Make a Wobble Board

Having spent some time and money making a lovely full sized see-saw, everyone I spoke to said, "Very good, well done,  but first of all you need to retrain Sasha on a wobble board." 

A wobble board is just what it says, a board that wobbles and it's especially useful for training puppies and scaredy, wimpy dogs to walk on something that tips and tilts.  When they've gained confidence on the wobble board it will help them to get used to going over a see-saw without fear.

Once I'd decided that this was for Sasha I couldn't wait to get to the DIY shop.  Unfortunately the assistant who thinks I'm an escaped lunatic wasn't there so I asked a very tall young man for a piece of board suitable for a wobble board for a dog.

"A wha'?"  The young man looked scared but there was no-one handy to come to the rescue.  I repeated my request and then felt sorry for him so I explained what it was for.  The poor lad seemed quite relieved when I settled on a bit of MDF measuring three feet by two feet and 9mm thick and said it would do. 

You can use a bigger board of course.  It depends on how much money you want to spend and where you're going to keep it.  The wobble board just consists of a small frame screwed to the underside which will hold a ball on which the board is balanced.  You can make the frame from any odd length of timber and then screw the board onto it.

The wobble board will need to be painted with non slip paint or covered with non slip matting.  I used some odd bits of matting that were going spare.  I glued it onto the board and taped around the outside with duct tape.  I think Sasha's paws are slightly delicate and if she spent any length of time on the board it could be a bit abrasive if I used non slip paint. I'm sure that if you make a board it will look smarter than mine but hey ho, it works! 

At last it was time to test it out.  I tried it without the ball at first but Jamie wouldn't let Sasha get a look in.  As soon as he saw what was going on he wanted to play and that was that.  We had to wait until he got bored and wandered off to see what Bernie was doing in the loft.  Actually I wondered the same thing.

Sasha was quite happy to play on the board once Jamie had gone.  She looked a bit apprehensive at first but she soon got the hang of it.  Sasha is the wimpiest dog ever so if she goes on the board any dog will do it.  You just need good titbits and make it into a game.

 

Now comes the tricky bit where you put the ball under the board to make it wobble a bit more.  With hindsight it's probably best not to let the dog see you do this.  Sasha did eventually play on the board but she spent more time looking for the ball and barking at it!

....and finally, Jamie came out for a sunbathe and the wobble board was put away for the day.

Some people go on to train their dogs to balance on human wobble boards and discs. These are quite small but a dog can be taught to balance them quite successfully.  I haven't tried it with Sasha yet but I'm sure she'd have some fun with one of these.  You can pick them up cheaply on ebay if you want to have a go.