244 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
exercise should not be attempted until all levels
of the beg on all surfaces can be performed.
As with the simple beg, this exercise is made
significantly more difficult by having the
dog perform it on progressively more diffi
cult surfaces, moving from a solid surface to
a soft surface, then hills, then on a physioball
(Figure 10.22). The dog should be limited to
raising itself three times from the beg position
in any given session. This exercise should not
be performed by dogs with acute injuries or
undiagnosed pain of the pelvic limbs or spine.
Thoracic limbs on perch. The dog places
its thoracic limbs on an elevated perch
( Figure 10.23). This can be a box that is raised
3–4′′ off the ground, an upside‐down food
bowl, or any other object of that size that
can be stabilized on the ground. As with the
same exercise with the dog’s pelvic limbs on
a perch, the client should turn the dog’s head
away from the direction to which it will step.
The dog should circle three times around
(A) (B)Figure 10.22 In the most advanced stage of the beg‐stand‐beg, a dog can do the exercise on a soft, egg‐shaped
physioball, transitioning from a sit (A) to a stand (B) and back.
Figure 10.23 A dog working with its front feet on a
perch. Once the dog can circle three times around the
perch in each direction, the perch can be gradually
elevated to elbow height.