Front Matter

Chapter 10 Conditioning and Retraining the Canine Athlete 243

significant strength to complete. Clients might
need to try for several weeks before the dog
is strong enough to roll over completely and
certainly to roll up an incline.
Wobble board. Dogs can be encouraged to sit,
stand, or lie down and to transition between
those positions with their thoracic limbs,
pelvic limbs, or all four limbs on a large
wobble board. Once the dog is confident on
the board, playing a game of tug increases
the strength component considerably. In
addition, two smaller wobble boards can be

used, with the thoracic limbs on one and the

pelvic limbs on the other (Figure 10.20).

Pelvic limb strengthening exercises

Beg‐stand‐beg. One of the best indoor exer­

cises for strengthening the pelvic limbs is

to have the dog first sit in the beg position

then raise itself to a two‐legged stand on the

pelvic limbs, standing as still as possible for

15 seconds, and then lowering back down to

the beg position without letting the thoracic

limbs touch the ground (Figure  10.21). This

(A)(B)

Figure 10.20 (A, B) Wobble boards can help build core strength. A single large board that fits the dog’s entire body can
be used or two smaller wobble boards, with the thoracic limbs on one and the pelvic limbs on the other.

(A) (B) (C)

Figure 10.21 (A) The beg‐stand‐beg. Using food, the dog is lured from a beg into a stand (B), and back into the beg
position without putting its front feet on the ground (C). Source: Photos by Sandra Murley.