AKC Fast CAT (Coursing Ability Test) is a timed 100-yard dash where dogs start at one end of a straight course and chase a lure to the end. This fun and fast-paced sport has become extremely popular with dogs of all sizes. Many dogs take naturally to Fast CAT and to get started there is very little training necessary. While most dogs will start running naturally after the lure, it’s important to ensure your dog is physically prepared to compete in this sport. This means being in overall good physical health, being at a healthy weight, and having the muscle tone necessary for high impact running.
The Importance of Conditioning
While Fast CAT is a wonderful beginner-friendly sport to get your dog involved with, you need to make sure that your dog is physically fit enough to run. The first step towards training and conditioning your dog for Fast CAT should be a trip to the veterinarian. Explain to your dog’s vet that you want to get involved with Fast CAT, have your vet do a complete physical, and make sure they feel like your dog is in the right physical condition for this high-energy sport.
If you get serious about Fast CAT or your dog has a history of orthopedic injuries, it’s a good idea to consider bringing your dog to a veterinary physical therapist for further evaluation and to help provide you with specialized exercise for your dog. Veterinary specialists can also provide therapeutic support to Fast CAT dogs like laser therapy, which can treat strains and support healing after injuries. Just like you wouldn’t go out and start running a marathon without training, we need to think of sports training the same for our dogs. Proper conditioning can help our dogs to avoid injuries while running, and also support our dogs running faster, and get them closer to having their names on the AKC Fast CAT rankings.
Building Muscle and Strength Training
Strength training is important for all canine athletes, including those who participate in Fast CAT. Improving your dog’s core strength has been shown to help prevent serious injuries in canine athletes like knee ligament tears. We want our dogs to be as strong as possible before we ask them to participate in strenuous exercises like running Fast CAT. Here are some exercises you can start doing at home with your dog to keep them running strong at Fast CAT:
Balance Training
One of the best ways to help your dog build stronger core strength is to work on balance skills. You can do balance work at home with your dog using couch pillows. You can also purchase balancing equipment like wobble boards or inflatable exercise disks for your dog. When your dog is on the (safe) but unstable balance equipment, they’re experiencing inconsistent movement under their feet, encouraging them to use their muscles to steady themselves. To start, use treats to lure your dog onto the wobble board or other balance equipment, then praise and treat your dog for getting on. When your dog is comfortable getting onto the balance equipment and standing, you can ask for more behaviors like sit, wave, down, or spin. Practicing these tricks, skills, and behaviors on balance equipment allows our dogs to work their core muscles as they find and maintain balance while in motion.
Play Bow
Before dogs start running, we really want our dogs to be stretched and warmed up, and we want to always be working on their overall conditioning. The bow stretch strengthens your dog’s core, as well as their shoulders, hamstrings, and spine. There are a couple of ways to teach your dog to bow. You can “capture” the behavior by marking every time with a verbal marker like “yes” or a clicker when your dog naturally offers the bow behavior, and then add a verbal cue of choice. Or you can use treats to gently lure your dog’s head down and back into the bow position, marking and treating once your dog’s elbows go down to the floor and their bottom raises in the air. With practice, you’ll be able to fade out the lure and put the behavior on a cue of choice like “bow” or “stretch.”
Cookie Stretches
Cookie stretches involve using treats to gently lure your dog into stretching their body. For this exercise, the goal is for your dog to bring their nose to different body parts, like their hip, knee, or back paws. The stretch works on your dog’s overall flexibility, which can help prevent injuries, increase fitness, and help their athleticism while running. When your dog is standing calmly, get their attention with a cookie on their nose and, with a slow fluid motion, bring your dog’s nose back to touch their hip on one side. Hold that position for a few seconds. Then, gently bring your dog’s head back to looking straight forward. Next, lure your dog back to touch their other hip with their nose. Hold again, and then back to a natural standing position. Keep working on this stretch touching different parts of your dog’s body, including their hips, knees, back feet, front feet, and chest.
Be sure to keep your treat movements slow and gentle, so your dog gets a nice calm stretch. This cookie stretch helps to work on your dog’s overall balance and works your dog’s core and spine. While stretching, pay attention to if your dog is reluctant to stretch one way, seems unsteady, or if your dog seems tighter and less flexible going one direction. If you notice any stretching issues, this is something that’s a good idea to bring up to your dog’s veterinarian or veterinary physical therapist before their next Fast CAT run as it could be a sign of strain or injury.
Warming Up Before Running
Fast CAT events are fun and exciting for dogs and people. Even though you might enjoy the chance to socialize with your dog-loving friends, we never want to take our dogs directly out of the car or crate and ask them to run right away. Similarly, we don’t want to take them directly from a Fast CAT run and put them back into a crate without a chance to cool down after running. Warming your dog’s muscles up before they run will help them run faster and can also prevent injuries.
Walking is a gentle full-body exercise that gets your dog’s leg muscles and back engaged and gets your dog’s heart rate up. Before your Fast CAT run, try to spend about 10 minutes walking with your dog to help them get warmed up and work out any stiffness from having been sleeping or traveling to the dog show. After running, take your dog on a gentle walk to help slow down their heart rate. You can also incorporate any stretching your dog knows and is comfortable with into your warm-up and cool-down routines before and after runs.
Don’t Just Be Weekend Runners
Fast CAT is a sport you and your dog can have a great time jumping into without spending months or years training before competing, but it’s essential to take precautions to make sure your dog is in good athletic shape, properly conditioned, and prepared to run. While Fast CAT is an excellent exercise for our dogs, we don’t want it to be the only exercise they’re getting. Participating in the AKC FIT DOG program is a great way to structure your dog’s daily fitness routine, including regular walks, balance work to build core strength, and stretching to keep them well-conditioned. By focusing on keeping your dog well-conditioned to run, you can not only increase your dog’s speed, but also decrease the likelihood of them getting injured.