June 2020 - 2 Minute Trainer

Balancing act for your dog

Dogs are more stable than people. It’s just physics. They have support at each corner. An advantage of having four legs over two!

It doesn’t mean that they don’t have to practice balance – it just means it’s a bit easier for them than for us. One of Fran’s passions is helping people, especially as mature adults, to avoid falls by practicing balancing. From what we’ve learned, balance is an autonomic response that weakens with age. For everyone. People who practice their balance (as simple as standing on one leg for a minute), lose less.

We’ve seen the same effect in dogs, although we haven’t come across any studies to prove it. As our dogs age, they’re less stable when jumping, first waking up, going up stairs, etc.

Because we want our dogs to do “stuff” throughout their lives, we take a 2-Minute Session most days to practice balance. All of our dogs play on the balance disc, from 11-year-old Tango to 18 month-old Simon.

We use an inflatable balance disc, but a couch cushion, or any soft surface that’s big enough for your dog to stand on would be fine.

The first exercise we do is just “Sit” and “Stand.” About five times. We were astonished, when we started doing this with Tango, how difficult it was for him. He’s a very “bendy” dog, but didn’t have a lot of core strength. This works the dog’s core.

Simon is walking in a circle on the balance disk.

Next we ask them to turn around on the soft surface, first one direction, then the other. We go around with them and, in this case, lure them around in a circle at first. We’re not big fans of lures, but it’s sometimes the best way to get our dogs to understand what we’re asking of them.

Then we go around some more, first with only their front legs on the disc, then with the back. Again, we go around with them and teach them to move with the lure. We did clicker-train the positions of “front legs only” and “back legs only.” Teach your dog the positions before asking them to move that way.

Simon walks around the disk – front legs on.

When you start this, don’t rush it. Your dog may wobble quite a bit and need some time to find his/her center. As usual, reward for everything!

If your dog is having trouble with any part of any of these exercises, don’t do many repetitions. Just like us, if it’s been a while since our dogs have used a muscle in a particular way, they may be sore the next day and need some time to recover. Don’t wait to revisit the exercise, but ease off on the intensity until your dog is moving comfortably again. Build up slowly, and if your dog is reluctant to do something, pay attention. We want them to have fun doing their balance games, which they won’t if it’s too hard or causes discomfort.

Stretch your dog out

Everything in your dog’s life is your decision. It’s a huge responsibility, and one we gladly shoulder because our dogs add so much to our lives. But everything to do with our dogs’ wellbeing is on us.

We all want the best for all of our family members – dogs included. One portion of that is seeing to their physical fitness. The training games we play keep them “on their toes” mentally. Some of those games involve physical exertion. Others are rather stationary. To make sure our dogs are “warmed up,” we do some warm-up exercises that include some basic stretches.

Every dog knows how to stretch, just like every dog knows how to sit. Getting them to do it on command takes a little training, but it’s easy for anyone familiar with training games.

Most dogs (and people!) stretch when they first wake up. When you see your dog stretching, say “good stretch!” and give him/her a treat. If your dog is accustomed to 2-Minute Training methods, he’s going to ask himself “What did I just do that got me that treat?” and he’ll try it again. It may take a few times for your dog to understand what’s being rewarded. Don’t worry about “catching” the stretch every time. Your dog stretched before he knew there was a name for it, and he’ll keep doing it whether or not you ask him.

Other stretches

The wake-up-from-a-nap stretch is an all-over, full-body stretch. There are also specific stretches to help your dog get moving. If you have an older dog, or one that may suffer from arthritis, these can be helpful as well. Pay attention to your dog – if he or she is resisting a particular movement, stop. Don’t force any movement. Our dogs have no way of telling us if something hurts – your first indicator may be resistance. The second may be a yipe of pain, which we want to avoid. Our purpose is to help our dogs keep moving. Pain isn’t any part of that.

Legs:

Before you start doing stretching exercises with your dog, take note of each joint in their legs and how they naturally move.

Dogs’ front leg joints are called the same as our arms: shoulder, elbow, wrist. But they don’t move the same as ours. Dog shoulders aren’t designed to “spread” their arms as we can – don’t ask them to. What we can do for the shoulder is gently, while supporting the elbow, move the fore leg back and forth. Don’t go sideways – dog shoulders don’t move that way. Same with the elbow and wrist – gently move them back and forth, copying the natural movement of the joint.

Stretching out Torque's back leg. — Rear leg extension

Torque flexing a back leg. — Rear leg extension

Stretching Torque front leg. — Front leg extension

Torque flexing a front leg — Front leg extension

Dogs’ back leg joints, from top to floor are called hip, knee, and hock. Just the simple exercise asking your dog to “sit” alternately with “stand” will warm up the joints. You can also gently manipulate the joints, in the pattern of their natural movement, while your dog is standing still.

Neck:

Most people don’t think about dogs needing to stretch their necks, but keeping them limber is always a good thing. Dogs don’t seem to “roll their heads” around to stretch their necks, so they need some help. Again, never force any movement on your dog. If he’s unwilling to move a certain way, try again another time, perhaps with a lesser angle or degree of motion.

We generally don’t use “lures” to train dogs, but in this case it’s the easiest way to get your dog to stretch. While your dog is still, move a treat along from about his cheek back toward his shoulder. If you do it on both sides, it will stretch his neck to either side. To get the “up” and “down” sides, hold a treat above his head for the “up.” To get your dog to stretch his neck forward, have him stand and hold the treat between his front paws, with your finger pointing toward the dog’s head. You may have to get down on the floor to do it.

