It was back in 2020, Mr Bo and I were doing some agility foundation training in our garden. We were just working on tight wraps around a jump wing when I noticed that he did the tight turn quietly in one direction… and started barking when turning in the other direction.
That same pattern happened again when we started working on weave entries. It was all good when there were no turns involved. But as soon as we started working on entering weaves from different angles, the barking happened again! Mr Bo was fine doing a tight RIGHT turn to weaves. And as soon as we switched sides and he was supposed to do a tight LEFT turn, he was barking again, also hesitating before responding to my cue.
Finding the culprit behind this barking!
When I looked at the video of our session, trying to understand what was causing Bo’s barking, I noticed that he almost always slipped with one of his rear feet during tight left turns 😶! And yes, we were training on a non-slip surface 😉 It wasn’t a big slip that you’d easily notice while training your dog. However, the barking almost always happened after that small slip!
So that made me wonder… what if these small slips feel uncomfortable enough for Bo to cause frustration and barking? And if so… how can I help him?
The solution
As a canine fitness trainer, I made a hypothesis that despite having done fitness exercises for most of his life, Mr Bo didn’t actually have the skills to control his body and coordination while moving through the turn almost at full speed. So all I had to do was create exercises, where he could practice this skill – focusing on his coordination and paw placement while moving through a turn.
For the exercise to actually work, I had to remove myself and my cues out of the picture. People often assume that cueing a behavior vs the dog doing the behavior on their own are the same thing physically, but they are not. With handler cues the dog is more focused on meeting the criteria of the cue (in this case, moving around the cone) and usually doesn’t have time to focus on HOW they use their body in the process. They just want to do the exercise and get the reward! For the dog to be able to actually focus on how they are feeling and how to use their bodies in the best possible way, we actually have to remove our pressure from the exercise.
Using the 2 bowl game
I had learnt the 2 bowl game pattern – moving from bowl to bowl – from Hélène Lawler’s classes at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, and that seemed perfect for what I had in mind! So I set up an exercise where Mr Bo could practice moving around a cone, doing a tight turn and stepping over poles to help him with his dynamic coordination during turns.
Using the 2 bowl game allowed me to eliminate handler cues and distractions, allowing Mr. Bo to focus entirely on his movement. The bowls provided a clear focus forward without Bo having to look at me. And Bo could focus on his paw placement and coordinating his movements through the turn.
By standing back, I was able to observe Mr. Bo’s movements without having to multitask and focus on anything else. This allowed me to make real-time adjustments to ensure that his coordination for turns would actually improve!
After just a few sessions over a 2 week period, Mr Bo’s challenges with tight left turns were solved! He also started doing left turns during our forest hikes. That’s something that he had avoided in the past, because right turns were much more comfortable for him and he used these instead.
And that simple exercise was the very first Movement Puzzle!
It all started with Mr Bo vocalizing during the training sessions. And it comes out it wasn’t a training problem that needed more repetitions with me cuing a turn and him doing it. It was a dynamic coordination problem! Giving Bo the skills, balance and coordination to navigate tight left turns comfortably, removed his barking and slow response to cues!
Since that first Movement Puzzle experiment with Mr Bo, I saw how this same concept can be used for so many different setups and purposes! Like helping Mr Bo confidently run through noisy plastic mess during search and rescue training. Bark alert when you play the videos below!
Or teaching Mr Bo how to place his paws onto narrow unstable surfaces, one step after another, so that he’d have the coordination and endurance to safely climb a huge pile of tires in search and rescue training.
And that’s how Movement Puzzles were born. To help dogs learn DYNAMIC coordination, balance and body awareness skills, so that they can MOVE in challenging situations with precision, awareness and confidence. Help dogs learn to control their bodies, coordinate their movements and balance while actually in motion. Show them that they are in control of their bodies and have the skills to solve the challenge safely! For some dogs it’s climbing a huge pile of tires. For others it can be feeling safe moving between the sofa and a coffee table or ducking their head under a chair and finally have the courage to get that treat that has stuck underneath there for weeks!
So, what exactly are movement puzzles?
Movement Puzzles are pattern movement exercises where the dog moves between 2 bowls – the 2 bowl game – and does movement exercises independently from their human (no handler cues!) while moving from bowl to bowl.
The goal of these exercises is to provide dogs with an environment and structure to SAFELY – without pressure or distractions – practice things that may be difficult or challenging FOR THEM. Be it moving on elevated surfaces, stepping onto moving/tilting surfaces, move through tight spaces, run through noisy stuff, turning around in tight areas and so much more!
Because we are working with potentially scary and difficult things for the dog in front of us, Movement Puzzles are focused on the dog’s choice, always giving them the option to say “No, this is too much right now”, actually listening to it and making adjustments to the exercises on the go.
As a result, Movement Puzzles are a powerful training tool for BOOSTING your dog’s CONFIDENCE in new situations, BODY AWARENESS, COORDINATION, understanding of where their bodies are in space and how to control their movements while actually in motion and running!
And yes, Movement Puzzles are fun DIY obstacle courses that you can set up in your living room or garden, using the equipment you can (mostly) find at home 😉
Sounds like fun? You can start at home already today with our detailed how to instructions for the 2 bowl game. Get it here: https://programs.themovingcanine.com/2-bowl-game
Happy training!
Mari Valgma, the creator of Movement Puzzles™