for senior strengthening
• Creates better joint health

Plus so much more! When you’re first learning front paw targeting, you will begin on a FitPaws balance pad because this piece of canine conditioning equipment adds a small amount of destabilization for your dog to balance on.

How to learn front paw targeting: 

Step 1: Grab a treat and ask your dog to walk forward onto the balance pad, putting only their front feet on. Reward when they do so.

Note: Ensure your dog has proper form. Your dog should have a neutral spine and their front feet placed directly under their shoulders.

Step 2: Practice a few times until they start to get the hang of it.

Step 3: Add your verbal command. I use “Paws Up!”

Pro Tip: When working on the FitPaws Balance Pad (and any K9 fitness equipment), it’s important to keep your dog’s nails trimmed. These are made of close-cell foam, and while they are pretty durable, if your dog has super long nails, it will rip through it.

Pro Tip 2: If you have an XL dog like Diesel, these balance pads are the perfect size for extra big dogs. I’ve tried 2 other balance pads from different brands and they were smaller by about 4-6 inches in length which I’ve found makes a huge difference when working with larger breeds. Definitely a bonus!

Added Challenge: Increase the level of difficulty by stacking more than one balance pad on top of each other. The max amount I usually do is 3 (see Annie demonstrating next to Diesel’s photo!) and this is something to work up to after your dog has developed more strength.

2. K9 Fitness Exercise: Pivoting With Added Challenge

The next canine fitness exercise is an extension of what you just learned but with added hind end awareness! Not only is this an intermediate K9 fitness exercise, it’s also a really cool dog trick! For this dog fitness exercise you will need the FitPaws Balance Pad and a 16 oz. feed tub you can get from Tractor Supply.

P.S. if you’re also a horse girl like me, you might already have one, ha!

Step 1: Grab your feed tub and ask your dog to go into front paw targeting position on it.

Pro Tip: This is something that you will need to practice. Having your dog practice front paw targeting on different surfaces (like the FitPaws K9 FitBone or FitPaws Balance Ramp) will help prepare them for this new surface.

Step 2: To teach your dog to pivot, slowly walk into them, without pushing, and guide them until they take 1-2 steps with their back feet while keeping their front feet on the feed tub. Immediately reward. 

Step 3: Practice until you are getting more steps and can go all the way around. Make sure to do this in both directions. You can also begin to add a verbal command if you choose. Mine is “Circle”!

Pro Tip: Every dog has a stronger or weaker side (just like us!) and will have better mobility going one way versus the other. Just keep practicing and you will build their strength!

Step 4: Once your dog has mastered how to pivot on the feed tub, now place your FitPaws Balance Pad at least 1-2 inches away from the feed tub. 

Note: I’ve learned that if you put the FitPaws balance pad too close to the bowl, your dog might walk around it instead of over it.

Step 5: Ask your dog to go into front paw targeting position on the feed tub and then ask them to pivot on the feed tub going towards the FitPaws Balance Pad. The goal is for your dog to lift up their back feet to walk over the FitPaws Balance Pad.

Step 6: Practice in both directions until your dog is walking over the balance pad while keeping their front feet in front paw targeting position on the feed tub.

Want to see a step-by-step video guide for the Pivot + Hind End Challenge K9 fitness exercise? Check out my YouTube video below to see how to do it and make your dog stronger!

XL Dog Pivoting Bonus Tip

We just learned how to do the pivoting with added hind end awareness K9 Fitness exercise right? Now, I want to show you how you can do this with XL breeds like my dog Diesel!

I have found that the feed tubs don’t give enough room for the XL paws Diesel has and they they do not give the support XL breeds need. I’ve tried the larger feed tubs too, but the problem with those is that the extra weight from the dog causes the feed tubs to collapse in the middle, which isn’t safe for them. The solution? The FitPaws Balance Pad!

You can teach your XL dog to safely pivot on the FitPaws Balance Pad by following the same steps you just learned! Below are photos of Diesel pivoting so you can see just how much room it gives XL dogs.

4-6 K9 Fitness Exercises: Front Paws Elevated With Position Changes – Tuck Sit, Kick Back Stand and Fold Back Down

We’re going to continue with more intermediate K9 fitness exercises using the FitPaws Balance Pad. Exercises 4-6 are a continuation of each other. A canine fitness exercise you will learn in the level 2 AKC Fit Dog class is front paws elevated with position changes. Essentially what this means, is your dog will have their front feet on a piece of canine conditioning equipment (FitPaws Balance Pad) and do some beginner level K9 fitness exercises. 

By adding in the FitPaws Balance Pad, you are increasing the challenge of those beginner exercises because your dog will have to balance and stabilize themselves when more of their weight is shifted to the rear.

Tuck Sit with Front Paws Elevated

Here’s how to do the tuck sit with forelimbs elevated:

Step 1: Ask your dog to go into front paw targeting position on the FitPaws Balance Pad.

Step 2: Ask your dog to perform the tuck sit while maintaining their front feet on the balance pad. Immediately reward.

