Spending time with your dog, do I need to say more?

There’s plenty more benefits like:

• saving time
• getting stronger
• getting faster 
• preventing injuries
• feeling better 
• better mindset 
• better behaved dog
• bonding time with your dog 

Dogs aren’t with us long enough so enjoy all the time you can with them! Live your best life with your dog is what it’s all about. 

Our mission statement: “Whether you’re here for yourself or for your dog, whether it’s for weight-loss or a new activity. We want to be around for people and their dogs during different life cycles from puppies to seniors to live a healthier lifestyle to be the best version of themselves. Fitness with Fido is “where you’ll always have a workout partner”

Yes, ideally your dog should have basic commands like sit, stay and come. The rest they can learn along the way! Included with each purchase is our Basic Foundation Exercise for your Dog Ebook to get your dog started off on the right paw. Working out incorrectly will train your muscles incorrectly that can lead to bad form or injuries, remember perfect practice makes perfect. Same goes for you, get familiar with the exercise moves before included your dog into the mix. You don’t want to step on them, which can scare or hurt them, just like we don’t want them jumping up and scratching you or knocking you over. Do your best and keep coming back and working out together. You’ll need the basics before you can add any progressions. Also we still recommend taking daily walks if possible to help set the mood.

Take the Pledge to Workout with your Dog:

• To Have Fun!
• To Be Safe!
• To listen to my body!
• To pay attention to my dog’s body cues!
• Modify anything for me or my dog!
• Remember I’m training the dog in front of me!
• Challenge myself and my dog only if we have the basics before moving on to more challenging moves!
• Keep my dog’s nails trimmed!
• Have traction for my dog when working out like a rug, carpet or yoga mat so they have the best experience!
• Try to go on daily walks for 10-30 minutes with my dog (hopefully not pulling) for fresh air and many more benefits!
• To have a positive attitude while training your dog and your body!
• End your workouts positive with a hug, massage or pat on the back!
• Work on finding that balance of inviting my dog into my space, while teaching them to respect my space. Once we do, it will save time, a chance to bond and motivate us to be the best workout pawtners!

This are designed to be a workout for you AND your dog. All the classes provide mental and physical stimulation for the dogs and everyone can work at their own pace, modifing anything to be easier or more challenging. Each class is always different sometimes:

• We rotate back and forth with you working out and then your dog working out. While you’re exercising your dog will be there making sure you’re doing it correctly, working on dog obedience!
• We lure the dogs around and over your body for some combo moves! Make sure you can do the exercise correctly before adding your dog. 
• We start the first part of class with the dogs then switch to us, meeting back up at the end. 

Classes are approximently 30 minutes to one hour. There’s plenty to choose from to fit your schedule!

The majority of classes are based on time instead of sets. That way all levels are welcomed! For example you’ll have 30 seconds to complete an exercise, so if you do 1 jumping jack or 30 jumping jacks in 30 seconds it allows you go at your own pace.

Yoga/Pilates classes we normally start with some drills to get your dog’s legs moving because they normally don’t like to sit still like a regular yoga class or work on dog obedience around your yoga mat and work on standing balancing poses. Then we do a couple of stretches with the dogs and end on the mat with laying down poses and end with a dog massage!

It’s important to practice good dog behavior that will help mentally tire out your dog and it’s much easier to work out with a well-behaved dog.

Depending on the class it can vary.

The core equipment you will need is at least one platform, preferrably two, and 1-2 hurdles for your dog. For you, a pair of weights and mini resistance band. Don’t forget the dog treats! Maybe a yoga mat for cushion and traction. We recommend having a stable piece of equipment that’s low to the ground for most classes. You also need internet connection.

• Puplates is typically a platform and/or hurdle with the resistance band or light pair of weights
• Doga is typically a platform and yoga mat
• Get Fit with Fido is typically pair of weights, hurdle and platform.
• Canine Conditioning is typically a stable and unstable platform, a couple hurdles and a peanut.
• Optional other equipment:
  • chair for chair yoga
  • stability ball for stability ball class

If you have the core equipment, then it will serve the same purpose. I often switch mine up as well each class. There’s so many products out there, many people have different selections whether it’s a stepper, bosu ball, fitbone, cato board, klimb, foam pad, etc.

• Unstable pieces of equipment are more challenging.
• The higher the piece of equipment the more challenging it will be. Height = might.

On-demand classes are recorded videos that each student can do on their own time. Instead of having to join at a specific time, you can pick which class when it is convenient for you.

We do live classes via Zoom for our canine conditioning class to provide feedback for each student. We also sometimes use Zoom for our Puplates classes for more accountabilty. But there’s still on demand classes to choose from if you can’t make the live time!

