This wee’s Fall Fit Dog Challenge was to create a super circuit. We gathered various objects from around the house and made a fun circuit in our yard.

• An Agility jump
• FitPaws Wobble Board
• FitPaws Balance Disc
• FitPaws Pods
• Boxes
• Water bucket
• Hula-Hoops
• A table, foam pad, and plastic doggie door

Each item was used for a variety of things-from conditioning to strengthening and balance training. The bucket and FitPaws disc was for body awareness and strength training. Many dogs do not really know they have hind feet or that they can be moved independently of their front two feet. We did a few practice power jumps which is where the bar is set a little higher than it would normally be set in an Agility trial and the dog launches off using their hind legs to get over the jump. This helps teach them form and control when jumping. Bella’s hind legs are weaker so her exercises are geared to targeting her hind leg muscles and strengthening them.

The Hula-Hoops did not last too long, but they were fun to walk through. Once your dog is more confident and comfortable with the FitPaws Disc and their muscles are more developed, you can work up to more advanced balance like sitting up or standing up on the disc. Terra has a pretty solid build and she’s built her muscles to begin to be able to balance a little more standing up on the disc. She even got into the sideways box and laid down.

Terra also did a little bit of scent work of searching out scattered fallen pieces of kibble in the grass.

The FitPaws Balance Disc has two different sides-one is smooth and the other textured. We used the three different items (table, doggie door, and foam pad) to emulate different surfaces. Grass is different from rocks which is different from linoleum, carpet, wood, or stone. The boxes were used for some texture training-one of the boxes was open for the dogs to go through it like a tunnel which Bella, Terra, and Kronos did. Kronos even jumped in the box for fun. While Bella can put her front two feet on the FitPaws pods, Terra and Kronos have gotten to where they are starting to put all paws on the individual pods.

 

Even our foster sibling Missi joined in! She’s new to this kind of thing and while her attention span is not very lengthy yet, she did great and enjoyed it. She’s gotten to where she’s now offering putting her front feet on things whereas before she was hesitant to even go near the FitPaws Disc. She went over the jump a few times while the bar was low and took a few pieces of kibble out of the sideways box. She didn’t want to go through the box and she doesn’t quite understand scent games just yet. She has done a puzzle and had fun figuring that out. We’re working up to getting her to put all four feet on things. For Missi we’ll be taking her training back inside for awhile in a less distracting environment so she can learn then working up to doing it in the yard.