Making Dog Walking A Pleasant Experience

Walking your dog is not just about exercise - it's an essential part of training and bonding with your dog. It should be fun for both you and your dog, and something you should do every day! Walking with you will give your dog a sense of purpose and a chance to be mentally focused. It will also allow him or her to see you as his trusted leader and guardian. Unlike their owners, pet dogs spend most of their time at home or in the yard. Most dogs will jump at any chance to explore the world outside their home!

Below are some guidelines to make your daily walks a positive experience:

LOOSE LEASH WALKING

Practice loose leash walking. You will find that your dog is less frustrated when he learns to walk on a loose leash. A dog that cannot walk on a loose leash is more difficult to train when issues like leash reactivity or over-excitement enter the picture. You can use a tool like the Sense-ible Harness, Gentle Leader Headcollar or Halti Headcollar to prevent your dog from pulling (click here more info on walking tools). Or you can use one of various methods to teach him to keep the leash loose, such as Red Light Green Light and the Penalty Yard. (Click here for video examples on how to stop pulling.) If your dog simply has too much energy, try playing fetch or let him run off leash for a while before going on a leashed walk.

SNIFFING, URINE MARKING AND OTHER LIFE REWARDS

Discourage excessive sniffing and urine marking, or else use them as rewards. If your dog constantly tries to pull you towards things he wants to smell or pee on, just keep walking. Pretend like you didn’t even notice that he wants to stop!  Over time your dog will most likely stop trying to pull you towards the side of the road because it never works.

Another option is to use those bushes, fire hydrants and other smelly things as "life rewards."  For instance, if your dog walks nicely on leash for an entire block, you could grant him access to smell or pee on the bush on the side of the road at the end of each block.  What if he pulls you towards the bush?  You can stop, wait for him to stop pulling, wait for him to look at you, and then grant him the reward of sniffing the bush.

With practice, your dog will start to "ask" politely (i.e. look at you) for things that he wants rather than just pulling you towards whatever he wants.

GREETING OTHER DOGS AND PEOPLE

Discourage over-excitement when greeting other dogs and people. Some dogs are very enthusiastic and will pull you towards or bark at another dog or person that he wants to meet. I've met many dog owners who were physically injured because their dogs pulled them so hard! Instead of giving in to your dog's demands (which will only reinforce the behavior), wait for him to be calm and give you eye contact, even if it's just for a second, and then reward him for it by allowing him to meet the other dog or person (when appropriate).  

This method (of waiting for the right behavior and rewarding it) tends to work a lot better than telling your dog to be calm or to Sit.  Most dogs will not listen to commands when they're very excited.  But they will eventually calm down if you just wait.  The idea is to show your dog that his actions have consequences - by staying calm, he gets to meet other dogs. With practice, it will become a default behavior, meaning your dog will automatically remain calm when greeting other dogs and people.

REACTIVITY TO BARKING DOGS

For dogs that are reactive towards barking dogs behind fences, redirect your dog’s attention as soon as he looks in that direction or his ears perk up. Prevention is always easier than intervention. To redirect his attention towards you, you can snap your fingers, clap, whistle, etc. (but try not to repeat your dog's name over and over again). Praise or treat him as soon as he looks at you. You may have to start this exercise by leaving a large distance between your dog and the barking dog behind the fence, so that you won't be asking your dog to do more than he is capable of.  

If you absolutely can't get your dog's attention with a sound, it probably means that you are too close to the other dog.  If you find yourself in this situation, gently redirect him with the leash before he reacts, without jerking on the leash.  As your dog improves, gradually decrease the distance between the dogs. If your dog has a full-blown fear of other dogs, I would recommend avoiding neighborhoods with lots of barky dogs, until you've had a chance to modify his fear.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

It’s nice to reward dogs for good behavior by letting them go off leash at the end of a walk, if there is a safe place to do this. It gets boring for a dog to be on leash all the time. It also gets boring for them to walk the same route day after day, so mix up your routes whenever possible. In addition to exercise, dogs need socialization with other dogs too, so get together with friends' dogs in a park or someone's yard.

Happy Dog Walking!