Month: November 2016

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it…

Leave well enough alone…

We hear statements like these all the time in our day to day lives. In team sports you might hear it said that a coach hasn’t made a lot of changes in his program because the team is doing well. Why change what works…. right?

I often hear similar arguments: “Why should I do canine fitness, my dog has not had an injury?” Or, “My dog has been doing really well at _______(insert given sport), he’s fine.” And
another popular one, “Fitness? I’m too busy to do that too!”

My question is why wait for an injury or a weakness to show up? We teach our dogs the necessary skills to safely navigate an agility course, turn quickly on a flyball box, or dive off a dock far or high. Why? Because we want to reduce their risk of injury by giving them (and us) the confidence to execute the skills we’ve taught, and of course, we want to do our sport well and win!

 

I could also argue that adding a fitness routine into your training program will increase your dog’s overall core and body strength which will increase their performance and help to prevent injury.

Dogs with musculoskeletal imbalances and weakness tend to have a higher rate of injury. Participating in dog sports doesn’t automatically make them in shape or immune to injury. In fact, the chances of getting injured increases. But there are risks anytime, anywhere. No matter how hard we try to keep them safe, accidents can happen.

I know in agility, a wrong or late cue on my part can cause my dog to slip, slide or fall which could lead to a variety of injuries.On the other hand, they can do any of those things as they run around in my backyard or walk across my hardwood floors . They do have to be dogs though, so rather than put them in a glass box, why not at least do what I can to decrease their chances of getting hurt when these things happen.

Often times people avoid attempting to correct, fix or improve upon something that is already sufficient. Yet the sports we compete in have changed over the years based on ways to be more efficient, faster, safer. Training styles have changed too as the challenges have changed. Therefore, shouldn’t we change our preparation for these sports too? Many people frequently hike or walk with their dogs and while this is a great activity, is it enough? Just like your chosen sport, it mainly works the large muscle groups. A fitness program works those smaller, underlying muscles that help to stabilize the joints and allows them to use more muscles than just relying on the larger muscles. We can work on strengthening the muscles that will help them distribute their weight more efficiently, be more powerful, turn better, and tackle the challenges of today’s sports.

 

Let’s face it, we love our dogs whether they are our faithful companions as we fly through this journey in life or if they are our teammate in a sport that encompasses our free time.
Eventually, your faithful friend will have to retire from your chosen sport, but they don’t have to retire from living. Conditioning can help your older dog have a better quality of life, increase their flexibility, range of motion and provide mental challenges to help keep them young. And isn’t that what we all want? Just something to think about. 🙂