April is Canine Fitness Month: a great reminder to check in on how our dogs feel, not just how they behave. Weakness, pain, and discomfort often show up first as behavior changes: maybe your dog is more withdrawn, slower to get up, or suddenly hesitant to do things they once loved. 

Two years ago, I started feeling like something wasn’t quite right with my dog, Rupee. She’s an active, happy girl who loves to be outside and doing things with her people. But over the summer, her demeanor started to change just ever so slightly; she seemed a little more tired, a little less eager, and I was convinced she was moving differently. Were these early signs of aging? Was this normal? Or was something wrong? It culminated in one afternoon where she abruptly stopped after running an agility course, an activity she normally loves. She refused to walk, and showed clear signs of physical discomfort: lips pulled back tightly, staggered stance, tail tucked, pupils dilated. 

That moment, and the ensuing months we spent seeking diagnoses from specialists and rehab, woke me up to an overlooked and underserved aspect of pet care: canine fitness and conditioning. Rupee’s issue was minor and she recovered well, but I realized there was much more I could proactively be doing to help her enjoy the activities she loves – like swimming, hiking, running, roughhousing – as safely and for as long as possible. This experience set me down the path to pursuing my CPCFT (Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer), a program I’m now in the final stage of completing.

Canine fitness and conditioning: a quick overview

Canine conditioning is all about teaching exercises tailored to your dog’s structure, needs, and goals. Think of it as functional fitness training — but for dogs, and way more fun! Our goal? To support mobility, reduce injury risk, and help your dog live a longer, more active life.

Good canine fitness professionals evaluate each dog and implement individualized, positive reinforcement-led exercise plans. Depending on your dog’s age, lifestyle, or health, we might focus on improving strength, balance, flexibility, and proprioception for example:

• For a young dog that loves to be in the woods, we might focus on getting her ready to hit the trails for more technical hikes
• For a senior dog, our goal might be maintaining his strength to climb stairs from the backyard. 
• For a puppy, we might focus on encouraging general body awareness. 
• For a dog that loves to sniff and play nosework games, we might work to maintain the core and shoulder strength needed to carry their head as they source odor. 

Fitness is for every dog, at every stage. One of my favorite anecdotes from another CPCFT is about a senior dog who hadn’t been able to jump on the couch in a long time. Some time after starting their conditioning program, the human came home one day and couldn’t find the dog, only to discover him peacefully napping on the couch. That kind of quality-of-life win brings tears to my eyes!

Additional advantages

Beyond supporting physical health, canine fitness offers other important benefits:

• Builds foundational training skills like luring and shaping, in a fun, low-pressure way.
• Supports early detection of issues. Gait and posture assessments often reveal subtle changes that might otherwise go unnoticed until they become bigger problems. Early intervention often leads to better health outcomes and a faster recovery. 
• Helps advocate for your dog. If you feel something’s off but can’t explain it, a fitness professional’s notes and analysis can help guide your vet toward more targeted diagnostics. We don’t diagnose, but we can provide useful documentation that can help point your care team to the answers.
• Prepares your dog for the future. Conditioning serves as “prehab” to help prevent injury and builds a strong foundation that can ease post-op rehab, should your dog ever need it (and how many of us know a dog who’s needed, say, a TPLO these days?)

What you can do today.

Here are five simple ways to start thinking about canine fitness in your everyday life:

We can help keep our pets comfortable and strong – and recognize sooner when subtle changes are happening – when we have a good fitness routine.

We can help keep our pets comfortable and strong – and recognize sooner when subtle changes are happening – when we have a good fitness routine.

By Danielle Anctil

Danielle is a CPCFT candidate passionate about helping all dogs reach their
fitness goals through fun and kind instruction, whether for sports or
for general quality of life. You can reach her at danielle@ruffnbuff.com,
and on Meta @ruffnbuffcfc.