Canine fitness , sometimes referred to as canine conditioning, is incorporating a regular scheduled specific exercise routine for your dog based on your goals, their age and physical abilities in order to maintain or improve any of the following: joint range of motion, practice healthy movement patterns, improve flexibility, strength, balance, body awareness, and endurance. Canine Fitness is just one of the puzzle pieces to a dog's total lifelong wellness plan.

Canine fitness is not a trick that you only do once and done. Just like human fitness the “use it or lose” concept applies. Canine fitness should be a weekly habit in order to maintain your dogs fitness level. It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just needs to be done.

Canine fitness will not prevent all injuries. But it should help shorten the recovery time when working with a veterinarian or rehabilitation specialist.

Canine fitness is not about earning a title or certificate. The true reward is a healthier dog.

Canine fitness is not for the injured or sick dog. If there are any concerns you should discuss with your veterinarian if a canine fitness program is right for your dog.

Canine fitness is for any dog, any age, as long as they are healthy and without injury. A regular canine fitness routine will help the pet dog learn healthier movement patterns so they can live a long, mobile, active life. Canine fitness will also help the working or sport dog enjoy a long healthy career. And if injury should happen, a fit dog should recover quicker with the help of a certified rehabilitation specialist.

Canine fitness is not suitable for the injured or sick dog.

Canine fitness alone is not suitable for the senior dog experiencing arthritis pain. The pain control should first be addressed by a veterinarian or certified rehabilitation DVM and after that an exercise program should be approved by your veterinarian or rehab specialist.

If you are like me, you’ve shared your life with many dogs. And every dog that you’ve cared for has taught you new lessons on how to be a better pet parent and advocate for the next dog. In 2013 when Chase joined our family as a 4 month old pup we knew he was destined to be a large sized dog. At that same time our senior lab mix Norman was starting to show a lot of muscle weakness and arthritic pain. Norman was the kind of dog that had the most love for the retrieve and less self preservation when it came to being physical. I wanted to do better, so I started to research canine fitness for both dogs in their different stages of life to give them the best possible chance to stay happy and mobile. This knowledge and passion to help all dogs led me to becoming a Certified Canine Fitness Trainer through the University of Tennessee and start my coaching business Nose to Tail Fit.

I want to empower you with the knowledge so that you can learn how to see your dog’s movement, posture, and understand their normal so that you can quickly become aware if something is “off”.

I want to help you train your dog more efficient and healthy movement patterns so that the right muscle groups are recruited to meet the physcial demand for your dogs daily life, sport, or job.

Canine fitness training is only about positive training methods and experiences so the training is guaranteed to build a stronger bound and communication between you and your dog.

And finally I hope that you will “see” your dog in a whole new amazing way.

Classes will generally be 4 weeks long. Class size is max 4 dogs and their person.

At each class session 3-4 exercises will be introduced that are aligned with the class topic. I will coach you through the exercises and we will come up with a progressive training plan to be able to accomplish the exercise. You will have plenty of time to practice in class and get direct coaching.

By the end of all class sessions you will have worked on 12-16 exercises that you can now continue to use in your fitness training at home.