Building Better Athletes

There will be six weeks of detailed, scaffolded instruction with feedback, and 12 weeks total access to all materials and online feedback.

Recommended equipment includes:

• 2 wedges

• 2 level stable surfaces (feed pot, bricks, balance pads will work fine)

• 2 level unstable surfaces (fitbones/discs/BISkit etc)

• a balance beam (a 2 x 4 or 4 x 4 can work just as well),

• an unstable surface long enough for your dog to lie down comfortably on (ie. a peanut, infinity, air mattress),

• a solid surface, long enough for your dog to lie on (at a minimum) that can be angled. If you are in a sunny climate and have access to a slope – that will work well.

• paw pods

  Improvisation is encouraged – a mattress can replace an infinity, pucks can replace paw pods…take a look at what you have around your house, and email if you have questions or need suggestions.

Each Monday, for the first six weeks of the class, you will be provided with a weekly lesson and scaffolded conditioning goals. Both the lesson document and the exercises will be posted on your personal Canine Home Exercises page. Each goal will be explained through text, video, and photos. In your “welcome email”, prior to the class beginning, you will be invited to a private Facebook group where you can post your videos for feedback.  This set up allows flexibility; you can start the course when you like, and finish when you like, as long as it’s within the twelve weeks. The software I use is designed to document progress and encourage accountability with several “bonus’ features unique to this course. If you have any further questions, please email me at tara@caninefitnessinnovations.com.

Detailed feedback is incredibly important, and I work hard to make sure I can support you and your dog in every way possible. This course is all about knowledge and skill development; the goal is to bring together dogs and handlers with diverse skills and knowledge, and by the end of the course have them all experiencing the same level of success. I strongly encourage people to post each exercise at least once, even if you think your form is perfect – it’s always good to have confirmation. If everything is perfect, I’ll confirm it for you and you don’t need to post that specific exercise again. More often, I’ll provide next steps that may focus on your form, your dog’s form, the equipment type or placement, or anything else that may help you get the most out of the course, and your dog get the most out of the exercises. I do cover far more exercises than the average class, so in order to make the most out of the feedback, and to ensure all participants have equal access to the same quality of feedback, I’ve put some feedback guidelines in place.

1. Feedback will be received within 24 hours, with the exception of Sundays. Please wait until you have the feedback and can apply it before posting your next video – otherwise you’ll be making the same mistakes.

2. Please keep all videos to less than 90 seconds.

3. If I post “next steps”, that means I’d really love to see you repost for additional feedback. If there are no “next steps”, continue to include the exercises in your workouts, but please don’t repost them so that I can focus on the exercises that do need additional feedback.

4. I do take Sundays off, so if you post late Saturday night or Sunday, you will receive feedback on Monday.

5. There will occasionally be days that I’m not available to provide feedback – usually due to work commitments. If there is a day that I can’t provide feedback, you will be provided notice well in advance so you can post the day before instead.

The format of the class allows for a very flexible time commitment. In general I encourage people to work with their dogs 3 days per week, in increments of 10-20 minutes. However, I have also had clients who can only spend 5 minutes working with their dogs twice a week, and they also have had good results. You need to do what works for your schedule, whether that’s 5 minutes every day, or 10 minutes twice a week. My only caution is to not become a “weekend warrior”; you will have greater success (and be more fair to your dog) if you work in short spurts.

In addition to being a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer and Canine Massage Therapist, I am also a teacher and a “tech junkie” who loves to figure out how technology can be effectively integrated to teach and guide people. I have trained dogs for over a decade, owned a performance dog training facility, competed in multiple dog sports, and I am the owner of Canine Fitness Innovations. My passion is helping people to help their dogs. For more information, you can click here see my answers to the #sixquestionchallenge so that you know #whoisworkingwithyourdog.

No – this course is not designed for dogs who have been injured or who have been ill. All dogs participating should be sound, and if there is any doubt, a veterinary check up is required. Instead, please talk to a CCRP or other certified rehabilitation practitioner.

For this course, only working spots are available. The best way to learn and progress with your dog is to actively participate in the program and incorporate feedback into your training sessions.