Friday, October 16, 2015

#FallFitDog Challenge #3: Tricks for Keeping Your Dog Strong

#FallFitDog FitDog Friday Fall Fitness Challenge with About Strength Training

We are partnering with ABOUND to bring you the FitDog Friday Fall Fitness Challenge and giveaway. Prizes will be provided and shipped by ABOUND. 

 It's sweet to be strong. Right?

 That's why our third and final challenge in the FitDog Friday Fall Fitness challenge with ABOUND is all about strength and conditioning training to keep your dog in tip top shape!

Challenge #3


Sweet and Strong Strength Training Challenge

Show us your strength and conditioning moves! 

For us, it's so important to build strength so we both can be in the best condition possible for running agility, going hiking or simply enjoying walks around the neighborhood!

For Rocco, rear end and core strength is super important so he can navigate an agility course with ease. And because a great dog is a well-balanced dog, we work the whole body and add in some stretching to keep both of us flexible and help in reducing injuries.

Rocco practices his jumping form after some strength and balance training.
Good rear-end strength helps to promote good jump technique. 

Four Tricks to Keep Your Dog Strong

Tricks training is not only fun, but many tricks can also help build your dog's strength, balance and confidence, leading to a healthy, fit and happy pup!

Here are a few we enjoy:
  1. Sit Pretty -- Teach your dog to sit up on their hind legs for a great core strength and balancing move. As Rocco has built up more strength, we've increased the challenge by having him sit pretty on his K9FITbone.
  2. Dance and Pirouette -- Have your dog walk on their hind legs to build rear end strength. Rocco walks forward and then adds a twirl for extra credit! 
  3. Take a Bow -- Teaching your dog to bow is not only cute, but it's a great stretch across their back and shoulders. 
  4. Sit Pretty to Hind Leg Stand -- For a more advanced move, take your pup from a sit pretty position to a hind leg stand and back to sit pretty. It takes lots of control and strength to move between these positions so build up slowly and then give your pup a treat for a job well done!
What tricks do you do that help keep your dog in tip top shape?

Let us know in the comments below, in your post next week or in any photo you post with hashtag #FallFitDog.

Rocco Havanese sit pretty on a K9FITbone
Rocco sits pretty on his K9FITbone

Sweet Treats from ABOUND

After our tricks workout, Rocco enjoys a good treat or chew. This week we tried the Grain Free Sweet Potato Slices from ABOUND. Not only does Rocco love them, each one takes a while for him to chew AND the ONLY ingredient is sweet potato. Yep, that's it! And, that's pretty sweet, I'd say.

So what's so sweet about sweet potato? The high fiber content in sweet potato helps maintain your pet's digestive system, and they are low in fat and rich in Beta-Carotene, which not only helps to maintain healthy eyesight, but also works as an antioxidant to help prevent disease and infection.

The ABOUND sweet potato treats contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives and they are made from North American sourced ingredients. Sweet!

Abound sweet potato grain free treat with Rocco Havanese
Rocco savors his sweet potato treat!


Show us your moves from the #FallFitDog Challenge

Now that we've shared three challenges, next week it's your turn to show us what you've been doing to stay in shape this fall. 

Did you try one of our challenges?
Tell us about your progress and be sure to link up to our FitDog Friday Blog Hop next week. And in the meantime, if you have some fun photos to share, post them on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook with hashtag #FallFitDog. We might even share a few next week!

In the spirit of our previous Kamps and Challenges, there may even be an award or two given out the following week. So be sure to link up NEXT Friday and post your pics too! 

We hope you've enjoyed the FitDog Friday Fall Fitness Challenge with ABOUND! It's all about getting out and getting active with your pup, and, along with our co-hosts My GBGV Life and SlimDoggy, we'd like to give some hearty thanks to ABOUND for sponsoring this fun series.

Enter to win $200+ in goodies for you and your pup!


Don't forget to enter for a chance to win the Fall Fitness Challenge ABOUND prize pack, filled with more than $200 worth of goodies for you and your dog!  Enter via the giveaway widget on our Fall Fitness Challenge announcement and giveaway post! Good luck!

Have questions about how to participate?  Find all the details on our announcement post.


The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and My GBGV Life to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!). Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the hop.






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25 comments:

  1. You do so many cute little strength training tricks. That is one advantage of being small, you can do more things like that. We love our K9 FitBone too, but try to use stuff out on our walks as much as possible.

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    1. We do have some advantages by being small. Easier to zoom around the house, too!

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  2. Great job, that looks like a lot of fun!

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    1. Thanks! Rocco loves his tricks and having fun!

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  3. Sounds like some good tips! Good job
    Lily & Edward

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  4. We do do many of the same things ;) We really should look into getting a K9 FitBone-maybe we'll ask for that for Christmas this year.

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    1. I loved reading about your outdoor circuit! Looks a lot like our backyard with a few extras! We want to add a Ready Jump to our wish list!

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  5. Rocco looks like he is really enjoying himself!

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    1. Rocco loves to have a good time... and I try to keep it fun for him. Loved your post today, btw!

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  6. Mr. N loves all the same tricks! He likes to dance and bow and hop around on his hind legs.

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    1. I bet he's super cute doing those tricks too!

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  7. Great strength tips. I worked a agility trial the other week and had lots of fun watching the dogs do the course. Need to have your mind and body in shape for that stuff.

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    1. You sure do! Sometimes just remembering the course can be the hard part.

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  8. Great ideas - he is so talented and looks so adorable. Rear and core strength is key for Kilo too. He loves dancing and bowing. I keep trying to teach him sit pretty but he immediately stands and dances or walks or he wobbles over. He has such a small rear and long back, he can't seem to balance. He tries on the couch and can stay for a while but he does not look comfortable. He actually seemed to do it on the wooden floor for the first time for a few seconds this week, but we have not been able to repeat yet. Have a great weekend. XS

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    1. It took Rocco about two years to to learn to sit pretty. He's also long and I think it took that long for him to build up enough strength. He also started with a very quick one, so you might get there yet!

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  9. Missy & Buzz know the "sit pretty" trick, and can also raise to a hind leg stand from that position - although they're not exactly small ;-) It took us quite some time to get them to do the "sit pretty", but perseverance and consistence helped us reach that goal.
    I just taught Buzz how to open the fridge by pulling on a rope toy I attached to the fridge door. It's a nice combination of trick training & strength exercise!

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    1. oh I love that trick with the rope. That's a good one we can start working on. But I might need to start with Rocco's crate instead of the fridge. I'm afraid I'll find him getting midnight snacks on his own! haha!

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  10. Schooner & Skipper have done agility. Loved it! Schooner and Skipper Strength Training is playing tug of war. Which neither one will give up and they both are very strong and can jerk on it to pull the other one. Love to swim and run! Skipper can sit up without any problem.... Schooner has a round bottom and can't sit up..he can sit pretty. They love to jump over things and thru a round hoop me made.

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