Blue-9 KLIMB Jr Review + 3 K9 Fitness Exercises
This year has been an exciting year for the K9 fitness world! Many new canine conditioning equipment pieces have launched and the year isn’t even over yet! One K9 fitness brand that I often share about is Blue-9 Pet Products. Well…they have a brand new product! If you’ve heard of the Blue-9 KLIMB dog training platform or you have one, I think you’re going to love this!
Say hello to the KLIMB Jr.! In this post I’m going to be sharing all about it and showing some dog fitness exercises you can do on this new piece of canine conditioning equipment, to help take your dog strength training (and honestly everyday dog training) to the next level!
P.S. Check out my other dog fitness content featuring Blue-9 including 4 Blue-9 Propel Air Platform K9 Fitness Exercises or 5 Blue-9 KLIMB K9 Fitness Exercises! You’ll also see Blue-9 featured in numerous other posts on my channel and videos!
P.P.S. You can save 20% on your next Blue-9 order when you use code Sparkles20 at checkout! The code does not apply to limited edition KLIMB colors.
What Is The Blue-9 Pet Products KLIMB Jr.?
Before I get into the dog fitness exercises, I wanted to share exactly what this product is, how it’s different from Blue-9’s KLIMB dog training platform and how you can use it with your existing Blue-9 KLIMB and Propel Air Platform!
Sizing & Features
The complete dimensions for the Blue-9 KLIMB Jr. are 24″L x 15″ W x 6″ H and it weighs five pounds. It also holds up to 250 pounds! I personally feel like it weighs absolutely nothing, it’s that lightweight! So compared to the actual KLIMB that weighs about 14 pounds with more square dimensions (24″ X 24″ X 12″ – with tall standard legs installed), this platform is a very different shape and weight.
Also, the total width of the platform is 15″ but I’d say the mat itself measures at 13″. I share that, because when choosing a platform to do certain K9 fitness exercises with (like the first exercise shared later on, the tuck sit), you want to make sure the platform is the correct width to help build proper form from the start!
Speaking of the mat, with the Blue-9 KLIMB Jr., the mat is already built in! With the KLIMB dog training platform, the traction mat is sold separately. The mat surface on the KLIMB Jr. is shock absorbing, non-slip and super soft! I think the surface is very inviting for dogs of all ages, especially seniors or puppies that are working on proprioception and getting comfortable on different surfaces.
The feet are also built in and cannot be removed. Height wise, it matches the Blue-9 KLIMB when the short legs are plugged in. Also, I’ve found that one of the best matching inflation surfaces to pair with the Blue-9 KLIMB is the FitPaws K9FitBone. My K9FitBone is actually quite inflated, so it brings the height to a pretty even playing field. Even with my most inflated Propel Air Platform, it was still short. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you’re doing an exercise where you’re wanting more shift on the front or the rear. If you’re wanting equal, your best bet is to just use it by itself, or with a KLIMB.
Connectivity
Speaking of using it with the KLIMB dog training platform, you can actually connect the two together! Just like you can connect two KLIMB’s together, you can also connect the KLIMB Jr. to a regular KLIMB platform.
You can also connect multiple KLIMB Jr’s together as well!
Connecting more than one together gives longer dogs more room to do the dog fitness exercises with proper form and comfortability. Plus, some dogs, even if they have enough room on one platform, can feel like they don’t. By adding a second behind you can help them have the confidence they need to complete the K9 fitness exercise.
Don’t Fur-get! You can save 20% on your next Blue-9 order when you use code Sparkles20 at checkout! The code does not apply to limited edition KLIMB colors.
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.
K9 Fitness Exercise 1: Tuck Sit
Alright, let’s get into the first K9 fitness exercise, a foundational exercise, the tuck sit.
Dog Fitness Exercise Goal: Your dog’s front feet will remain stationary while the back feet and rear come to meet them in a sit position,
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: This exercise strengthens your dog’s shoulders and spinal flexors.
Step 1: Have your dog begin in a standing position.
Step 2: Ask your dog to walk up onto the KLIMB Jr. (close to the edge if you can) and ask them to sit. As you do this, pull your hands towards you to pull your dog towards you.
