Phoenix's Balancing Act!

One of my favorite things about Phoenix is that she will try anything for me. 

We have not done any parkour or balance work in a long time! 

She did so well! I can't believe she was able to get all four paws up on this tiny bar! She's such an awesome little dog!

Balance!

Phoenix is so athletic, she is able to balance on the tiny fence post out at the big park!

Into the Woods!

Happy B&W Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! 

Jumping Dogs!

Zoe jumps over the tree!

Happy Fit Dog Friday everyone! I hope you guys all had a great week! This week we had some interesting weather! It was like Oregon finally came back! Between rainstorms, we went to the big park.

Phoenix is very enthusiastic about jumping!

This fallen tree is one of my favorite spots out there. I had the girls do a few jumps so I could get some cute pictures. The log is a good leap for them, it's not as high as the fence they like to go over, though! 

I was also surprised to find some flowers are still blooming, despite the fall weather we're suddenly getting! Also, one part of the park smells distinctly like honey suckle but I couldn't find any! 

Are you getting any Fall weather where you are yet? I'm so excited! I love Fall!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Parkour Dogs

Phoenix in a tree at Thousand Acres.

This week I got a lot of questions and some concerns regarding my Monday Mischief post: To Catch a Squirrel... if you didn't see it just click the link. I decided to make a post about it so I can clear the air. There was NO squirrel in the tree where I was photographing the dogs. It was a joke.

Phoenix posing on the fence at Thousand Acres.

What is Parkour? (AKA: Free Running) From Wikipedia: Pakour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation.

It's basically like agility but we use whatever obstacles we find! The dogs are trained to balance on fence posts, climb trees, jump over things. Everything I do with my dogs is completely controlled and trained.

Zoe on the giant rock at the south end Cannon Beach.

Zoe on the giant rock at the south end Cannon Beach.

If you look up "parkour dogs" on youtube you will find some pretty extreme videos. We don't do any of that extreme stuff at all. I don't allow them to jump down from places that are too high, especially if the landing will be on cement and we are very careful about the things we do. I would never allow them to do this sort of thing when they were overstimulated and chasing a critter.

Zoe posing on a pillar!

Phoenix learning parkour.

So the tree they were in was a tree that had been split and half of it was on the ground, they were able to hop up on a low branch and climb up into the tree. As you can see, Zoe is making her descent. She's focused on the branch of the tree and is very careful where she's placing her paws. We've done a ton of rear end awareness training. She knows exactly where her front and rear paws are. 

In 4 years of doing this we have never had an injury. 

Parkour can be great exercise and there's a ton of variety with it. It's jumping, it's running, it's balancing. My dogs really enjoy it. However, with any sort of sport like this, your dog needs to be physically fit. I would not recommend doing this if your dog is overweight. If you're interested in parkour and never done any sort of obstacle training, I would recommend finding an agility class and doing that first with a qualified instructor. I used to take agility classes with my family dogs and it was so much fun. I learned a lot. I would also recommend doing rear end awareness exercises and starting on really low and wide objects that are easy for your dog to negotiate while they are learning.

Happy Fit Dog Friday everyone! 

Do you do any sort of obstacle training with your dog? Tell me about it in the comments!

To Catch A Squirrel...

You must go where the squirrels are!

Happy Monday Mischief everyone!

Sisters on Saturday!

I found this interesting tree down by the river at the park we go to and had the girls pose with it! Off to the right is the river! Last week, this tree was in the river!

Look out Squirrels!!! Monday Mischief

Zoe's coming to get you!! :D

Rock-hopping River Dogs - Wordless Wednedsay

These girls sure do love going to the river! They have an awesome time exploring and rock hopping.

Anything you can do, I can do better! Mischief Monday!

One of my favorite things about Phoenix is that she picks things up from watching Zoe. She has such a wonderful "can do" attitude! It's definitely an "anything you can do, I can do better" kind of thing. She never wants to be left out of anything and she will try so hard to do everything Zoe does.

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Girl!

Phoenix says, Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!!