CC140: Aged to Perfection: Keeping Your Senior Fit in Mind and Body

Balance Challenges via Weight Shifting

When we introduce balance challenges, we'll start on stable surfaces first.  There are many functional ways to do this which create big results! Consider each one of these balance challenges as its own skill that you can work on individually in a stand- some are also appropriate to do in a sit. 

For each of these exercises, you do want to start out with your dog in their ideal posture- facing forward. You may need to provide something to focus on visually if your position would distract from this forward head posture. We can't safely and effectively challenge balance if the dog is not balanced to begin with. And because these exercises increase the challenge, note that the number of repetitions that your dog can do will probably amount to less time than they are normally able to hold in a still stand, sit or down. Do watch for signs of fatigue! 

Side to Side Weight shifting 

Use slower and smoother hand movements than I am using at the start of this video- but the idea is that you'll feed your dog slightly to the right or left of their center line. When your dog's head moves from side to side, their weight shifts, and that is a balance challenge. Ideally you want to challenge them only enough that they can move their head, but do not need to move their feet to adjust.

Getting the weight shift with reward placement:

Front to Back Weight Shifting - head lifts 

Weight shifts in a sit-

This clip demos reward placement side to side, and up and down. As with the stands, you need to be a little careful that you don't create movement out of position (lowering the treat too far may cause the dog to stand or lay down, for example)- we want pretty subtle weight shifts, not actual movement. 

Manual Weight Shifts

In this exercise, we are challenging the dog's balance by putting a small amount of measured pressure against the dog. We are not trying to move them, but just feel that weight shift. For dogs who are very sensitive to pressure, you may need a very light touch. Having one hand on each side of the dog prevents them from thinking that we are trying to move them over. Start with very brief pressure, first to one side, then to the other. When your dog understands the exercise, you'll be able to feel them bracing against your hands- and you can even then hold the challenge for slightly longer.  This exercise is excellent for building the stabilizing muscles and is very functional- when your dog gets bumped by you, another dog or a creature in their daily life, they will be experiencing balance challenges very similar to what we are doing here. I like to challenge at three points in the stand- shoulders, ribs, and hips.  

Manual Weight shifts in a sit:

Single Leg Lifts- Stand

A pre-requisite for this exercise is that your dog is comfortable with you handling their feet. You can certainly incorporate the bucket game here to judge their comfort level and add that extra layer of consent history to foot handling.  Lifting a leg causes the dog to shift their weight onto the remaining 3 legs- meaning that they are working harder. A slightly easier version than a human standing on one leg. Your goal is to just lift the foot enough that there is no weight on it, and keep it in a natural position- don't pull it out to the side, lift it high or out front/behind the dog or you will greatly increase the challenge. When your dog starts to get the idea of this exercise and can hold with a foot up for several seconds, the foot you are holding will start to feel weightless in your hand. Be sure to practice with each foot equally. Place each foot back down gently when it's turn is over (don't just suddenly let go).  

Sit with leg lifts:

In the sit, you can only lift the front feet, for obvious reasons. You can either lift these as you did in the standing exercise or if your dog understands a paw-shake cue, you can use those! In this clip, Shelby demos her 'shake a paw' (right paw) and 'high 5' (left paw) using my hand as a target- and then I also show it where the cue just results in a leg lift without touching my hands for support.