Proper Form: You’re looking for knees and feet tracking forward, a flat back and head in a natural position.
K9 Fitness Exercise 2: Fold Down To Stand
The second dog strength training exercise is one of my all-time favorites, the fold down to stand! This canine conditioning exercise teaches your dog to push from the rear into a nice, balanced stand.
Pro Tip: For this exercise, you may need more than one KLIMB Jr. platform to execute depending on the size of your dog. If you already have a KLIMB dog training platform, you can connect the two together! The biggest thing is knowing where your dog is at. If they are building proper form and the KLIMB gives them too much space width wise, get a second KLIMB Jr. If it doesn’t, you can connect your existing KLIMB to it for more length!
Before beginning this exercise, it’s not required, but I do recommend your dog know/start to learn the following:
- Nose Touch (check out my Instagram video tutorial!)
- If you don’t know this or are working on it, the steps below show how to teach it with a treat since it’s always great to start there initially so your dog understands what you want them to do!
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: Ask your dog to go into a stand on the KLIMB Jr.
Step 2: 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 them to shift their weight back and to a down position without moving their front feet.
Pro Tip: Many dogs will move their front feet a bit at first. Both my dogs have moments when they do this to this day! There’s a few ways you can help keep their front feet still, but one way (if your dog doesn’t have a lot of sensitivity here) is to simply touch their feet as they lower or stand and gently hold them in place.
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.
Note: 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! Replace using the treat as their rise up by asking for a nose touch where their head will end in the standing position.
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!
I didn’t realize I didn’t get any photos of Diesel in his stand and just the laying down. In my 4 Blue-9 Propel Air Platform K9 Fitness Exercises post, there’s a great photo sequence of Annie doing this so you can see the ending stand position. I’ll update the photos here to get a stand shot once I have it!
K9 Fitness Exercise 3: Sidestepping
The last K9 fitness exercise is one of Diesel’s all time favorites: sidestepping! This dog cannot do any kind of lateral work without excited woofs, ha! My watch always goes off for the “loud environment” notification once he starts pivoting or sidestepping. Always cracks me up!
Before beginning this exercise, I recommend your dog know the following:
- Front Paw Targeting
- 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.
What You Could See: Many dogs will step with the front and then the back foot on the same side of the body and is ok! Crossing also comes with repetition so don’t be discouraged if your do isn’t crossing both front and back feet.
Dog Fitness Exercise Benefits: Activates the hip and shoulder abductors/adductors and the muscles that support shoulder and hip stability.
Step 1: Ask your dog to go into front paw targeting position on the KLIMB Jr..
Step 2: Keeping your dog in front paw targeting position, slowly walk into your dog (not pushing, but slight body pressure) or give them their cue for sidestepping to encourage your dog to walk to the side. Mark and reward. Complete one long side before switching directions.
I love that with all of Blue-9’s canine fitness equipment, you can really mix and match what you want to use to create endless K9 fitness combinations!
Don’t forget to use my code Sparkles20 to get 20% off your entire order at Blue-9!
If you want to learn more about dog fitness, check out my K9 fitness blog section to find more canine conditioning exercises and more ways to use your FitPaws or Blue-9 Pet Products canine conditioning equipment. Plus, check out my K9 Fitness YouTube Playlist and follow me on Instagram to find tons of helpful K9 fitness exercise videos and tips!
- 4 Blue-9 Propel Ait Platform K9 Fitness Exercises (20% off discount code inside!)
- K9 Fitness For Senior Dogs: Improving Your Dog’s Balance and Stability
- 4 K9 Fitness Exercises Using An Aerobic Bench Step Platform
- 3 K9 Fitness Exercises Using FitPaws TRAX Targets
- 5 Blue-9 KLIMB K9 Fitness Exercises (20% off discount code inside!)
- 3 FitPaws Balance Disc K9 Fitness Exercises
- 3 Beginner FitPaws K9 Fitness Exercises
- 3 Easy Stretches For Dogs
- 5+ K9 Fitness Exercises with FitPaws Balance Pad