Fit Paws training came to us a bit by chance.  I has already acquired myself a set of FitPaws Paw Pods as I was determined to use them to help Jace in Conformation. While I had struggled trying to teach Jace how to use them, I realized that it was maybe me that wasn’t using the equipment properly.

Enter Sean Kent, FitPaws Master Trainer, co-owner of Canine Athletic Care, and overall super amazing person that I’m so glad I met when I did.  Sean introduced us to all that FitPaws could offer.

We talked extensively about his training with FitPaws, the benefits of his program and how it could help us out in achieving out goals.

He completed an assessment for Jace and we were able to establish our strengths and weaknesses when it came to canine conditioning all while keeping our training goals and injury prevention in the front of our minds.  Sean created a “gym program” for Jace that we needed to work on to achieve certain goals.

I know what you’re all thinking – “Jessica, I don’t take my own butt to the gym, you think my dog wants to ruin his day too?!” Hear me out – this took us less than 10 minutes a week and I swear your dog will love it!

While our goals were mostly agility related with a heavy emphasis on injury prevention, these little exercises that we did on a weekly basis gave us a huge advantage in a number of different sports.  Jace now has excellent body awareness and it shows when he competes in Conformation and Rally.  He possesses excellent control of his body while playing Agility – and that really isn’t something I ever thought I would notice.

When Jace started his program, he was an experienced dog who already knew a thing or two so he grasped the idea fairly quickly.

Enter 10 week old Maeve.  She was cute, she was feisty and she was a bit scared of life.

We enrolled Maeve in Sean’s Puppy Power class.  This class rocked! It is designed to help young dogs build confidence while working on different pieces of equipment, checking out novel and new things that they may not come across every day and having fun! Maeve soon learned to walk across unstable surfaces with ease, she began climbing, and crawling while building the confidence that we need in our everyday training today.  Thing took her a bit longer because she has always just wanted to get things done quickly.  With lots of patience, Maeve developed the confidence needed to being competing in Rally at the young age of 6 months old!

FitPaws training is a mental exercise as much as it is a physical activity for the dogs.  They must do things slowly which is sometimes the challenge.  Both of my dogs, and a number of dogs that I have trained with, really enjoyed the one-on-one time FitPaws training provides with their owner. It required very little space and on days when it is too cold, wet or snowy out – a session with their FitBone really tuckers them out!

We highly recommend looking into FitPaws if you’re interested in mentally stimulating as well as physically rewarding training and can help keep your dog in the best shape of his life!