Torque stretching his neck to the right. — Neck stretch to the right

Torque stretching his neck to the left. — Neck stretch to the right

Torque stretching his neck up. — Neck stretch up

Torque stretching his neck down. — Neck stretch up

All stretched out

Of course you can make “stretches” another training game in your repertoire. Think of names you can remember for each of them, and, while you’re doing them, repeat the word with praise and treats. Hope’s French Bulldog Torque’s favorite “trick” – tapping alternately on her legs – started as front leg stretches. He loves doing it. And it makes her smile every single time.

Resource guarding is a math problem

Resource guarding in dogs can be scary to deal with. It seems like all of a sudden your sweet, affectionate best friend is turning into a growling fiend. And it can be over something as silly as a leaf he picked up outside. Many times it’s a toy or food bowl that triggers the behavior. It can even be something as important as letting you near another family member.

Like many aggression behaviors, resource guarding is based in fear – fear that something the dog values will be taken away. And, in less-enlightened times, that’s exactly what happened. Something the dog protected would be removed and the dog punished for the behavior.

What if you added to it???

What if, instead of taking the valued “thing” away – you added to it? What if you transformed from a “threat” to a source of all good things?

If your dog “resource guards” his/her food bowl, don’t take it away. Instead, add food to the bowl and step away. If you’re not sure you’d be safe reaching in, add the food using a spoon.

Chances are, your dog will be shocked. And, perhaps the next time, won’t be quite as reactive to a presence near the bowl. It may take some time. And it may require every member of the family adding food. If you have more than one dog, we’d recommend feeding each one separately – either in a crate or in separate rooms.

Some people may argue that we’re “rewarding” the dog for “bad” behavior by giving it more of the resource. What we’re trying to do is communicate to the dog that you, and everyone else in the family, are sources for all things wonderful. You will never hurt your dog, or deprive him of the good things in life. Instead, you’ll always be where good things come from.

We recently spoke to someone who told us their dog “guards” her when her husband comes near. It’s a small dog, so he stands on her lap and growls at the husband when he comes into the room or gets close to where she’s sitting. She’d spoken with a trainer who recommended she not allow the dog on her lap anymore.

What does that teach the dog? We think it reinforces the bad behavior, letting the dog know that the husband’s presence means he was right – he doesn’t get to hang with “mom” any more.

Instead, we suggested that “husband” come in the room, give the dog a treat, and walk out. Repeatedly. Dog was happy to see “husband” inside 15 minutes. He became a source of good stuff, instead of punishment.

Grow your dog’s world with positive experiences

Add to your dog’s experience of good stuff. Don’t make his world smaller. Grow it with positive experiences and discoveries that good things come from good behavior.

Clarity is Key

Your dog loves you. He’s a genius at picking up your cues. Sometimes you even wonder how he knows what you want before you say it. Despite that – your dog isn’t a mind reader. If you’re not clear, your dog won’t be, either.

In our obedience classes, we often have to tell our students to “get loud!” Or “don’t ask your dog, tell her!” It’s not that anyone has to be rude, yell, or be mean to their dogs. But we do have to be clear.

The one example that everyone seems to understand is a parent telling a child to take out the trash (or do any chore). The first time Mom asks: “Bobby, will you please take out the trash?”

The second contact is a bit more emphatic: “Susie, I asked you to take out the trash. Do it now, please.”

The third time, Mom just wants it done. “Sam, take out the trash. NOW.”

Third time is usually the charm – when Mom is using “Mom voice.” That’s what we call it and everyone understands the concept.

We tell our students to use “Mom voice” for their dogs. It doesn’t have to be loud. But it does have to be in the form of a statement, not a question. When we’re playing training games with our dogs, we don’t want them to have questions, so we have to be clear.

If you want your dog to sit, say “Dog, Sit!” Click when the dog’s butt quickly hits the floor and reward promptly. If Dog sniffs, stands there looking at you, looks around, or takes a few steps and eventually sits – that’s not sit. That’s “ignore what I say until it suits your convenience.” Don’t reward that rude behavior!

The relationship between you and your dog is not only a loving one – it’s also one that should embody respect on both sides. You respect your dog and want to help him have the best, happiest life possible in this weird, human world. Your dog should respect you as the leader of your team.

We don’t expect our dogs to be “on duty” all the time. They are expected to obey the rules of the house like any family member: don’t pee anywhere but where you’re supposed to, get up when the alarm goes off, no fighting, no biting. Other than that, they’re like any dogs – they hang out on the furniture, chew on toys or bones, wrestle and chase each other around.

And it’s training that lets them know what is, and is not, acceptable behavior.

Torque, Hope’s French Bulldog, is crazy about certain toys. He tends to forget his manners when he plays with them. So he’s only allowed to play with them with Hope, in a controlled environment. And she’s absolutely clear when playing with him. If she says “drop,” it means she’s going to throw the toy and he’ll be able to play some more. If she says “that’s all,” it means toy time is over and he’ll get a reward for giving it up.

She uses two different phrases so Torque knows what’s going to happen. Hope is clear in what she’s asking, so Torque knows the behavior that will get rewarded.

That’s the deal we make with our dogs. They get what they want when we get what we want. It’s still a great bargain.