Have you
ever heard a dog trainer talk about a balanced dog, or wondered what this expression meant? The first time I heard
the word balanced was when a horseback pro trainer told me my derby dog
was not balanced. He explained that he was more mature on his game than on his
ground race, and kept repeating that a good field trial dog had to be balanced.
In an effort to be clearer, he held his right hand above his head to represent
the dog’s bird work and his left hand below his hip to represent the dog’s
ground race, which he said was reckless. He was correct; the dog didn’t listen.
Then, he held both hands at chest level to indicate where the dog should be.
This was his idea of a balanced dog, and to be honest, the conversation went
right over my head at the time. Over the years, however, I’ve thought a lot
about balance, and tried to understand it.
Since that conversation, I’ve been on the lookout for
other trainers who use this word. When I started following Cesar Millan on the
National Geographic Wild television show, Dog
Whisperer, I noticed that he also talks a lot about balance. In his recent
book, Cesar’s Rules, he describes a
balanced dog as one that is comfortable in his environment, and in his own
skin. I really like this description because it holds true for a good bird dog,
but it was still hard for me to grasp. I needed a more specific way to think
about it.
Ultimately I have come to understand that a balanced
dog is simply a dog without weak links. If I think about a dog as a length of
chain, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link. The Bill West method
talks a lot about these shortcomings, and how they represent the weakest part
of the dog’s training. The pro trainer who discussed balance with me twenty
years ago was trying to explain that my derby dog wasn’t balanced because he
had a weak link: He didn’t listen. The trainer was trying to tell me that I
needed to get this dog balanced—paying attention and going with me—before
developing his bird work. Finally, I was able to grasp the concept of balance
and use it to become a better trainer.
The first thing I do with a new dog is take him to the
field to see if he is balanced. I look for his weak links to tell me what type
of training he needs. If he is a pup, I take him for a run and carefully
observe him. Some pups may pay too much attention to me, or show little
interest in hunting. These pups need to find birds to develop their prey drive
and learn to hunt. Some pups are real independent and could care less about
where I am. These pups need to learn to pay attention and find birds with me.
I take dogs that are older or already in training to
the field and study them. Their weak links tell me how training is going, and
what to do next. As I strengthen these weak links, the whole dog becomes
stronger, and before long, I have a balanced dog that is comfortable in his
environment and in his own skin.
