With obesity¹ rates on the rise among Americans and their pets, two Californian women have come up with an all-in-one solution - a doggy bootcamp where dog owners and their canine² friends work out together.

随着美国人和他们的宠物的肥胖率不断上升，加利福尼亚州的两名女子想出了一个两全其美的办法，她们开办了一个宠物狗训练营，让主人和他们的宠物一起锻炼。

Owners and their dogs work out during the Thank Dog! Bootcamp fitness class in California last week.

Thank Dog! Bootcamp（训练营地） is the nation's first outdoor fitness program where both humans and dogs get a full body workout（锻炼，练习） while the pooches（杂种狗） also learn basic obedience³（服从，顺从） skills.

Founded two years ago by identical twins（同卵双胞胎，单卵性双胞胎） Jill and Jamie Bowers⁴, the program has grown to include classes at various Los Angeles and Orange County locations and most recently in Northern California.

Classes begin as early as 6 am with instructors⁵ in urban-camo pants yelling out drill-like commands in the traditional bootcamp style.

The difference here is that instructors are certified⁶ in both fitness and dog training, and each bootcamper happens to have a four-legged partner by their side at all times. "People need to exercise, and dogs need to be trained and exercised," said Jill Bowers.

The class takes place on a field in a public park with 30 minutes of cardio（有氧运动） and 30 minutes of weight training. Each person has a mat with weights and bands. Their dog has its own mat and water bowl beside their owner.

The cardio portion involves bootcampers running around park trails（山径，小道） and zigzagging⁷ through pylon-marked obstacle courses on the field with their leashed（皮带，束缚） canine companions. Various squats⁸（蹲坐） , lunges（刺，跃进） , jumps and sprints⁹（短跑） are incorporated for the humans.

Meanwhile, dogs are told to engage in a series of numbered commands ranging from "sit" to "down" to "come."

"A lack of exercise and training causes dogs to have behavioral problems," says Bowers. "If they don't have enough activity to expend¹⁰ their energy, they take it out on your favorite couch or your designer shoes. With bootcamp, your dog is too tired to be bad."

Latest statistics show that in 2009 about 28 percent of Americans aged¹¹ 20 and over were obese¹²（肥胖的） , up from 19.4 percent in 1997, while it is estimated that about 43 percent of US dogs are overweight or obese.