Pro Tip: This can take some time to learn since your dog might want to immediately step off to go into sit position instead of keeping their front feet on the pad and sitting simultaneously. 

Kick Back Stand with Front Paws Elevated

The kick back stand with forelimbs elevated adds an extra challenge for their core and back feet. Also, since they are balancing on the FitPaws Balance Pad, they are working the stabilizer muscles in their forelimbs and shoulders!

Here’s how to do the kick back stand with forelimbs elevated:

Step 1: Continue from the tuck sit with front paws elevated on the FitPaws Balance Pad (last exercise).

Step 2: Bring a treat forward, asking your dog to do a kick back stand (your dog’s back feet are lifting up to place them into a standing position). Immediately reward.

Pro Tip: If your dog needs a little support, help them! Sometimes I will give Annie’s belly a little support to help her maintain proper form. Now, if your dog is really struggling, it means your dog isn’t ready for this added challenge.

Fold Back Down with Front Paws Elevated

The last K9 fitness exercise of this 3-step series is the fold back down with front paws elevated. 

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Continue from the kick back stand position maintaining front feet on the FitPaws Balance Pad.

Step 2: Reach the treat back underneath your dog’s head to encourage them to go into the fold down position, while maintaining their front paws on the FitPaws Balance Pad. Immediately reward.

From here, you can have them go back into a stand while keeping their front paws on the FitPaws Balance Pad or you can remove the balance pad altogether.

Fold Back Down Added Challenge Tip

Want to make this exercise more advanced? Instead of just having their front paws elevated, let your dog have all four. Follow the steps below to see how to do this:

Step 1: Grab either three to four FitPaws Balance Pads and place in a row (use four if your dog cannot fully lay down on three).

Step 2: Ask your dog to fully walk onto the FitPaws Balance Pads and stay in a standing position (my photo below shows her walking on to it).

Step 3: Bring the treat towards your dog to ask them to do a fold back down. Immediately reward.

Step 4: Bring the treat up, asking your dog to stand while keeping their front feet stationary. Immediately reward.

By elevating all four of your dog’s paws, they have to maintain balance across all of their feet to execute this canine fitness exercise.

Want to see step-by-step video guides for K9 fitness exercises 4-6? Check out my YouTube video below to see how to do them all and make your dog stronger!

7. K9 Fitness Exercise: Sidestepping

Last but not least is probably my favorite K9 fitness exercise of all time: sidestepping. This is an advanced, Level 3 AKC Fit canine fitness exercise and before you begin this one, your dog must confidently be able to pivot and have good knowledge and skills of front paw targeting. This is my favorite because I thought it was going to be so hard to teach Annie but she actually nailed it on her first try and I remember looking at our trainer’s face in awe (it matched my face, ha!).

“Sidestepping engages the shoulder and pelvic adductor muscles. Lateral walking can strengthen stabilizer muscles in the limbs, core, shoulders, and hips. This motion is helpful to strengthen the muscles used for turning sharply as in play or agility weave poles.” – AKC Fit Dog Level 3 Class Handout

For this dog fitness exercise, you will need three FitPaws Balance Pads.

Step 1: Set up three FitPaws balance pads in a horizontal line.

Step 2: Ask your dog to go into front paw targeting position at either end of the row.

Step 3: Like we did in pivoting, slowly walk into your dog (without pushing), encouraging them to walk sideways while keeping their front feet elevated. As soon as they take a step sideways, immediately reward.

Step 4: Practice multiple times until your dog is taking more than one step laterally. The goal is for them to be able to walk laterally completely across the FitPaws Balance Pads.

Bonus Tip: Once your dog has gotten good at this in both directions, you can add in pivoting on each corner to cue your dog to change to the other side of the balance pads. Check out my YouTube video below to see a step-by-step tutorial on how to teach your dog sidestepping and how to add in the pivot!

Now I know I’m a total K9 fitness nerd, but wasn’t that SO COOL! Canine fitness and dog training can be extremely fun, especially when you’re learning cool skills like this and seeing how much fun your dog is having (and how totally awesome they are!). Plus, I love that you can use one piece of canine conditioning equipment, like the FitPaws Balance Pad, and do so many different exercises. Also, K9 fitness is a great form of canine enrichment!

If you loved learning these 5+ K9 fitness exercises using the FitPaws Balance Pad, check out more of my K9 fitness posts featuring some awesome dog fitness exercises with and without some of my favorite dog fitness equipment brands like FitPaws. Plus, check out my huge collection of dog enrichment ideas that will provide tons of mental enrichment for your dog, like K9 fitness:

• 3 Beginner FitPaws K9 Fitness Exercises 
• 3 Easy Stretches For Dogs 
• K9 Fitness YouTube Playlist 
• 3 Easy Dog Lick Mat Ideas 
• 3 DIY Dog Treat Dispensers 
• 3 DIY Dog Enrichment Ideas To Combat Dog Cabin Fever 
• 3 Dog Enrichment Activities Using Toilet Paper Rolls 
• 3 DIY Puzzle Toys For Dogs 
• 3 Easy Scenting Games For Dogs 

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Photography: Kate Kelley Collection