Ladder Work and Cavaletti These finish my list of favorite exercises! I like to use a metal ladder for this work, as you can hear when a dog touches it. Once the dog has the hang of it, don't reward if you hear that "ting" of a foot making contact. This isn't a speed game; this is a steady slow behavior with the dog thinking about what each foot is doing. I use cavaletti to help teach the dog to shorten or extend his stride to reach his takeoff point rather than altering the number of strides. When Shady was a puppy, he had so many problems with rear-end awareness work that I rewarded him for each foot successfully clearing the pole. If he knocked a pole over or dragged his foot, I simply reset him. He enjoyed this and was soon picking up his feet carefully. Shady had so much difficulty with rear-end awareness work that I initially rewarded him for each foot clearing the pole. Darcey happily trots along in the ladder. If your dog is too small to use a ladder or cavaletti, you can use poles on the ground as I have here for Dexi. DO YOU WANT TO Reduce your dog's chance of injury? Improve your dog's sport performance, allowing their true potential to shine? Follow canine exercise principles based on science and research, taking out the guesswork? Learn more! Available in print and E-book format in the USA exclusively from cleanrun.com July 20 | Clean Run 31https://www.cleanrun.com/product/warm_up_and_cool_down_of_the_canine_athlete/index.cfm