Beanie and Biggles keep themselves fit with all their rough play and chasing. They also take part in lots of sports. They tend to really ‘push the envelope’ so we like to do some gentle activities specifically designed to build core stability and protect the joints.

Both have had a monthly swim session from a very early age. They’re both very comfortable in the water so we’re starting to introduce some little tricks and drills to keep it interesting and to really work their muscles in all directions. Today we practiced some of our basic heelwork to music moves in the water (just spinning left, right and swimming around me in both directions) and next time the hydrotherapist is going to see about getting some weave poles in the water!

We have a little gym at home and we both find that gym balls are great for building core stability. We figured if it’s good for us that the dogs would probably benefit. I was very surprised at how quickly and easily they jumped up onto the ball. They make it look easy but if you look closely you can see their muscles quivering with effort. I’m not sure what we’re going to do with them now they’ve learned to get up there but I guess we’ll just see how it goes.