We took delivery of our first core strengthening tool last week – a wobble board. While the one I bought is good for humans and puppies, there are a lot of others out there with soft plastic on them which are also great to use. I plan to get some of those soon too.

This week was about getting Jaxon stretching and balancing across a range of different exercises.

In agility, core strength is just as important for your dog as it is for you. Any exercise benefits from good core strength. It builds support for your muscles and ligaments, builds strong support for your bones, and can help prevent injury. Same for your dog.

Together with great stretching exercises, stability gives your pup the strength and confidence to tackle all agility obstacles. In particular this helps on the dog walk, in the weaves and on the see-saw.

This week, I’ve been spending 5 minutes at either end of the day (breaky and dinner) training Jaxon with stretching and stability exercises.

using the Wobble Board, I treated this new obstacle like anything else. I let Jaxon discover the obstacle, and when he started to attempt to get on it, I clicked & treated.

After a few times, Jaxon understood he would get a treat if he got on to the board,

I continued to reinforce the behaviour I wanted: Click (or marker word) and treat every time they attempt to get onto the board.

Eventually Jaxon had both front feet on the board, and was balancing on his own like a champion.

Over the week, you want to work up to 4 feet on the board. Note – This would work better on the soft plastic style balance balls, not this hard plastic one. It is too slippery for all four feet on.

Jaxon did attempt to put 4 feet on the board, but slipped off due to the surface. I’m happy with just the front feet on this board until we get the soft plastic versions.

As you will see in the video, he is getting a good work out in under a minute with this method.

Now I need to get on it to help with my core muscles….!