Programs are a one time payment with life-time access like our Best in Show Program and 21 Day Challenge.

Virtual Classes on Demand are a monthly or yearly subscribtion option with multiple classes to choose from like Doga, Puplates, Get Fit with Fido, Canine Conditioning and more that you can do whenever, wherever! You get access to all of those classes and more as long as your subscribtion is active. This is a great option for boredom or for people with multiple dogs as new classes are added weekly. Some of the classes are live as well for more accountability.

If you have the option of purchasing programs and the monthly or yearly classes on demand option. Some new programs may even be included with the classes on demand option!

Our canine conditioning class is live via Zoom to provide feedback for the dog’s form. We provide different exercises depending on your dog’s level and exercise equipment. There are also some pre-recorded videos as well, coming soon! 

Sometimes we will have other classes like Puplates, etc held via Zoom for a certain month to help hold you accountable and to make sure you’re not just watching us workout on the screen! Details will be posted on our private facebook page. 

Walks are important for your dog both physically and mentally. The workouts are designed for you to help save time, but walks are key to setting the mood for working out at home. Now how long you walk is totally up to you and your dog.

Here’s a couple of options: 

• walk in the morning and workout later in the day or vice versa
• walk before beginning your workout as part of your warm up

Sometimes you can’t always get outdoors because of the weather to walk, make sure to spend 2-10 minutes warming up before working out indoors again to help set the mood. Also take in factors like the heat and ice being dangerous for your dog to walk on and plan accordingly.

In the basic foundation ebook we talk more about why walks are important, you’ll get access to that after purchase!

Nope! Some breeds are more flexible, some are stronger, some are faster, it doesn’t matter, we welcome all shapes and sizes!

Tiny dogs you want to be careful with jumping and landing from higher heights to protect their little legs. 

Bigger dogs you’ll want to have equipment that suits them. 

For the combo exercises that lure them around and over your body, you’ll find what positions work best for you each time you work together. Reach out on our private facebook page if you need suggestions! You’ll get access after you complete a purchase. 

Hyper dogs need mental activites and engagement besides physcial training. If your dog is so hyper it will make working out difficult and frusterating and neither of you will be satisfied. Take longer walks before starting a class and really work on teaching good manners during class and out of class. You may also want to look into a basic obedience class as well. It will take some time, but it’s esstential if you want to workout together. There’s also no contract so you can cancel anytime for the classes on demand option if you decide you’d rather train seperately. 

We understand most people have multiple dogs, here’s a few options:

• The easiest and best option is to choose one dog so they have your full undivided attention as a chance to bond, to check their form and for best results. Then rotate the next class, so they all get a turn!
  • Find out what style class your dog likes and that can also make the selection easier.
• Workout with all of them. Sometimes it might turn in to multiple dog mayheam though! or maybe do it every once in awhile and hopefully it will be more of a team effort with them each taking a turn.
  • Teaching your dog to place and stay makes working out with all of them much easier.

Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s a matter of learning how to work together. Most of the classes are filmed with medium size dogs, but for you all with tiny dogs or large dogs you’ll have to modify some of the moves to work better together. 

Bigger dogs will have to get lower in most poses, so you’ll want to probably work on crawl with them.

Smaller dogs you may try a target stick for a little extra reach and extension of your arm so you don’t have to bend as low. 

The main thing is to have fun and be safe! The more you practice the better you’ll get, finding what works best and what doesn’t. Reach out on our private facebook page, which you’ll get access to after your purchase, for substitions or ideas!

The good news is you’re at home so you dog won’t be kicked out of class since it is online. There really is no bad news, just figuring out how to work together! Try recording yourself and you might see something you don’t see when you’re training…. most of the time it’s a communication error. Your dog is more than likely just excited, it’s something new and they want to be apart of it. 

Don’t get mad at your dog, they’re doing their best. Be positive, find out what motivates them and go back to the basics. They just need some time to learn how to respect your space and wait until its their turn again. Perfect practice makes perfect. Teach them manners, learn the exercises first, then you can try some of those combo moves you may have gotten fusterated on! 

As dog grow they have growth plates that you want to fully close before any full exercise program. Depending on the breed of your dog it may take up to a year or longer. That doesn’t mean to avoid exercise though. You want to avoid high impact exercises like jumping and landing to protect the joints. You can get them used to hurdles, but keep them no higher than wrist height. There’s a saying of about 5 minutes for each month, for example a 4 month old puppy would be 20 minutes and 6 month old puppy would be about 30 minutes. Again it depends on the breed. We recommend teaching your dog basic commands first then working on little exercise sessions at a time. Start your puppy young, but be gentle and positive doing more of the basic moves to get them used to their growing body. 

