How I Warm Up My Dogs for Sport and Detection Work

Warming up is one of the most overlooked and most important parts of preparing a dog for high-performance work. Whether you're headed into a detection certification or stepping onto the competition field, skipping or rushing a warm-up can compromise focus, slow performance, and increase the risk of injury. I’ve seen the difference firsthand.

In this article, I’m sharing how I approach warm-ups with my own dogs, both for sport (like the protection sport French Ring) and work (such as narcotics detection). My routines aren’t complicated, but they are strategic, based on the type of event, the mental state of the dog, and the physical demands they’re about to face.

Why Warm-Ups Matter for Sport and Working Dogs

You can’t expect your dog to go from zero to 100, physically or mentally, without preparation. Just like human athletes, dogs need to:

• Loosen up tight muscles
• Mentally shift into "work mode"
• Activate the nervous system and reflexes
• Build confidence before stepping on the field or into a search

Without a warm-up, you’re asking your dog to work with cold muscles, a disengaged brain, and no rehearsal of what’s to come.

Warming Up for Protection & Detection Work

For detection work, my goal is to bring my dogs into a focused, working mindset without over-arousing them. I want to warm up their muscles, but I don’t want them to breath too heavily or pant too hard before we start our search.

How long I spend on my warm-up will be dependent on my dog’s current fitness level along with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. Sometimes my warm-up might be just a couple of minutes. Other times it might be much longer.

Here's what I typically do:

• Walk to Trot: No matter what activity I’m going to be doing with my dog, I usually start my warm-up by gradually increasing activity from a brisk walk to a trot. If I must keep my dogs on leash and don’t want to jog alongside them, I’ll have them walk and trot around me in circles, just like what I do when I lunge horses! I also sometimes have my dogs trot between two touch pads on the ground, gradually adding more distance, to increase his heart rate. 
• Trot to Canter (or Gallop): This is where things might differ quite a bit when I warm-up my dog for detection work vs. protection sports. For my detection dog, I don’t want to get him too warmed up because then he starts breathing and panting hard. This can negatively impact his scenting ability. For detection work, especially when I work my dog on leash, I might simply keep him at a walk and trot. For a protection sport like French Ring, my dog has to be ready for sprinting at high speeds down the field and jumping tall jumps. It’s ok if he’s breathing harder when we first enter the competition ring. For these warm-ups, I’ll include some cantering in circles and possibly even some short sprints. (Here’s a video of Bacci lunging around me in circles.) 
• Brief Tug or Toy Work: Adding tugging, a bite pillow, or toys to my warm-up really depends on the individual dog. If a tug or toy makes my detection dog get crazy excited or makes him super focused on me, I won’t use it as part of my warm-up. I don’t want my detection dog to be too focused on me. (He has to work very independently.) I also don’t want him overheated before we get started. For my dog doing protection sports, however, I like to include some tugging and biting in our warm-up. This creates a more sport-specific warmup that gets the muscles in the jaws, shoulder, and neck ready for bitework. To keep my dog from going over the top with crazy excitement, I’ll throw in some quick obedience moves to help keep him listening and paying attention to me. This could include throwing in some heeling and basic position changes (sit, down, stand) to engage the brain and reinforce control.
• Sport Specific Movements: Here again is where things can greatly differ depending on the individual dog and the activity that you are preparing to do. For example, my dog guards standing between the decoy’s legs during French Ring protection work. He does a lot of backwards walking when the decoy moves. Because of this, I’ll include backwards walking into my warm-up routine. This way the muscles are mimicking (but at a lower intensity level) what will be happening on the trial field. A sport specific warm-up for an agility dog might be doing figure eights between your legs. This encourages more lateral movement, which the dog will need when running weave poles. For a dog doing barn hunt, asking your dog to jump up and off an object mimics the movements you might see when a dog is jumping onto bales of hay. General warm-up exercises are great, but don’t forget about those sport (or work) specific movements!

Know Your Dog, Know the Event

Not every dog needs the same warm-up. Some dogs need more emphasis on physical preparation, others more mental. My dog Bacci, for example, always needed a longer warm-up because he needed time to regulate his energy and come down a bit from his natural “high.” He competed best when I could work just a little bit of that edge off before entering the ring. Knoxx, however, always competed better and worked better when he had a higher energy level. I always had to be careful not to overdo it during our warm-up. My warm-up activities always take into consideration that mind-body connection. As you build up your training routine and start integrating a warm-up into all that you do, you’ll learn what works best for each individual dog.

Your dog’s warm-up should always reflect:

• Your dog’s individual temperament and physical needs
• The demands of the event (e.g., detection vs. bite work, agility vs. herding)
• The impact of your environment (e.g., air temperature, humidity, altitude)

On trial day, I always allow time for warming up my dog. If I get rushed, my dog's performance suffers, and I feel it too.

Final Thoughts

Warming up isn’t about going through the motions, it’s about setting your dog up for success (both physically and mentally). Take the time to build a warm-up routine that works for you and your dog. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It just has to be intentional.

Want more warm-up tips and ideas for your sport or working dog? Check out my YouTube video, Sport Dog Warm-Up & Cool Down Exercises.

Erica Boling, PhD

[email protected] 

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