ZENFULdog is proud to announce that our fearless leader—Kendra—has once again gone above and beyond by completing her CPCFT certification to become a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer. Kendra has many years of behavioural and cognitive training experience under her belt and multiple certifications (CCFC certification 2021, CPDT-KA 2012 and C.LA.S.S evaluator 2011), but she wants to give both canine and human clients her best and loves what she does so she continues to learn and improve!
What is the CPCFT certification?
The CPCFT certification process involved 24 weeks of online classes, four 6-8 week comprehensive peer-reviewed case studies and a grueling final exam. It was an intensive 12-18 months process overseen, developed and taught by Dr. Deborah Torraca (DPT, MSPT, Diplomat ABPTS, CCRP) through the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.
Class instruction included:
Basic anatomy
Conformation and structure
Gait analysis
Proper form
Safety
Nutrition
Ethics
Scope of service
During her studies, Kendra continued to be involved in the Caine Fitness community while remaining active in CPCFT discussion groups as well as Canine Conditioning courses.
Kendra’s CPCFT Experience
Kendra did find the CPCFT training to be one of the steepest learning curves she has faced. She admits that while dog training came naturally to her, canine fitness training was less innate but credits her dog training knowledge for her ability to keep up and have better learning results. While she could always readily envision the end goal in dog training and break each goal into baby steps, as a beginner in canine fitness, she found it more challenging to see the end goal and thus more difficult to break all the information down into manageable steps. It is always tough for a perfectionist who is hard on herself to delve into something new and not be the best at it right away. When she realized she was expecting too much of herself from the gate, Kendra reminded herself to treat herself like she treats her clients. She humbled herself this way realizing that even as a trainer, she can forget her own words of advice because she is human and just wants the best from her dog like any client does. She reminded herself to slow down and set more realistic goals and stop being hard on herself and her dogs. It is always easier to encourage others to take it slow but can be difficult to put into practice.
Some of Kendra’s classmates did not have her behaviour and training knowledge but already knew more about anatomy and physiology which made her feel anxious to quickly catch up. It took her time to remind herself that she had her own skills and knowledge going into the program that others didn’t and that comparing herself to others was not a helpful pursuit. “When we do this,” Kendra notes, “we lose sight of what we have and only see what we don’t.” Kendra surpassed all of these mental hurdles and started to feel more at ease in the program, especially thanks to her teacher who was encouraging and supportive and articulated helpful advice in a meaningful way. Dr. Deborah Torraca positively reinforced what Kendra was doing right while giving her tips to improve which she found to be the perfect learning environment in which to flourish.
CPCFT at ZENFULdog
Kendra now integrates fitness into everything she does as a dog trainer at ZENFULdog. She feels the fitness element was the missing piece of the puzzle to offer complete, comprehensive training for you and your dogs and to be the best dog trainer she can be. While behaviour, skills obedience, and emotional and mental behaviour training all teach dogs how to thrive in a human world, canine fitness is another cog in the engine that influences how all of these aspects work together to give dogs the happiest, fullest lives possible.
Kendra witnessed the effect of implementing canine fitness first in her own dogs—Ren and Sken:nen. While Sken:nen is an older dog with less energy and some physical and cognitive decline, he is thriving with low-impact fitness exercises added to his daily life that help to counteract the symptoms of aging. On the other end of the spectrum, Ren is a younger, high-energy dog who is thriving from fitness activities that are more rigorous and challenging. She has gained 4 pounds of muscle and is more fulfilled. Being more fit has taught Ren to be more thoughtful and calm which can be a huge benefit of canine fitness. Her performance level has increased across the board from bikejoring and kick-sledding to canicross and more. Ren is now calm during moments in which she would have otherwise been overstimulated because thoughtfully and mindfully exercising your dog leads to mental and physical engagement resulting in a state of ‘fulfilled tired’ that can be felt in every way.
Fitness Training Classes at ZENFULdog
Kendra is thrilled to offer Canifitness classes (canine fitness training) to the ZENFULdog community. Kendra works with dogs of all breeds, ages, and skill levels through individual conditioning programs and group canine fitness classes.
Private classes focus on the individual dog. Kendra takes pictures of your dog and does a thorough analysis of your dog ‘before and after.’ A personalized plan with specific goals is designed for your dog geared toward improving fitness and physicality while improving on any weaknesses.
Group classes focus on the overall well-being of dogs, are safe for all ages and adaptable to the individual dog. Canifitness keeps any dog fit and happy while putting safety first with the cherry on top of giving dogs an opportunity to socialize.
Classes begin on a weekly basis and can be adjusted to support each individual dog’s needs. Fitness plans are also tailored to the pet parent’s situation and capabilities such as environment, access to equipment, time, energy and physical capabilities. Fitness training does not need to be fancy or complicated. It can be accomplished using everyday items found in the home such as yoga mats, mop sticks and even chairs for cavalettis. Canifitness at ZENFULdog offers a flexible and feasible training plan accessible to anyone.
There are 3 canifitness options offered by ZENFULdog:
Group classes (4-6 dogs)
Private sessions that can be a one-time or as long as you need support
Personalized program sent to your home and to your veterinarian (includes photo analysis, video and a table of exercises personalized to your dog)
*Every dog needs veterinarian clearance before beginning a fitness training plan.
Canine fitness improves strength, flexibility, coordination and the overall quality of life for dogs and pet-parents alike. ZENFULdog fitness activities include kick-sledding, disc dog, parkour, canicross, bikejoring, paddle boarding or all of the above as a form of cross-training!
Thank you to Volunteers
Kendra sends a special “Thank You!” to all of the ZENFULdog volunteers who helped her with her case studies. Notably, Natasha with Ozzy and Eva with Lily, Ginny and Ivy who traveled to ZENFULdog training grounds weekly to partake in exercises, completed daily homework and regularly submitted videos. They touched base with Kendra every single day for 8 weeks to help her to complete her certification. She feels it was a pretty big ask and that they knocked it out of the park! She could not have done this without them or without the support of the ZENFULdog community.
Congratulations to Kendra for unlocking this new level of training and qualification! Don’t forget you can follow ZENFULdog Training on Facebook to stay connected to your like-minded dog-loving community every day!
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