Chief and Scooterboard Tug of War

Chief recently learned how to use the "pull" command to do different things in therapy. Sometimes, we will play tug of war games. We have a child seated on a therapy ball and have Chief pull on a tug toy to encourage improved postural control, balance, and upper extremity strengthening. This behavior is also used by Chief to open the gym doors for kids in wheelchairs. Since learning this new behavior, Chief has really learned how to adapt the strength of his pull to accomplish different things. He almost instinctively knows that with some kids, he can tug a little harder than others. Of course, I am right beside him with my clicker, controlling the distance / duration of the pull, and in some cases, the direction of pull to accomplish different goals.

In this video, Chief and Braydon are working together in a training session. Braydon is the child Chief is pulling on the scooterboard. The purpose of this activity is to be able to use this new behavior on a scooterboard, so we can incorporate vestibular processing into an activity with the dog. Many of our kids also need upper body strengthening, in the torso and in the arms. I am very careful not to have Chief pull too hard with children who have very low muscle tone, but a gentle pull by the dog requires a counter pull on the child's part. When the child is counter pulling, they are engaging the muscles in their abdomen and back to maintain posture (so we are working on trunk strengthening) as well as upper body strengthening in the shoulders and arms. Additionally, we are working on dynamic sitting balance in this same activity.

So enjoy this video of Chief and Braydon perfecting the scooterboard tug of war game that we created. Braydon was having so much fun he was radiating!! As you can see, Chief enjoys this kind of play, too!

(And yes, as you can see, I am 6 and 1/2 months pregnant and very much showing now!! Not the most flattering angle of me, I might add! LOL)