Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett Training Tips From Susan: Mini Q&A With Susan: Body Awareness Exercises And My Warm-Up For Dog Agility
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Sep 12, 2025 Delve into essential body awareness exercises tailored for dogs across all life stages. Discover the significance of warming up and cooling down routines to enhance strength and mobility. Learn techniques like sit, down, stand, and sidestepping that are crucial for agility training. This discussion provides actionable insights for preparing your dog for success both in sports and everyday activities.
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Progressive Body Awareness For Puppies To Sport
- Start puppies on simple sit-down-stand exercises to build balance and body control on a stable surface.
- Progress to side-stepping, side-passing, backing up, and Cavaletti work to develop strength, proprioception, and limb awareness.
Tailor Exercises To Age And Individual Needs
- Body awareness exercises must match the dog's age, strengths, and weaknesses rather than using one fixed set for all dogs.
- Effective training targets strength, mobility, proprioception, flexibility, and deliberate weight shifting.
Always Warm Up And Cool Down With Walks
- Use a structured warm-up and cool-down around training or competition, starting and ending with walking until breathing normalizes.
- Rehearse your warm-up and cool-down routines at home so the dog learns the predictable sequence before performance.