Prescott K9 Academy

Dog training for transformation and trust.

  • Our Commitment
  • Programs
    • Dog Training Classes in Prescott, Arizona
    • Private Lessons
    • Board & Train
  • About Us
  • Available Dogs
  • Contact

Dynamic Balance

January 20, 2015 by Deborah Charlap

How are those New Year resolutions going so far? You’ve set up your goals, you’ve started a new routine.  If you’re anything like me, you’ve also slipped and swerved and gotten back on track again… probably more than once.

Adjustment is the real key here, isn’t it? Not staying perfectly in line every moment, but correcting and balancing.  It’s about deciding where to aim your compass and making the changes necessary to go where you want to go.

Two of my private lesson clients are right in the middle of learning how this applies to dog training — an older German Shepherd and a rescue Pug on her 3rd home.  Both dogs understand basic instructions, but they haven’t internalized the responsibility to maintain their connections with their people through the ups and downs (and squirrels) of life.  They, and their people, are still more comfortable with the certainty of a down-stay than the dynamic balance of maintaining a loose leash on a walk, or moving from play to obedience and back again.

Dynamic balance is about maintaining an ongoing connection with your dog that gives you both more freedom.

Moving attention is more challenging to maintain than stationary commands like ‘sit’ and ‘down’.  Walking on-leash, coming when called, and retrieving a toy all require your dog to actively choose to stay connected with you. Down and sit give dogs a chance to disconnect, to check out and ignore us — do what’s required, but then give their attention to the smells in the grass or the bird in the tree.  Clearly, dynamic connection is necessary for off-leash reliability.

Teaching our dogs to aim their compass in our direction — and then to adjust and correct their course as necessary — is the key to a meaningful relationship.  The kind of relationship where we are more important to our dogs than the countless distractions out there.   Off-leash, dynamic balance requires more of us — more attention, more skill, more ability to predict and act in the moment.  And it is ultimately be more rewarding for everyone.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

  • Dog Training Classes in Prescott, Arizona
  • Private Lessons
  • Board & Train
  • Road Map to a Trained Dog
  • Adult Obedience
  • Puppy Development
  • Companion Dog Programs
  • Working Dog Programs

Prescott K9 Academy

  • Dogs in the Movies
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Blog
Thumbtack
Prescott K9 Academy
17 reviews

Copyright © 2014 Prescott K9 Academy · Hosted by Talking Stick Design

This site uses cookies to provide a better experience to our users. Some of them are essentials while other help us improve your experience. By using our site, you consent the use of cookies.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.