Our dogs rely heavily on cues. The way your body moves is a primary part of that cue system. Unless they participated in sports, most humans do not have good body awareness. If we’ve had an injury or we are aging, we begin losing mobility. This has a profound effect on the information we give to our dogs. Stepping into or away from a dog, shifting our weight, twisting, leaning, not walking or running in a straight line, etc. all influence our dog’s behavior. In this workshop I will show you very simple exercises you can easily and safely do at home. You will need little to no equipment. If you have a balance disc, that’s beneficial but not necessary. We will focus on simple balance exercises, body awareness and postural exercises (for the human!). We will also look at training strategies to help our dogs accommodate to physical challenges that we cannot change. The exercises in this workshop will not just improve your training and trialing, but how you move through life!

Watch the Trailer:

Lecture Publish Date: Sunday Jan 5th

Video Submissions Due Date:  Sunday Jan 12th @ 12pm noon PT 

Feedback & Questions Video Publish Date: Saturday Jan 15th

Instructor: Petra Ford

I have been training and competing for several decades in a variety of sports including Hunt Tests, Field Trials, Nosework, Agility and Rally. My first love has always been competition obedience. I have been fortunate to win the AKC National Obedience Championship four times with three different dogs. (Click here for full bio and to view Petra's upcoming courses)