Helene Lawler is a professional dog trainer. She shares her house with 14 herding dogs so to say that she loves dogs is an understatement.

Helene has been a regular listener to these podcasts. That’s what prompted her to attend our first virtual Science Camp which was held in Sept 2020. What ignited Helene’s imagination was the work we did on balance and rope handling.

The day after Science Camp one of her clients presented her with what she thought was a poisoned cue issue. The situation could well have become a poisoned cue if it had continued much longer. But Helene was looking at all of her training with fresh eyes. Her client saw poisoned cues. Helene saw a balance issue - not in the dog, but in the handler. A few changes later and the dog was performing beautifully.

Helene has continued to explore what equine balance has to offer the canine community, so of course we wanted her share what she has been discovering. We had a lively - and lengthy conversation - so this is Part One of a wonderful afternoon’s conversation about balance - what that means for horses, dogs and humans.