Article & Images Submitted by Shannon MacBeth, Owner & Trainer, Shakespeare's Legacy Labradors
This month we are going to take a look at walking your dog. Now that the temperatures have risen, the sun is shining and summer is fast approaching, it’s time to take your dog outside for one of the best forms of exercise you can give them, going for a walk. I’m sure most people think walking a dog is the most self explanatory and easy thing to do, but not everyone has the same experience, so let’s look at all the different scenarios that can arise while walking your dog.
This month we are going to take a look at walking your dog. Now that the temperatures have risen, the sun is shining and summer is fast approaching, it’s time to take your dog outside for one of the best forms of exercise you can give them, going for a walk. I’m sure most people think walking a dog is the most self explanatory and easy thing to do, but not everyone has the same experience, so let’s look at all the different scenarios that can arise while walking your dog.
Starting once again with the Salt, the challenge of walking a dog. We’ve all seen and likely walked a dog that pulls on leash. Even under this umbrella, there are various challenges and types of pulling that we can address. Let’s start with the most common pulling style that we will call “I want to be the leader”. This is where your dog walks ahead of you at the full length of their leash, at rapid speed, practically dragging you behind them. Another is “the weaver”, constantly criss-crossing in front of you, becoming a tripping hazard. We have the “slow sniffer” who takes their time and allows their nose to dictate the speed of the walk. We have the “everyone wants to meet me and be my friend” dog who feels they must meet everyone crossing their path both vocally and vigorously. We have the “I don’t want to walk today” out and out refusal to move once the leash is on. Finally, we have “the fearful” who feels they need to react towards anything that may bring harm to not only them, but also their person at the end of their leash. I’m sure each one of us has dealt with a dog that falls into one of these categories. None of these dogs are bad, even the one that is reactive, they simply don’t understand what is expected of them, have had a traumatic experience in the past or their needs are not being met in other ways.
Now let’s look at the Pine portion of the training. The root of the problem and how to grow your connection with you dog as well as their understanding of the expectations. For most of these scenarios, the dog simply doesn’t understand what is expected of them. The motto for all dog walking training is “a pulling dog, never goes anywhere”. The longer you allow your dog to pull you around, the longer it will take to break the cycle. They are being rewarded simply by allowing them to move in the direction, at the speed they want. Having your dog walking a distance ahead of you also puts them at risk of unforeseen dangers they could put in their mouth before you can see and avoid it, be approached by an aggressive dog before you can intervene and puts you at a disadvantage in preventing unwanted behaviours before they start. The overall objective is to have your dog walking beside you at all times. This is called the heel position, but before we get to that, let’s build the connection that keeps them wanting to be close to you.
In various training courses I’ve studied the following statement is mentioned often: If you want to have your dog focused on you in highly distracted situations, you need to be “more interesting than a squirrel”. I’ve often chuckled over this statement, but the reality of it is true. Why is Rocky going to be engaged with you during the walk, if you are being the least interesting part of the walk?
Here’s where it gets fun, you get to play with your dog while you go for a walk. It doesn’t need to take more time that your normal walk, but it does take a little more preparation by bringing treats along for a fully rewarding outcome and creativity. When you first start this new walking style, I’m going to ask you to be unpredictable. This forces the dog to watch and follow you instead of going through the motions of a predictable walk and pulling this way and that to reach the anticipated goals from the past.
I often wonder what my neighbours think when I head out with my dogs for a training walk? They see me crossing the street, turning circles, walking backwards, having the dog sit, lie down, shake a paw, abruptly changing directions and speed, making strange noises and at times standing on the leash and looking at my phone (a version of “sitting on the dog”). They’ll see me empty a treat pouch while my dog is laying at my feet while we catch up with a quick chat, rewarding the calm and settled posture of a dog that frequently struggles with this.
All this is to say, I’m unpredictable! This keeps the dogs attention on me, because they don’t know where I’m going or what to expect next. They also learn this is fun because my attention is on them and together we are building that bond. I am, therefore, more interesting than a squirrel. Once we have that connection built we can begin to have them walking in heel.
