WHY WOULD YOU WANT A FITNESS TRAINER FOR YOUR CANINE ATHLETE? What do Siya Kolisi, Serena Williams and Michael Phelps have in common? Well besides being great athletes and household names in their chosen sports, they have coaches and trainers. Even non-professional athletes realise that they cannot do it alone, and often turn to the professional services of coaches, personal trainers, biokineticists and physiotherapists to improve performance and technique, and reduce the chances of injury. Why should it be any different for your canine companion? Canine sports are becoming increasingly popular. In South Africa perhaps the most prevalent is agility but IPO, gun dog trials, tracking and herding competitions are also very well attended. We also should include obedience training and breed shows in the mix. In order to compete in these events, dogs should be considered and treated as canine athletes. Other canine athletes include our security dogs, those that track rhino poachers, guide dogs, detection dogs and other service dogs. We must also not exclude our weekend warriors, the dogs that run with their human companions, and dogs that play fetch with the children every day.
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