Are you ready for our fourth Koly & Kelly’s Fitness Challenge! If you have been kamping along with us, you know what to do, check out this week’s Jumping & Stepping Challenge below!
We’d love for you to kamp with us! No need to sign up or register! No commitment, you can complete all the challenges or just the ones that interest you. To join in, all you have to do is complete the challenge and enter below!
Get out your seat and Jump around! Jump Around! Jump up, jump up and get down!
Jump Jump! Everybody Jump! Jump Jump! Everybody Jump! This week’s challenge is to jump around with your dog! Everyone know that jumping can be great exercise. The trusty old low-tech jump rope is one of the Mama’s favourite ways to fit in a quick cardio boost. Even Mama isn’t brave enough to try jumping rope with me though. She watches this pawtastic video if THIRTEEN DOGS jumping rope and she just shakes her head because some days, she can’t walk two dogs on two leashes without tripping herself, forget jumping rope!
So we headed off to discover some fun ways to incorporate jumping into our work out without a rope and to help improve my obedience! One of the best things that has come out of K9 Kamp is that I have learned to exercise along with the Mama. The first few times we tried this challenge, I was having no part in it. I didn’t want to jump up on the curb with Mama, I didn’t want to do my Puppy Push Ups, but now? I’m a champ! This challenge works best if you bring some small, but high value snacks like itty bitty chunks of chicken breast to grease the wheels and keep your pup motivated. If obedience and following commands in a new situation is a challenge for your dog, start slow, do what you can and try your best. Feel free to change the exercise and make substitutions when you need to. K9 Kamp is all about making it work for you and your dog!
This is also a great challenge to break up into smaller time segments and complete whenever you have a few spare minutes around the house!
To get started, head to your nearest location with a curb, park bench & other obstacle for you and your pup to jump on. the Mama and I love to do this at the kid’s playground where we can jump all over the equipment. You need a curb/stair height step for you and an obstacle for your dog – whatever you can find, just try to pick something an appropriate height, compared to your pup. the Mama and I are using a tree log that fell in our park during a recent wind storm and on the days we kamped at home, we used a gym bag to jump over.
Stand in front of a curb (or the bottom step on stairs or a fallen log or whatever). With your dog, step up onto the curb, then back down, maintaining a steady right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot rhythm (confused? Check out this video.). Keep the leash tight, asking your pup to follow you up on to the curb each time. Repeat for two minutes at the fastest pace you can muster.
**Kol’s Note: the Mama and I like to bring one of my favourite toys and play Keep Away in order to keep me interested in going up on the curb and back down over and over again. When we were just learning this exercise, the Mama even used to lure me with little itty bitty bites of chicken breast.
Sprint to the end of the yard/park/street with your dog and sprint back.
Head back to the curb and start stepping again. This time, step up with your right foot, raise your left knee to waist height, then step back down. (Like this!) Do one minute on your right side then one minute on your left.
While you are stepping, practice some obedience with your pup. Asking them to do Puppy Push Ups (Sit-Down-Stand) while you step – or continue the game of keep away luring them up on the curb and back down.
Head back to your kamping spot and check out a good obstacle to jump over. Get a bit of a running/jogging start and get your dog to jump over the obstacle (or onto the obstacle then over). Jump with them! Try to jump as high as you can! then continue running/jogging to the other end of your kamping space. Turn around and jump the obstacle again. Repeat for a minute or two.
*To make this more difficult, direct your dog to lay down after the jump. Jump as high as you can and then squat.
Repeat until you run out of time!
To make this challenge more fun, the Mama and I like to run and jump all over the playground equipment, rather than choosing a single obstacle. It’s very enjoyable to run amok on the playground after the kiddies have gone home!
Alternate Ideas: This challenge can be…well…a real challenge for anyone and any dog who may not be used to practicing obedience in new ways, like this. No worries! Trying walking or running stairs with your dog like Sugar the Golden Retriever does or check out your local K9 Agility center, like Shiva and Kristine from Rescued Insanity do! Later this week, we’re even sharing how you can create an easy agility run right in your yard. (I have one and it’s FABULOUS!) K9 Kamp is all about making fitness fun for you and your dog, so if this week’s challenge isn’t your style, pick something that is and DO IT! We hope you’ll come back and tell us all about how you got fit with Fido this week!
Not ready for 60 full minutes of fitness fun? Do you live on the face of the sun and have to exercise before dawn or after dusk? Try splitting the 60 minute challenge up into smaller blocks so that it works for your fitness level and schedule. This challenge in particular is great to do in small 15 minute chunks and you can even use the stairs at home!
Want to kick it up a notch and really challenge yourself and your dog? Try carrying a can of wet dog food in each hand as you run. I mean sure, you could use normal hand weights or wrist weights, but really? Where is the K9 Kamp fun in that?!) For dogs who need more of a challenge a Dog Pack weighted with bean bags or bags of rice adds some extra weight and helps burns some additional calories.
We put the WAG in SWAG, Baby!
A beautiful, custom engraved stainless steel pet tag from Silver Paw Pets.
A selection of delicious and diet friendly snacks from Pet Botanics, featuring the very yummy Omega Treats and the bite sized Training Rewards!