Using treats as rewards
It’s important that we reward our dog when they do the exercises, not only to entice them to perform them, but also because it reinforces the teaching of what we want (and need) them to do. How you reward them depends on what your dog prefers. If they love toys more than treats then use a toy. Perhaps they respond to clicker training, then that can be used. Most commonly though, our dogs are food driven and so that means treats are the best way to get their muscles moving! I give mine healthy, homemade treats in our exercise sessions. I prefer lean meats, like chicken or kangaroo, jerky that I can break into small pieces to do lots of training. I’m always mindful to try and balance their calories, so if they’ve done lots of exercises and used lots of treats then I will give them a smaller dinner. This is important to make sure we don’t overdo the calories and they start gaining weight.
Essential Equipment
While most exercises can be done with household items, the only essential equipment is non slip mats for those of us with tiles or floorboards. My colourful “kids rubber play mats” were about $8 from Kmart.