Guest Speaker: Shari Sprague - Canine conditioning and wellness - Oct 16th meeting

Presenting our guest speaker for the October 16th meeting - Shari Sprague MPT, CCRT, DN-Cert, FP-MT, CCKTP, Level 1 SFMA certified.

Owners can expect to learn about how structure affects function, a proper fitness program, appropriate warm up and cool downs, age appropriate exercises from growing dogs, and what signs to look for with fatigue during conditioning, and if time allows, proper harness fitting. 

Shari is a licensed physical therapist certified in canine rehabilitation. She practiced human physical therapy for nine years, specializing in orthopedic and sports rehabilitation. She graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in 1994 and received her Master of Science in physical therapy from Nova Southeastern University in 1998. Her love of animals, combined with physical issues with her own elderly dog, led her to change her career focus and apply her passion towards rehabilitating canines. 

Shari is the owner and founder of PUP Rehabilitation and Conditioning. In 2008, Shari was certified in canine rehabilitation (CCRT) by The Canine Rehabilitation Institute. She was on faculty at the Canine Rehabilitation Institute for 6 years teaching canine rehabilitation around the country. Shari earned her certification in dry needling in 2023, and is also certified in canine kinesiology taping methods. In addition, she is also a FitPaws Master Trainer which gives her advanced knowledge in conditioning dogs. 

Shari has lectured throughout the United States on canine rehabilitation topics, including at the North American Veterinary Conference, held annually in Orlando.  She has written numerous publications including textbook chapters in both the first and second edition of The Canine Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine Textbook and a textbook chapter in Canine Rehabilitation for the Veterinary Technician. She teaches seminars to performance dog owners on Conditioning the Canine Athlete, Injury Prevention, and Return to Sport following injury. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the APTA’s Orthopedic section. Shari lives with her husband and their four Australian Shepherds outside Atlanta, Georgia where they breed Australian Shepherds, and Shari competes with her dogs in agility, rally, barn hunt, dock diving, scent work, Fast CAT, frisbee, and conformation. 

To join us, please RSVP here!