Balance Training for Dogs
Balance training is beneficial for any type of dog. The interesting part about this type of training is that it can be fun for your four-legged friend. Dogs usually love a good challenge. With consistent balance training, your dog may see improvement in as little as two to three weeks!
Dog balancing is a learned skill that involves your dog’s basic genetic predisposition. Much like humans, some dogs seem to have good balance and others do not. No need to worry though! Any dog can learn to balance better. Motor skill learning is defined as the process by which movements are executed more accurately and quickly with practice. These motor skills are acquired by your dog over a series of training sessions until the performance reaches a plateau. Please look at the three stages of motor learning below.
Cognitive Stage – This is the initial stage of learning where the goal is to gain an overall understanding of what is involved. In this stage, it is important for your dog to determine the objective and then process environmental factors that affect your dog’s ability to achieve it. For example, their objective may be to balance on a wobble board. Keep in mind that this stage is heavy with trial and error. Consistency is key!
Associative Stage – Your dog’s movements become more refined during this stage. Steady gains will be developed during each training session. Your dog will transfer from “what to do” to “how to do it”. Your dog will place more focus on how their body is moving to achieve the task at hand.
Autonomous Stage – This is the final stage where movements become “automatic”. This is the stage where your dog can now perform the movement in nearly any environment with very little effort. You will be able to see how much they have improved since the Cognitive Stage.
Learning motor skills is not linear. Keep in mind that it is common to see periods of significant improvement followed by plateaus. During these periods, it is possible that learning is still occurring. Be consistent and patient. Your dog will be able to master balancing in no time!
