Parkour
Dogs Explore Their World Like Never Before
Dog parkour is often referred to as “urban agility.” The sport is composed of a number of skills that can be trained anywhere without any equipment. There are 6 base behaviors (and many others beyond!): 4 feet on, 2 feet on, under, through, in, and balance. These skills are then turned to nature, where you and your dog are challenged to find a variety of obstacles of different sizes, textures, and stability, to play parkour on!
Parkour is meant to be accessible, both for humans and their dogs.
Busy Dog offers several ways to practice parkour. Group Classes, drop-in parkour walks and free bi-monthly parkour outings are all available consistently. We also offer an online class and periodic workshops!
Busy Dog instructor Mackenzie is certified through the International Dog Parkour Association as both a Certified Instructor and Evaluator.
Intro to Parkour
Dog Parkour is a rapidly growing sport that promotes confidence, exploration, physical fitness, and partnership between you and your dog. Looking to add enrichment and adventure to your walks? Want to help your dog become more bold without being reckless? Do you want to support your puppies confidence and body awareness as they grow? Or do you simply want to bond and explore with your dog? Try dog parkour!
Our new Intro to Parkour class is drop-in, which means you only need to pay for the classes you’re able to attend. We’ll meet at a new Madison East/North location each week, and practice our parkour skills with obstacles we find “in the wild”, as well as some things the instructor will bring with them to class.
-60 minutes, meets at a new Madison location each week – $25
No prerequisites.
NEXT SESSION BEGINS:
Saturday, November 2nd at 10:00 a.m. at Promega
Saturday, November 9th at 10:00 a.m. at Science Drive
Saturday, November 16th at 10:00 a.m. at Lakeview Elementary School
Saturday, November 23rd at 10:00 a.m. at UW Madison
Intermediate Parkour
Continue working on advancing the skills you learned in Intro to Parkour, plus learn some new ones including back up, pivot, gap jumps and beginning tic tacs (rebounds).
-6 weeks, 45 minutes – $165
Prerequisites: Intro to Parkour
NEXT SESSION BEGINS:
Fit Dog Parkour Walk
Join us for a fun 45 minute parkour walk, where the exercises change weekly depending on what we find in our environment! No experience is necessary, but instruction is limited.
–45 minute walk — Free
NEXT OUTING BEGINS:
Why Parkour?
If you’re familiar with Busy Dog on any level, you know that we’re hugely passionate about dog parkour! Have you ever wondered why or what it’s all about?
What is Dog Parkour?
Dog parkour is often referred to as “urban agility.” The sport is composed of a number of skills that can be trained anywhere without any equipment. There are 6 base behaviors (and many others beyond!): 4 feet on, 2 feet on, under, through, in, and balance. These skills are then turned to nature, where you and your dog are challenged to find a variety of obstacles of different sizes, textures, and stability, to play parkour on!
Benefit #1: Confidence Building
For many dogs, it will be scary at first to put their front paws on a slippery rock, or to crawl under a tree branch. Over time, practicing dog parkour will help your dog learn to trust your judgement, push their bodies in new ways, and become confident in themselves and their abilities. Very quickly, the confidence that your dog builds in parkour will then transfer to other aspects of their life.
Benefit #2: Relationship Strengthening
As you and your dog spend time training together, your bond will strengthen. If you help your dog safely learn how to have fun in different ways, your dog will build value in the time you spend together.
Benefit #3: Body Awareness & Conditioning (Safe for all Ages)
Does your dog act like they aren’t even aware of their back legs? This is common in young dogs. Dog parkour will increase your dog’s agility and body awareness. It also can help older dogs maintain some strength as they age.
Benefit #4: Enrichment (More Than Just a Walk!)
More often than not, simply just taking your dog for a walk isn’t enough. In addition to physical exercise, dogs also need mental exercise and enrichment! Dog parkour is an easy activity to add to the walks you’re already going on. Instead of rushing your dog pass a rock, stop and think about what your dog could do with that rock. Can they put feet on it? Circle it? Jump from one to the other?
Benefit #5: Optional Titling
To put it plainly, dog parkour is cool. Why wouldn’t you want to show off? Through the International Dog Parkour Association, you and your dog can earn awards. There are numerous levels, and if your dog prefers one specific behavior, you can earn a specialty title too!
Mackenzie Holmes of Busy Dog Training is a certified instructor and evaluator and can award you your training and novice level titles.