Walking in heel position simple means having them walk directly beside you, not behind you, not in front you, directly beside you. The easiest way to do this is to have a treat in you hand and your hand at your side. Their nose, and sometimes mouth, will find that treat. Keep walking with the treat in your hand for a few steps before relinquishing it to your dog, then repeat. As training and attention on your progresses, you can treat periodically throughout the walk as the dog understands what is being requested.
If you are working with a fearful dog that is reactive on leash it will be wise to begin this in low distraction locations. We want to keep your dog under their reactivity threshold while doing training. Once they’ve crossed that threshold, this type of training becomes overwhelming for them.
Remember, walks are supposed to be enjoyed by all involved. You’re dog should see a relaxed, fun, silly and engaged human at the end of their leash. One that keeps their attention, shows them walks are safe and rewarding. To my neighbours, I hope you have a good chuckle at my expense, because I’m my happiest when I’m being more interesting than a squirrel and I’ll be watching for more of you doing the same.
Now let’s look at the Pine portion of the training. The root of the problem and how to grow your connection with you dog as well as their understanding of the expectations. For most of these scenarios, the dog simply doesn’t understand what is expected of them. The motto for all dog walking training is “a pulling dog, never goes anywhere”. The longer you allow your dog to pull you around, the longer it will take to break the cycle. They are being rewarded simply by allowing them to move in the direction, at the speed they want. Having your dog walking a distance ahead of you also puts them at risk of unforeseen dangers they could put in their mouth before you can see and avoid it, be approached by an aggressive dog before you can intervene and puts you at a disadvantage in preventing unwanted behaviours before they start. The overall objective is to have your dog walking beside you at all times. This is called the heel position, but before we get to that, let’s build the connection that keeps them wanting to be close to you.
In various training courses I’ve studied the following statement is mentioned often: If you want to have your dog focused on you in highly distracted situations, you need to be “more interesting than a squirrel”. I’ve often chuckled over this statement, but the reality of it is true. Why is Rocky going to be engaged with you during the walk, if you are being the least interesting part of the walk?
Here’s where it gets fun, you get to play with your dog while you go for a walk. It doesn’t need to take more time that your normal walk, but it does take a little more preparation by bringing treats along for a fully rewarding outcome and creativity. When you first start this new walking style, I’m going to ask you to be unpredictable. This forces the dog to watch and follow you instead of going through the motions of a predictable walk and pulling this way and that to reach the anticipated goals from the past.
I often wonder what my neighbours think when I head out with my dogs for a training walk? They see me crossing the street, turning circles, walking backwards, having the dog sit, lie down, shake a paw, abruptly changing directions and speed, making strange noises and at times standing on the leash and looking at my phone (a version of “sitting on the dog”). They’ll see me empty a treat pouch while my dog is laying at my feet while we catch up with a quick chat, rewarding the calm and settled posture of a dog that frequently struggles with this.
All this is to say, I’m unpredictable! This keeps the dogs attention on me, because they don’t know where I’m going or what to expect next. They also learn this is fun because my attention is on them and together we are building that bond. I am, therefore, more interesting than a squirrel. Once we have that connection built we can begin to have them walking in heel.
Walking in heel position simple means having them walk directly beside you, not behind you, not in front you, directly beside you. The easiest way to do this is to have a treat in you hand and your hand at your side. Their nose, and sometimes mouth, will find that treat. Keep walking with the treat in your hand for a few steps before relinquishing it to your dog, then repeat. As training and attention on your progresses, you can treat periodically throughout the walk as the dog understands what is being requested.
If you are working with a fearful dog that is reactive on leash it will be wise to begin this in low distraction locations. We want to keep your dog under their reactivity threshold while doing training. Once they’ve crossed that threshold, this type of training becomes overwhelming for them.
Remember, walks are supposed to be enjoyed by all involved. You’re dog should see a relaxed, fun, silly and engaged human at the end of their leash. One that keeps their attention, shows them walks are safe and rewarding. To my neighbours, I hope you have a good chuckle at my expense, because I’m my happiest when I’m being more interesting than a squirrel and I’ll be watching for more of you doing the same.
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