By Chase and Jan Tomlinson
Being a canine athlete is a full-time job! My events are agility and obedience, which require that I be in tip-top condition. And, now that I am getting older, I really need to have a good conditioning program. I think it is time for me to hire my own conditioning coach, as my mom is so busy these days with teaching and other things.
Agility requires that I run, jump, climb, and get my body to go side-to-side through the weave poles. So, I need exercises that give me lots of breath for running. (I notice that my mom seems to be huffing and puffing after we finish a run, so she should also be doing these exercises!) Doing short jogs are good to develop good breathing.
For jumping, I need to have strong back legs. My mom makes me do this thing on a disc. I have to put my front paws on the disc and then move around it with my back legs in both directions. I am much better going clockwise than I am going counter-clockwise! I guess that’s because my wristwatch always goes clockwise! I love that exercise, and I am really good at it.
Climbing is a different matter. I have to be really strong with all of my body and also make sure I have my climbing boots on, so I can get a good grip up and down the steep hill.
Getting my body to go sideways through the weave poles requires practicing and conditioning my front legs to go one way and my back legs to go the opposite way. Sometimes I play hopscotch to practice that. You have to make sure to hop on a diagonal though.
I have to tell you a story about all of this. Several weeks ago, I was practicing agility with my mom, and she made me do an exercise over and over again. I showed her!
That night, I really started to limp on my RIGHT front. She really felt sorry for me, so I got lots of attention, treats, and a wonderful R&R for the rest of the week.
Then I decided to stop limping and get back to having some fun, so, we ran in our agility fun run, but only put the jumps at 8” instead of 12”. That was so easy, but then I decided that limping worked so well before that I started limping on my LEFT front this time.
Now my plan was foiled, as she got serious and took me to the vet. Oh, No! I don’t like to go to the animal hospital!
The vet cranked around on both of my shoulders and legs, and then I had to have an X-ray. She said my shoulders and elbows were perfect, but that I had a pinched nerve in my neck.
I really messed up this time, so no more faking it!
My mom has a student who does acupressure, Reiki, and massage, so she called him to see if he would give me a treatment.
Now, that was more like it. It was like going to the spa! There was music, relaxing smells, and all of this nice massage. It really did the trick because I’m back to running agility again and haven’t limped since. It was so nice going to the spa, that I signed up for another session. That will teach my mom not to overwork me!
As far as obedience conditioning, it’s much easier. I only have to walk around the ring, run out to get my dumbbell, do two jumps, and then just do my calisthenics – oh, those are my sit, down and stand. I still need to be in good condition to do my obedience exercises in addition to my agility events.
I always make sure to warm up before I go into the ring. I do stretches, bend my body, do some jumps, and do some heeling with my mom. I need to get her to do the same things (maybe not the jumps) because sometimes she walks funny when we get into the ring.
Keeping in good condition is very important, and doing some warm-up exercises before you do your activity is also important. After you run in agility, you should also cool down. Walk around for a few minutes to let your muscles recover and to get your breathing back to normal.
I hope you tell your mom how to do these things so you will be able to be safe and have fun in your activities.
~Sir Chase
