Did you know April is National Canine Fitness Month?
Canine fitness is for EVERY dog:
-Puppies
-Canine athletes
-Pet dogs
-and Senior dogs
Canine fitness is:
-Quality of Life (healthy weight & healthy diet)
-Daily physical and mental exercise
-Injury prevention
Trainer Samantha Lee from Valor K9 Academy’s Boise location is very passionate about canine fitness and nutrition. She believes it is something that every dog owner should incorporate no matter what their dog’s age, physical limitations or breed.
Samantha is a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer and is sharing some fun ideas and tips throughout the month to celebrate!
In this article, Samantha talks about weight: Do you know what a healthy weight on your dog looks like?
Check out this canine body condition chart to see where your dog currently is:
If your dog is a 6 or higher, here are some easy tips to help your dog lose weight!
✅ Don’t free feed your dog, instead do set meal times so you can track how much your dog is eating each day
✅ Always feed a light breakfast and adjust how much you feed your dog dinner according to how much exercise they got that day!
✅ To determine how much to feed your dog each day, calculate the total daily amount by your dog’s IDEAL WEIGHT, not their current weight.
✅ Don’t feed cheap treats! They’re full of empty calories and junk ingredients. Only use SINGLE INGREDIENT treats and chews or dehydrated/freeze dried raw for treats!
✅ Hydrate! Most dogs don’t drink enough daily water and that affects their body weight!
To help keep your dog hydrated,
Add water to each of your dog’s meals!! Especially if you feed kibble! Kibble is 80% or more dry matter so it literally dehydrates your dog when they eat. Instead, add water and let the kibble soak a few minutes before giving it to your dog
For big exercise days, use low sodium bone broth to flavor your dog’s water which encourages them to drink more!
Have questions about Quality of Life care (healthy weight and healthy diet)?
Comment below!
Stay tuned for Samantha’s next article regarding Tips for Injury Prevention!
In the meantime, check out this blog on canine agility:
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