AG600 Fit to Jump: Fitness for Agility Dogs

Fitness is useful for all dogs, but especially for those participating in training and competition in performance sports. Working through a complete fitness workout regularly can positively impact cardiovascular fitness, address flexibility, and add power in muscles which can improve speed. Having improved muscle strength can also help stabilize joints and may help prevent injury.

Course Details

Many jumping skills require specific form, and movements to perform the skills well, safely, and with speed and power. By considering the fitness principle of specificity we can focus on some fitness exercises that help agility dogs with the specific positions, movements and skills required which will enable dogs to perform these skills with ease and in great form.

We will be covering; key exercise principles, developing an eye for form, taking data, teaching a range of different exercises with discussion on how they may be specific to agility, when and how to progress exercises, looking at exercises to help dogs with correct form for some agility skills, and putting exercises together in workouts. This class will cover some theory, and lots of practical material.

This course is appropriate for dogs of all fitness levels from beginners to advanced dogs that have had clearance for fitness training. Whilst there is discussion of agility specific exercises, all workouts are balanced therefore suitable for any dog.

Please note that dogs who have not finished growing (growth plates confirmed via radiograph, or 18 months or older) will be limited in how much they can, and should do, over the 6 week class.

Video:

Teaching Approach

Lectures will be composed of extensive written detail, and accompanied by photographs and videos that both verbally explain concepts, and demonstrate exercises. The majority of details and concepts will be covered in both written, and video form. There are often multiple videos showing different stages, or dogs, performing exercises. This means that the concepts are accessible to those who like to learn through text, or verbal explanation, or visual explanation.

This class is meant to be intensive, giving you not just the ‘how too’, but also the ‘why’. There is LOTS of information, however if a student feels overwhelmed by lots of written information, they can just focus on the practical components which are highlighted at the end of each lecture with an action such as ‘Gather your baseline data, and set some goals for you and your canine teammate’.

Lectures will be released weekly, and are grouped under similar concepts. They will be released sequentially from theory and foundation fitness concepts, through teaching individual exercises, to putting these into workouts.

Feedback is given in detail in relation to the goal of a particular task or exercise. In particular the focus of feedback will be improving a dog's form, and understanding of exercises.

This class has a TA to assist all students in the Studygroup.

Syllabus

Week 1

Fitness guidelines & What is canine fitness?
Developing an eye for form
Core fitness components
Key fitness principals: Cross training and the principle of specificity
Baseline data collection
Relevant training strategies
Foundation fitness skills
A fitness warm up

Week 2

The importance of form and correct movements in sports training (and fitness)
Core related movements and skills in agility
Core strength exercises
Front end related movements and skills in agility
Front end strength exercises
A spotlight on height related jumping from a range of sports

Week 3

Flexibility exercises
Cardiovascular fitness exercises
The importance of flexibility and cardiovascular fitness in agility
Teaching jump wrapping in good form
A spotlight on turning related jumping from a range of sports

Week 4

Rear end related movements and skills in agility
Rear end strength exercises
Bodywork
Teaching great straight jumping
A spotlight on distance related jumping from a range of sports

Week 5

Full workout 1
Full workout 2
Full workout 3
Agility Jumping drills

Week 6

Workout challenge
When and how to progress
Getting Geeky: Making up specific fitness exercises to suit skills
Progress data collection
Warm up and Cool down

Prerequisites & Supplies

There are no FDSA course prerequisites, the only prerequisite for this class is that your dog has had clearance for fitness training.

If you need more details about if your dog needs veterinary clearance please refer to the Hybrid Training Fitness Guidelines, or discuss your dogs suitability for this class directly with Kelly.

Equipment

Essential:

Long stable non slip platform
Two smaller stable platforms
Cones (taller) X2
Cavaletti poles

Might be helpful:

Flat non slip silicone textured target mats
Agility wing jumps
Jump bump

Additional for more advanced dogs:

Two or more inflatable unstable items like a wobble cushion, FitBone, Flexiness Twin Disc
Larger non slip square board
Foot pods

This video explains the equipment requirements in more detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j88hSd2h1y0&feature=youtu.be

Please note that Kelly is happy to talk through equipment alternative options for students in gold and silver spots.

Sample Lecture

When teaching key agility skills we need to have a great picture of the perfect form and movement in our heads before we begin to teach the skill. This not only allows us to break down teaching the skill into small pieces, but also place reinforcement appropriately to illicit excellent form. Understanding correct skill mechanics also allows us to select appropriate fitness exercises that may help with the agility skill.

Tight jumping, or jump wrapping

Tight jumping, or jump wrapping is when the dog collects their striding (puts an extra step in), takes off turning, jumps closely to the wing, and turns back around the wing to go back in the direction they approached the jump in.

Deo collecting his striding preparing to takeoff for a backside collected jump

In this skill a dog will approach the jump, and decelerate to collect their striding. This means shifting weight backwards, and putting extra striding in before takeoff. To do this they need a large amount of core strength, and proprioception (awareness of thief feet and body position in space).

When turning over a jump the dog will have their outside front leg as the lead leg, and will switch to the other leg on landing. Like the deceleration and collection prior to takeoff, this requires a large amount of proprioception. To get this striding right they need to be confident and fluid with controlling their foot placement, changing striding, and changing lead leg.

In the takeoff phase they are powering with rear leg extension, but the pelvis is twisted in the transverse plane and one leg is powering this takeoff more than the other.

As the dog is in the air going over the rail they are curving their body engaging the core particularly in the dorsal and transverse aspects. This takes a huge amount of strength to maintain this position and continue to turn around the jump.

As they land the other front leg has switched to be leading and is taking the majority of the landing force. The dog collected their striding again, while continuing their wrap around the wing, and then powering primarily from the rear end forwards accelerating out of the jump.

Video jump collection

Examples of fitness that will help this skill:

Modified gym squats takeoff on angle

Circles on wobble board

Jump wrap fitness exercise

Jump strength exercise

Figure 8 around cones

Demonstration of how to teach the skill. Can you see the links to the fitness exercises?

Teaching jump wrapping

See saw (teeter)

Rapid on the See Saw. Photo from Jess Tansey, taken by Brya Ingram

The see saw is a complex skill, both in terms of teaching understanding, and also in the body movements and strength required.

In this skill dogs must decelerate and straighten their body to take entry to the obstacle. This requires a head lift and subsequent weight shift backwards, and usually some turning movements activating the core and in particular moving in the dorsal plane.

Dog’s often will step onto the see saw with their dominant leg leading, and then power with the rear end forwards, shifting weight forwards to accelerate and power up the plank. This requires continued core strength, and power from the rear end.

As they move over the tipping point towards the end of the see saw they need to again weight shift backwards to decelerate and wait for the seesaw to tip and contact the ground. In the video Evo shifts weight so far backwards he is almost lying down.

Then to exit the see saw the dog must again power forwards from the rear end holding the core string to accelerate forwards.

VIdeo Evo see saw

Examples of fitness that will help this skill:

Down to stands

Reversing

Weight shift on a cato plank

Demonstration of how to teach the skill. Can you see the links to the fitness exercises?

Teaching see saw

Instructors

Kelly Daniel

Kelly Daniel (She/her) is a learning and dog training addict. She has been training and competing with her dogs (of various shapes and forms) for around 15 years ...

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