Clean Run - December 2017 - 45

Starting Your Puppy Off Right:

BRONAGH DALY PHOTOGRAPHY

Surface Training
for Conﬁdent
Puppies
By Bobbie Lyons, CCFT, FP-MTI, Cert CF

A performance dog will be required
to ﬁnd balance while performing
challenging maneuvers on diﬀerent
surfaces and equipment. When our
puppies are young, they should be
exposed to many diﬀerent surfaces to
ﬁgure out how to shift their weight,
place their feet, and activate their
growing muscles.
Take it slow, introducing only a couple
surfaces at time, so that it becomes "no
big deal." It is important for puppies
to understand how to balance while
being challenged without repetitive
movements until their growth plates
are closed. Puppies should move
over surfaces but should not be
asked to hold positions or postures
for any length of time. The goal is to
increase conﬁdence, balance, and limb
awareness not ﬁtness.
What kinds of surfaces should you
focus on?
*

Smooth and bumpy balance products that are deﬂated

Smooth and bumpy balance products that are inﬂated

Metal: cookie sheets, metal covers
on sidewalks, man hole covers

Ground surfaces: grass, snow, sand,
dirt, turf, asphalt, concrete

Hiking in the woods: sticks, logs,
diﬀerent ground cover, etc.

Slippery surfaces: tile, wood, stone,
laminate, and other slippery ﬂooring

Swinging foot bridges

Agility equipment set low to the
ground

Tunnels and going under things

Jump standards and wing jumps
(no poles)

Jumps poles and cavalettis set on
the ground

Unstable playground bridges

Treadmills and moving walkways
(short duration)

Start with exposing your puppy's
front feet to diﬀerent objects and
surfaces before asking for rear feet
or all four feet. Exposing front feet
ﬁrst allows your puppy to adjust to
the surface before raising all four feet
oﬀ the ground. Once your puppy is
comfortable with front feet on the
surface, they will likely walk forward
and step all four feet onto the surface
or obstacle.
Create a safe supported environment
for surface training by building
obstacles courses that inspire your
puppy to shift weight when slowing
down, when climbing, and when
ﬁnding balance. Your puppy will
gain conﬁdence as they desensitize
to several surfaces set up in a row or
course as shown in the photo.
Challenging your puppy mentally
and physically by using inﬂatable
products and other items will expose
your puppy to diﬀerent surfaces
seen later for strength, balance, limb
awareness, and performance crosstraining activities used to decrease
the chance of injury and improve
overall performance. D

For over 13 years, Bobbie has taught competitors in agility, flyball, dock diving, schutzhund, French ring, obedience, rally, disc dog, and freestyle, as well as people who
just want fun things to do with their dog. If done regularly, the exercises she teaches will reduce the chance of injuries and help to strengthen and balance your dog
after injury. Bobbie is continually designing new exercises to enhance a dog's body awareness and to keep the dog challenged and moving forward. She is a Certified
Training Partner with the Karen Pryor Academy. Contact Bobbie through her website: www.pawsitive-performance.com.
December 17 | Clean Run

http://www.pawsitive-performance.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - December 2017