Dog squats! Murphy powers off his front, pulling himself forward when he runs. This makes it very easy for him to build muscle on his shoulders, and harder for him to build muscle through the rear. Tricks can be a great way to aid in conditioning a dog, as you can target specific muscles. This is an advanced trick, as it requires a good deal of strength and coordination through not only the hind legs but especially the core. Murphy was built up to this over the course of a couple months, starting from sits/downs to a stand and working his way up to a squat with a platform to hold onto such as a chair, and finally to the full free-standing squat. These targeted exercises have allowed Murphy to develop a great deal of strength and coordination. It has helped him put on muscle as well as engage his rear more while working. The extra power and rear end awareness has also benefited our agility performance - we haven’t had a knocked bar in ages! (big problem in the past for Murphy.)
