Balance

[marieke]

My dog Guus has quite a wide chest, a bit like a bulldog. Does that mean he'll have more difficulties learing to balance on stuff?

 

[xsara]

Xsara also has a little wider chest (not as wide as some other beagles but wider than an average agility dog) and I actually think balancing is easier for her because she can position herself more firmly.

 

[marieke]

That's a good point. Although it might be more difficult if the thing on which they're balancing is very narrow.

 

[luna may]

You can try trainig the "Book on head" trick to improve their sense of balance...
It means the dog comes to you carrying a light book on their head :dogsmile:.
It helps the dog concentrate and sharpens their coordination, and it's also really cute to watch :doghappy:!

 

[xsara]

Well, if the thing is too narrow the dog might not be able to do it at all. But as long as it's wide enough for him to place his paws on it, it shouldn't be such a problem. Otherwise you could teach him to balance on the object standing on two legs Just go slow enough and if the dog is comfortable, I say - why not?! I assume your dog also has big paws so he should be able to place them quite firmly.

 

[storm22]

storm has quite a wide chest really but he has no trouble balancing on a plank about 5 inches wide even lying down on it we walk down the road and i get him to walk on some wide fences as some training down the road

 

[szecsuani]

I know this is a derailing post, but what tricks can improve balance?
Becouse I want to start teaching Pami to lift her legs, like "diagonal legs up", and "rightlegs up", and handstand, but I think this would need a little preparition.
Sorry for derailing, but this is about balance too...:doghappy:

 

[xsara]

You could try teaching her how to skate or to stand in a bowl (first a very large one and then smaller and smaller), lift legs and lean on something, stuff like that.

 

[szecsuani]

You could try teaching her how to skate or to stand in a bowl (first a very large one and then smaller and smaller), lift legs and lean on something, stuff like that.

Thanks!:dogsmile:

 

[xsara]

I just remembered, you could also teach her to lift only one leg, I mean to lift her hind left or hind right leg.

 

[storm22]

you could probably teach her to lift each leg you pick up and hold it there, ive taught storm to let me pick up his feet on command but not hold it up by himself (but i will try now) he holds it up for me so i can have a look at it just incase he stood on glass or something and i can pick up any two comfortably any more and i will be supporting his weight be that might improve balance

(im sure my dog thinks hes a horse lolz

 

[xsara]

I think that's a very good thing to learn, the holding one leg in the air trick. I taught it to Xsara before we started doing the two legged stuff and it's easy to learn, but very useful in my opinion.

storm22: Xsara probably thinks she's human. That one day her tail will fall off and she will finally be allowed to sit behind the table and have a proper lunch.

 

[marieke]

Guus' balance is okay as it turns out. We practised a bit and here's the result:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFVG6UKgf2U[/media]

 

[topbarks]

I taught a head turn with my dog on a plank of wood stood between two chairs.
I got him to target a weave pole with his nose slightly behind and to his left.
He couldn't move his body so much only his head.
His balance on the plank improved as we practiced.
Mark