These are some of the first 5 things I teach any young dog no matter what sport they are going into or even if they are not going into sport, because if they have these behaviors and you happen to need to do any type of rehab with your dog, these skills are what I consider fundamental building blocks to other skills. I only number the first one because I think that is absolutely a #1 skill to have and it should come first. The other skills while critical, the order doesn’t matter as much so I didn’t put a number on them.
1. Stillness with IYC – Teaching your dog to just remain in any position they are in is SO important. If we can have a dog who can just stay in a sit, stand or down we can do so much with the dog. In fitness routines we want dogs to move slowly and methodically and, in order to help them with that, teaching them to just be still is so critical. And I say with IYC because having the stillness in the presence of a reward, and in case of fitness that is typically food, is really what we want. We need to be able to have treats in our hands, and in a dish on the floor or chair and not have the dog moving around constantly to try to get at the food. Also we want the dogs to understand that the food is coming to them and that they don’t always come to the food. Because of this I add in different markers to help the dog understand these differences. If I want my dog to maintain their position and I deliver food to them I will tell them “Cookie” and they have learned to maintain their stillness and receive treat. This helps when we have dogs on any equipment to make sure they are being safe on the equipment and helps them maintain any position we have asked them to be, and will reduce the risk of injury, even minor strains. If I want to lure my dog during an exercise I tell them to “Get It” and then they are allowed to follow my hand that has the cookie.
Stand for Duration – This goes back to item 1 but specifically a stand for duration is really important for many reasons, including for doing proper evaluations on your dogs structure, muscle tone, balance, etc. So having a dog that fully understands to stand and stay standing, even while being touched, measured, etc is a super valuable skill. When I teach this I teach this standing on two separate platforms, and then this also becomes my foundation skill for learning front feet go on things and rear feet go on things.
Tuck Sit with Duration – While my dogs are young I like to make sure they understand how to properly sit with nice tucked rear end when I ask for a sit. Some dogs do this really naturally and others might have their own style. I work with my dog and where they are at to build up the duration and ability to properly tuck sit. Does this mean that is how they sit all the time? No, but it does mean that when I put them in the proper environment that they can do it and understand the concept. If my dog doesn’t naturally tuck sit I won’t bug them all day as they sit to make sure its perfect but once I know they understand the concept I will start to watch and see if they are making the choice to tuck sit more often on their own, a sign that they are gaining tat muscle memory and strength. And again back to item 1, being able to sit and hold this for a short duration is important, as it is often a default of common position used to start a lot of our fitness exercises.
Sphinx Down – Being able to down properly with the feet and hops all properly aligned is much like the tuck sit. Some dogs do this naturally while other do not. When I’m working me dogs I want them to understand that while we are doing exercises this is the type of down that I want and that they can maintain this position for some duration. I don’t mind how my down chooses to lay around the house, and dogs are clever enough to understand context. So in the context of fitness, or sports I want to understand that this is type of down that I expect to see. The ideal alignment for this is critical because again this is a common starting position for a lot of exercises and we want to start our exercises with the dogs already in properly alignment. And being able to hold this for duration is important too. I will note that there is a lot of benefit from the down on their side, especially on cue. I use my laying on the side for proper evaluations for my dogs, relaxation protocols, massage and other treatments. So while I am putting emphasis on the proper sphinx down, I don’t want to lose value for laying on their side either.
Trot – This might not seem like a skill you need to teach as it should be natural but each your dog and yourself to be able to trot is huge for evaluation but also proper warm up/cool down. It also is a foundation for things like teaching your dog to use a treadmill and cavalettis. This goes beyond heal work in my opinion because I don’t need my dog at my side for this, and some times don’t even want it. I might want them out at the end of the leash so I can see them myself move through and trot. Also unlike strict heeling I do not want the head up, I want a nice neutral head position while they are moving. So I teach this as a separate skill and I do have it on command so my dogs can find this gait without any influence from me walking with them.
BONUS Targeting skills – I don’t put this in my 5 because I CAN get by without it BUT I find things so much easier if my dog has good nose targeting skills. That would include a nose to hand touch, a chin rest, a nose bridge and a target stick nose targeting are my first fundamentals. Teaching paw targeting comes after that, because again I can do SO much without it to get started and then progress to teach that. But since nose targeting is in its own training space I wanted to mention that here as well that it is absolutely something that I work on and focus on early with dogs and make sure they have at least one of those nose targeting skills.
