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Canine Cross Training: Building Balance, Strength and Endurance in Your Dog
Condition Your Dog to be a Top Canine Competitor
What are the four conditioning components of top athletes? Most physical therapists agree that they include balance, strength, endurance and flexibility. The same characteristics apply to canine athletes as well and form the basis of this new book by Sasha Foster, co-author of the award winning The Healthy Way to Stretch Your Dog. When the four conditioning components are executed in a systematic approach using the key exercise principles of frequency, intensity and duration, you can train your dog to reach his fullest potential in whatever canine sport or activity you choose to participate in—and help keep him fitter and more injury-free over a longer period of time.
You will
-How to test your dog to determine what level of exercise difficulty he should begin with when starting out a cross training program.
-The role of core stabilization and whole-body awareness exercise during balance training.
-The use of positive training and shaping techniques to help your dog acclimate himself to the training equipment used in the various exercises.
-Recommended conditioning programs for various types of activities ranging from dock diving to agility to flyball to therapy dog work.
What experts are saying about Canine Cross Training
Sasha Foster combines science and real-life experience to provide the reader with practical guidelines for canine cross training. The book includes many illustrations, pictures and case examples making it an easy, enjoyable read. Canine exercises and science will likely continue to evolve quickly over the coming years, in the meantime this book offers a solid outline of current concepts of canine conditioning.
Felix Duerr, DVM and Diplomate, American and European College of Veterinary Surgeons
Canine Cross Training is a tremendous resource rooted in the science of training and conditioning and executed through positive techniques to develop the brain as well as the body. The program is easy to follow and the steps for progression are well defined. We look forward to implementing and evaluating the age appropriate exercises in our puppies at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and working dogs in the field.
Cynthia M. Otto, DVM, PhD and Executive Director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center
I love the process of shaping a dog’s behavior—watching the dog’s brain become actively engaged. Canine Cross Training uses the shaping process to provide physical as well as mental exercise in healthy, healthful, fun ways. It is so much fun training dogs for useful behavior—and Canine Cross Training makes it physically healthful, too.
Gail Fisher, Owner, All Dogs Gym®, author of The Thinking Dog
Canine Cross Training is a must-read for the agility enthusiast. The concepts are well described, easy to understand and use. This book is a great reference tool. As an agility handler of a standard wirehair dachshund, this book is invaluable.
Beth A. Klucher, owner of Big Sur, National Agility Doxi Winner
What are the four conditioning components of top athletes? Most physical therapists agree that they include balance, strength, endurance and flexibility. The same characteristics apply to canine athletes as well and form the basis of this new book by Sasha Foster, co-author of the award winning The Healthy Way to Stretch Your Dog. When the four conditioning components are executed in a systematic approach using the key exercise principles of frequency, intensity and duration, you can train your dog to reach his fullest potential in whatever canine sport or activity you choose to participate in—and help keep him fitter and more injury-free over a longer period of time.
You will
-How to test your dog to determine what level of exercise difficulty he should begin with when starting out a cross training program.
-The role of core stabilization and whole-body awareness exercise during balance training.
-The use of positive training and shaping techniques to help your dog acclimate himself to the training equipment used in the various exercises.
-Recommended conditioning programs for various types of activities ranging from dock diving to agility to flyball to therapy dog work.
What experts are saying about Canine Cross Training
Sasha Foster combines science and real-life experience to provide the reader with practical guidelines for canine cross training. The book includes many illustrations, pictures and case examples making it an easy, enjoyable read. Canine exercises and science will likely continue to evolve quickly over the coming years, in the meantime this book offers a solid outline of current concepts of canine conditioning.
Felix Duerr, DVM and Diplomate, American and European College of Veterinary Surgeons
Canine Cross Training is a tremendous resource rooted in the science of training and conditioning and executed through positive techniques to develop the brain as well as the body. The program is easy to follow and the steps for progression are well defined. We look forward to implementing and evaluating the age appropriate exercises in our puppies at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and working dogs in the field.
Cynthia M. Otto, DVM, PhD and Executive Director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center
I love the process of shaping a dog’s behavior—watching the dog’s brain become actively engaged. Canine Cross Training uses the shaping process to provide physical as well as mental exercise in healthy, healthful, fun ways. It is so much fun training dogs for useful behavior—and Canine Cross Training makes it physically healthful, too.
Gail Fisher, Owner, All Dogs Gym®, author of The Thinking Dog
Canine Cross Training is a must-read for the agility enthusiast. The concepts are well described, easy to understand and use. This book is a great reference tool. As an agility handler of a standard wirehair dachshund, this book is invaluable.
Beth A. Klucher, owner of Big Sur, National Agility Doxi Winner
- GenresDogsNonfiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 12, 2014
This is a good, solid little book about dog fitness. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how useful it really is to most dog owners.
The good: Foster offers concrete, graduated fitness programs. It's easy to see how, why, and when to move a dog from one level of difficulty to the next. I love that she discusses training the dog to do the exercise without physical manipulation from a human, and she offers clear fatigue indicators to watch for.
The bad: Nothing in this book can be done without physical therapy equipment, which is quite expensive and very bulky. You can't even, according to the instructions, asses what level of exercises you should be doing without owning things like paw pods and wobble boards. I was hoping to see at least *some* things that could be done without specialized equipment.
The strange: Over and over again readers are referred to Foster's website for more information or to buy equipment, but the website is barely functional. I would expect this if the book had just come out, but it's been in print over a year. Puzzling.
The good: Foster offers concrete, graduated fitness programs. It's easy to see how, why, and when to move a dog from one level of difficulty to the next. I love that she discusses training the dog to do the exercise without physical manipulation from a human, and she offers clear fatigue indicators to watch for.
The bad: Nothing in this book can be done without physical therapy equipment, which is quite expensive and very bulky. You can't even, according to the instructions, asses what level of exercises you should be doing without owning things like paw pods and wobble boards. I was hoping to see at least *some* things that could be done without specialized equipment.
The strange: Over and over again readers are referred to Foster's website for more information or to buy equipment, but the website is barely functional. I would expect this if the book had just come out, but it's been in print over a year. Puzzling.
March 25, 2014
On the positive side the exercises look solid, even though there aren't very many of them, and the author is extremely knowledgeable. However, I'm not sure how practical implementing the training programs would be for many people given the equipment and training requirements. Also, the book was a quick read and probably could have been even shorter.
I lure course, but don't spend an inordinate amount of time training my dogs outside of getting them conditioned, so I might not be the target audience. If you're willing to devote the time to train your dogs on these exercises this book will be worth the read.
I lure course, but don't spend an inordinate amount of time training my dogs outside of getting them conditioned, so I might not be the target audience. If you're willing to devote the time to train your dogs on these exercises this book will be worth the read.
August 4, 2016
Very quick, easy read. Not a lot of exercises, but enough to get you started. I think it's a nice supplemental text to other conditioning books out there. It definitely gives you a good place to start. And easy tests you can do at home to assess fitness at a basic level.
It's on my recommend list.
It's on my recommend list.
May 26, 2014
Nice, simple, straightforward.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews