Home Dog Gyms

I'm often asked about equipment required for a good home dog gym. You can certainly buy the same equipment that we do. We use high quality manufactures such as FitPaws https://fitpawsusa.com/ and TotoFit http://totofit.com/ We also use old baby crib mattresses, planks from entertainment centers, cones and PVC from home supply stores. I love the creativity of my clients over the years. I learned that banana boxes from the grocery stores have holes perfect for putting swiffer handles through for cavalettis. Hockey sticks, golf poles, drain spouts, ladders, firewood have all substituted for cavaletti poles and unused hand weights or bar stool rungs work as risers. Families who set shower tension rods in their hallways impress me as everyone gets cavaletti exercise. Old dresser drawers can be turned upside down with a yoga mat on top for box step exercises. It is worthwhile to have a long term solution for equipment, because exercises will benefit your dog lifelong. During the healing and strengthening stages, we recommend short sessions frequently, often 3-5x daily depending on circumstances and individual patient needs, but for maintenance it is good to do an exercise 3-5x weekly. Watching your dog do an exercise after they are healed is helpful as you can catch problems early if they are once again struggling. No matter how long ago your dog was our patient, we always welcome questions about your pet. If you are seeing something that concerns you, please send us a short video.

Here is a great home set up for a sweet Golden who recently had her second TPLO surgery (good thing they only have two knees!)