These are the big three for me, the counterbalance side, forward and backward. Counterbalancing is a more natural behavior for dogs than bracing, so it’s much easier to “train”.

I put the word train in quotes because it’s not usually something I have to teach, I just capture–click and reward when the puppy does it naturally.

This is a nearly 6 mo old European bred Dane, and big as they are already, they are a full year away from being grown, and cannot bear weight yet. So ALL the brace and counterbalance practice is really just about positions and responses. It’s mild, and has to be.

It’s actually quite hard to find pics of service dogs counterbalancing–it’s often such a smooth action that ya really have to look to see it. That’s the point, too! A counterbalance becomes just normal part of walking with their partner.

Once the puppy has learned these actions fairly well, they also get thrown into the “pace with me” games, to help the task become smooth. This 1) speed up the noticing there’s a change in my body position and harness, and 2) help make that change a cue for a default action on their part.

Counterbalance Side

This is the most commonly used counterbalance for me, since I sorta wobble. Often it is paired with a brace side, thanks to the wobble. This is a pic of a brace side, and the dog’s body is showing uncertainty–the hunched back, and ear position. Many dogs find bracing strange.

Counterbalancing though is a normal balance response, and less likely to create canine uncertainty if approached with positive training methods.

It’s very simple really: when I lean away from the puppy, it pulls on their harness, and their instinct is to lean the other direction so they don’t fall over either.

Alot of times, by 4-6 mo old a puppy is so used to my gait that they’ve probably already learned to do this on their own. But I still have at least a handful of “practices” for it. I lean, they lean the other way, get a click and a reward.

Some dogs, however, are so unconcerned about being pulled on they need a fairly hard pull on the harness to respond, and can be a little surprised by it. Especially if you are working with an older dog whose weight is such they don’t need to react to smaller leans, their weight takes care of it.

If your pup seems taken aback by the action, make sure to laugh and stroke them while handing out extra good rewards. You want to overcome the surprise with very positive feelings about what they just encountered, and how well they responded. Then do the hard lean again several times so they understand the “I did this, you did that, very GOOD!”

Since a person (unnamed…) can also fall to the side, I mix up how hard I lean. Sometimes, most of the time, only a small balance correction is needed to keep me upright, but sometimes I give them a more sudden and steep lean. Of course, those counterbalances get the biggest and best rewards.

Counterbalance Forward

With the disclaimer that I don't know what many programs call this task...

when I lean back while walking or standing, I want the pup to lean forward. I don’t even teach the puppy the name of the task, so it doesn’t matter to me what it’s called so long as it’s comfortable and easy for the human to remember.

Most pups will also do this naturally. If you’ve ever walked a “puller” you know if you pull back on the leash, they dog pulls forward more. So I begin very simply by leaning backwards while holding their harness handle and wait for them to lean forward so I can click and reward.

After doing that 2 or 3 times in a row, I make sure they notice me click a leash on their collar and reward them for walking loose leash with me a little ways. The intention is to  seperate in their minds walking with a leash and walking with my hand on the harness. I don’t want them pulling on the leash.

If a pup isn’t catching onto the idea I will get a friend to use a treat lure in front of their noses, until they are starting to go forward when there is a pull back on their harness.

This pic shows a simple lure.

Then I wean off the treat lure by hiding the treat, pulling back and waiting for their forward lean before they get a click and the treat.

Counterbalance Backward

Like counterbalance forward, I don’t teach the puppy the name of it, so I don’t care what it’s called formally. And like CB forward, the name I use comes from the action I want the puppy to take: to lean backward if my body is starting to tilt forward while we walk or stand.

This is only for a small bit of forward leaning. If I’m stumbling or taking a header, the action I want is a rapid brace front. This puts their shoulders, the strongest part of their body, right in front of me. If this is happening, the change of body position is usually very sudden and the movement of the harness is also sudden and strong.

When I start to pitch just a little forward, it is usually a gradual shifting and pulls forward slightly on the harness handle. That is their cue to shift their weight back for a counterbalance. I capture it by leaning, waiting for them to shift their weight, then click and reward.

Some pups though will want to come forward a step or two, particularly if they’ve had alot of practice at the stumbling brace front. It’s important they know the difference or I’ll find a walk frequently interrupted with a brace front. So I will often do the stumbling brace front and counterbalance backward in quick succession.

Hopefully they will make their own associations about hard and fast = brace front, where as slow and slight = counterbalance backward. I can always make the contrast more stark, and use a lure to assist the pup in making the right decision for awhile! Then it’s play time, having “worked” so hard…