Long back breeds are more prone to back injuries due to the length of their spine. Long back breeds are like dauschounds, corgis, etc. You want to be careful for any jumping, landing and twisiting motions so their back doesn’t get out of whack. They still need to exercise to keep their back and core strong to prevent those injuries! We hardly ever do sit pretty or roll over exercises, but those are some common exercises to avoid for long back breeds.

Older dogs tend to get arthritis so you want to take things slow. As people and dogs age we lose balance, so we try to work on balance activities each class to help  prevent falling. Jumps and landing should be kept no higher than wrist height to protect their joints. As dogs age they lose muscle from the hindlimbs first, modify any of the more advanced moves with a paws up or stand to keep them strong. Keep training short and fun and provide longer warm ups and cool downs. A nice massage of the hips will brighten their day! Try the doga or puplates classes for a lower impact class. 

One on one time is still recommended whether you’re beginning or seasoned at working out, so you can focus soley on your dog’s fitness say with agility, frisbee, etc. and for your fitness whether it’s bike riding, running, etc. because cross training is important and sometimes it’s good to have individualized times dependent on your needs and goals.

Our program is meant for fun and for you both to get your bodies moving and you definelty have a variety of classes to choose from to workout together, but cross training is best for overall health with any exercise routine.

What is cross training? Cross training means adding a variety of workouts to your routine. Here’s a couple of examples:

Example 1:
Monday – Canine Conditioning
Tuesday – Bike Ride for only you
Wednesday – Get Fit with Fido Class
Thursday – Puplates
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Hike Together
Sunday – Doga

Example 2:
Monday – Agility for your Dog
Tuesday – Get Fit with Fido
Wednesday – Rest
Thursday – Puplates
Friday – Dance for you, frisbee for your dog
Saturday – Yoga for you
Sunday – Rest

There’s so many variations! Or when the weather is nice swimming and paddleboard are other options to add in to your routine. Or maybe you need to work on your dog’s manners, so carving out some time for training to each week. Switching up your routine makes sure you’re working a variety of muscles, working on all the exercise components of: flexibility, strength, endurance and balance.

Injuries can happen from car accidents, repetive work, sleeping wrong or falling. Your will need to be cleared for exercise before begining any fitness routine. If it goes untreated for too long your body will begin to compensate and make exercising not enjoyable.

Once you have an all clear from a phyical therapist come back and join us!

Also choose a class that best suits your needs. If you have knee or wrist issues chest out the chair doga classes! 

Injuries can happen from playing in the yard, participating in sports or slipping on ice. Your dog needs to be cleared for exercise before begining any fitness routine. If it goes untreated for too long your dog will begin to compensate and dogs are good at hiding injures. Most vets will provide pain meds and rest when a dog comes in injured, so you will want to seek out a Canine Rehab Professional to get your dog back on track. Once your dog goes thru rehab and has the clear, come back and join us! 

You’re at home so that’s totally up to you! I personally like to wear my socks when working out at home to work the little muscles in my feet and to not track dirt off my shoes. For doga classes I may end up going barefoot to get more grip on my mat. 

If you have a dog that might step on your feet you might want to wear shoes. 

Fitness with Fido was created to save time combining Kim’s love of fitness and dogs together. When Oscar, her standard poodle, was a puppy he had lots of energy so we kept him active. At the same time Kim was training for a 13 mud obstacle course and was spending a lot of time at the gym, which her dogs were giving her very guilty looks leaving home, so she started combining her workouts with them at the local park to save time and not leave them at home. 

Kim has worked with dogs since she was a kid. She’s always learning to better serve all of you, you can read more about my certifications, continuing education and any future ones that will be added here. We uphold our instructors to keep learning as well, so we can be the best in the business. We created the Fido Tribe, for a like minded community of dog parents living their best lives to be the best versions of themselves, but also for their dogs!

We hate to see you go, but we understand you may like working out by yourself better of funds are tight. If you bought an online program that was a one-time payment there are no refunds. If you have a monthly or yearly subscribtion to our virtual classes you can go to your account and cancel before your next billing cycle. If you’re having trouble send us an email at: info@fitnesswithfido.fit
subject line: cancel subscribtion

It may seem intimidating or you think your dog is too crazy to work out together, we understand. Go to our homepage and scroll to the bottom and sign up for our newsletter to get a free ebook of “10 exercises to do on your next walk” AND to take your FREE fit test to do with your dog delivered straight to your inbox to learn more! 

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