Do you play with your dog on walks?
Most people I talk to don't.
They also often complain that their dog doesn't come when called.
They complain that their dog prefers to follow other people and dogs than to stay with them.
They ask how to change that.
PLAY.
Your dog is your responsibility. You should provide entertainment for him, not rely on other people and dogs.
When your puppy goes out, he learns what out there is interesting, fun, exciting.
In most cases he quickly learns it's not you.
I never leave my house without food and a toy. Sometimes I don't use food at all, sometimes Arco just carries his ball but we don't play.
But with Merrick, who is just a baby, I use every opportunity to reward the behaviours I like.
Checking in, coming close, nice lead walking.
We play a lot, and I see that now he values staying with me more than chasing Arco.
And if we go to the town, he disengages from various distractions really quickly now.
I'm building strong foundations that will serve us well into the future.
And we're having fun.
As I was walking this morning I was thinking about all the dogs that run to everyone in the park, and how it makes my work so much harder, especially with reactive dogs.
And how my clients hate when an off lead dog charges at them, and how stressful it is, and makes them avoid walking their dog in any public places. ..
And, interestingly, how the dogs that play with their owners in parks are very unlikely to do that, they're engaged with their person, and ignore everyone else.
It's the dogs that never get to have fun with their handlers, that keep looking for something interesting to do and keep approaching everyone else.
The solution is so simple but people are so reluctant to do it.
Get a toy, put some treats in your pocket. Go out there and play with your dog 😊
Proud training moment!
We were walking along a field when I noticed a hare sitting at the edge, in front of us.
Arco hadn't seen it at that point, so I took out the phone to record the encounter.
I thought Arco would see the hare running (because of course it would run across the field), and then I would call him off, and he would come back. A nice recall brag.
Instead, Arco didn't follow the hare at all!
What's more, there were actually two hares, and he didn't run after any of them!
You can see the hares on the green part of the field, on the left of the screen.
I must say, the training took time and effort, but it was well worth it, as I can relax on walks, and Arco can be off lead practically everywhere.
And it was all fun and games. No aversive tools ever used.
You want to achieve the same, or similar results? Get in touch!
I was sitting on a log and Arco came to join me. We were watching the sheep in the other field together. And then...
There is only the burn between us and the lambs. The fences got destroyed by raging water.
Normally it's not a problem, as Arco will not go there, but when the two little ones decided to test his self control, it got a bit too much for him.
Did I have to grab his collar? Probably not, but I don't take any chances. I'm on pretty friendly terms with the local shepherd, and I want it to stay that way.
Once the lambs ran away, we got up and went home, as it was the end of our walk anyway.
I often walk Arco off lead around here, also on the country roads, with the pastures just next to us.
But if the sheep are close to the fences I put him on lead. It's not because I worry that he could jump over the fence and attack them.
It's because sheep get scared so easily, especially now when they have lambs. And scared sheep can even die out of stress.
I'd feel awful knowing that we caused them serious distress, or worse, so I'm proactive in this area.
Arco is big, strong, and highly predatory. He would at least try to kill a lamb, and maybe he would succeed, who knows.
So he doesn't get the chance, ever. He's off lead where I'm confident in his training, and that the temptations of the environment are not too much for him.
We live here, so we need to be responsible.
Connection Practice.
Wouldn't it be nice, if your dog voluntarily engaged with you when he sees something of interest, like another dog, a sheep or horse, or when he smells something fab, like dog pee? 😐
Well, he'd need to first learn the concept of connection around lower level distractions.
Here I'm walking with Arco around markers on the ground, and if he stays engaged and walking on loose lead, he gets released to a puzzle toy with food inside.
The puzzle can be replaced with a food bowl, or a toy. The concept remains the same: give me engagement before you get what you want.
This builds nice foundations for future training, out on walks, where it really matters.
As my client you might get a little homework with similar games, to keep you and your dog practising useful skills in between sessions.
If you're thinking about improving your dog's manners out and about, give me a shout, as I'm now open to taking bookings for June.
Thanks
First, longer, clip: George and his Mum rocking it at North Inch this morning🙂
Second clip: a very short video of myself waking Rocket, a few weeks ago.
Both boys, but especially Rocket, were pulling on lead when I met them. George would get very excited at the sight of other dogs and also people, and would pull towards them.
George and Rocket learned to disengage from interesting things and engage with their handlers. We increased the value of the handler, so the dogs now choose to stick with them rather than look for other forms of entertainment.
Rocket, being a very young dog, is still going to be in training for a while. George is a bit older, and he did extremely well with only 6 sessions.
Both dogs have super dedicated guardians, who keep putting in the work, and that's why they see these results.
My role was to introduce the training to the dogs, teach them some stuff, and then the guardians took over, and learned a few skills themselves.
The Training Walks is a team effort, as I can't do everything myself, seeing the dogs only twice a week.
But they are much more effective than weekly sessions, and infinitely more effective than sporadic one-off sessions I used to do, even though the latter came with lots of additional resources and support.
That being said, I'm still available for weekly sessions, as not all behaviour struggles will do well with frequent meetings.
If you'd like your dog to walk like George and Rocket, message me, and we can book you in for Training Walks or weekly sessions. I still can add one dog to my schedule in April.
A bit of Easter scent work.
We haven't done handler scent searches for years, so it took him 3 reps to remember what he was looking for.
But, as always, once he got it, he got it🙂
Such a good lad😊
Walks in the dark don't have to be boring.
The dog's nose works just as well at night.
Arco loves searching for treats in the grass. This is how we move along the road, I toss a treat to either side while he's busy with the previous one.
He's quick, so sometimes I can't even hide the treat well, but occasionally I'm more successful, and he has a bit longer search.
It's an easy way to add some mental exercise to your dog's day😊
