Stability & Body Control - Do you know the Cavaletti?

What size is that – and what can it do, the Cavaletti?

It can come in several forms, but it can be, for example, a stick between two cones, in 4-5 rows. It is known from the horse world, where it can be used to train preparation for jumping and to strengthen the horse's concentration and coordination skills.

For dogs, it's actually a bit of the same, except for the jumping part. Because when we train our dog on the Cavaletti – at least when we train "body control", we are not at all interested in the dog jumping over the sticks. I'll come back to that...

It's not difficult at all.

You can buy Cavalettier in different designs online for both small and large amounts of money. I can recommend buying cones from Harald Nyborg. They come in sets of 4 for 32,- kr. Here you can buy 2-3 sets, and the sticks we put in between are quite ordinary edge strips from Jem & Fix. These cones move easily, and also fall over easily – but that is entirely on purpose. That way no one gets hurt if they can't lift their legs high enough.

Alternatively, you can put down a ladder, stack books with a list on top if you work indoors – well, it's really only your imagination that sets the limits here.

Calm down now…

It may sound easy to WALK through the Cavaletti with your dog. But it is actually a bit more difficult than you might think. The dog has a tendency to want to run through it, because then it doesn't have to concentrate very much on lifting its legs correctly - it just brings its hind legs together and jumps over. But many dogs have very little awareness of their hindquarters, and that is precisely one of the reasons to train "Stability & Body Control" - increased awareness.

You often see the dog walking over the stick nicely with its front legs, while its hind legs wreak havoc and knock down sticks in a row - at the same time, the dog looks behind in wonder as if thinking: "I wonder why all those sticks are falling down behind me..." Very entertaining, but still something we would like the dog to do differently.

So slow down – walk through it calmly with your dog. If necessary, take a very short break between each stick so that the dog regains focus. Some dogs walk through it just fine if their owner has a treat in their hand. Others become very unfocused – so here it is useful to hide the hand you normally reward with – behind your back.

It's too easy

When the dog has mastered the Cavalettie and is going through it well by lifting all 4 legs correctly, it is time to increase the difficulty. If you have bought cones from Harald Nyborg, it is easy to set the stick higher. You can also set the cones closer together, set them in a zig zag, so that there is a difference in the distance between them, or in a star shape, where you can then continue around - and go further and further in or out.

When you are out for a walk, you will certainly also come across things that can function as Cavaletti. It can be on playgrounds, tree trunks in the forest or something in the city that can be used. Then you can get training on your daily walks too – and before you know it, you have a dog that is fully aware of its hindquarters, and has also trained its thighs, back, pelvis and stomach.



Inspiration

On GladeSnude-Hundemassage on Facebook, under the “Groups” tab, you can request membership in the group “Stability & Body Control at GladeSnude-Hundemassage” . Here you can continuously find inspiration from our team training sessions, and if you look in the “Cavaletti” album, you can see a bunch of sweet and skilled Snudes trying their hand at the Cavaletti.

I will return with more blog posts and exercises, and you can find me in Butik Hunni once a month - in 2018 on November 14th and December 21st.

You are also always welcome to ask me if you are in doubt about an exercise or would like more exercises.

Good training & paws from

Rikke