29/12/2023
A walk is so much more than just a walk, it gives you the chance to establish leadership!
The walk is much more than a way to exercise. It is a chance to establish leadership. The leash is a vital tool. It connects you to their brain. It gives you means to communicate with your dog. Putting the dog in charge can increase anxiety and build reactivity. If you put the wrong Solider in charge of a platoon, it will bring a lot of stress to them. They don’t want to lead, now they have to. This causes dogs to be reactive. Many feel they are responsible for scaring things away. Think of when you are walking a child vs with your partner, who let's pretend practices MMA. With a child, you are watching your surroundings. You observe more and keep a look out. When you walk with a your MMA partner, you can relax. You can take their arm and let them lead. You want your dog to feel like you have the power to protect them. You are not the child on the walk. There is nothing to fear on walks, no one will get close, no reason to bark and scare things away, just relax and walk. I got you.
I use a prong collar with 90% of the dogs. Why, the prong mimics how a dog nips another dog. It is a way to make them feel uncomfortable when they are not behaving. Key point is the prong is NOT so the dog does not pull as hard. It is to give a correction when there is tension on the leash. We are using the prong as a tool to teach them to walk without pulling. Each and every time their is tension on the leash, they get a correction. The correction level corresponds to the dog and the current situation. Typically, it is a flick of the wrist, not much at all. It is a pop, not a pull. It must be each and every time there is tension to become habit. Positive only approaches can make the dog worse. If you do not correct the behavior, it can build. Redirecting is not correcting. Say your teenager comes home at 10:05, 10 is curfew. If you don’t give a correction, what happens next. 10:10, 15, etc. The level of correction needed varies. Some get their keys taken for a weekend, and done deal. Others end up needing jail time. The level of correction matches the dog. Say on a level from 1 to 10. You will start with say a 2. Some will need an 8, others a 4, some a 1. It has to be enough for them to think, so if I put tension, I feel uncomfortable. If I walk with no tension, we are both comfortable. Once the dog figures it out, they will always be aware of your body position so not to pull on the leash. It helps them see you as the leader.
When you start walking, try to find a quite area with little people and dog traffic. I walk in my neighborhood since I know where the quite routes are. This gives you time to just focus on the leash pulling. I don’t use a command at this time. Heel is to have them line up with my heel and walk formally. If the leash and your walking collar is on, no tension. It’s just how it is. Once the dog is good on knowing you don’t want leash tension, you can start walking in areas that are a little busier. I like going to the local large park. Lots of grass area, so I can adjust my distance to the active areas. On that note, at first, don’t let people come up and pet the dog. Many dogs do not want to be petted. I have dreads, oddly people ask to touch my hair.... no. Many dogs are the same way. They are not comfortable with strangers coming into their space, so they tend to bark to scare them away first. Neutral is the goal. I call it my mom bubble. Nothing will get you in the mom bubble. If you want to step out and greet someone, sure (as long as no tension on the leash). This allows you to give slack and let them approach. If they don’t want to, that is perfectly fine. You have the dog for you, not others. You don’t want the dog afraid around people because of the stress of worrying about will they pet me.
Once no tension is going well, so let’s work in “leave it”. Besides the dog's name, leave it is the command they hear the most. As you are increasing the distractions on yours walks, it is perfect timing to teach it. Grab a treat bag for this walk. As you are walking, if the dog sees a squirrel, bike, anything that makes them get excited. We are going to say leave it, and slightly pop the prong collar at the same time. If the dog looks away, yes reward with treat and keep walking. If the dog does not look away, you may need to repeat leave it, while increasing the level of correction. Do not try to calm them and say it’s ok. It is not ok for them to be acting like that, no reason for it. Do not reward unless the dog breaks focus on the distraction and keeps walking. It is best keep walking too. If you stop, the leave it is tricky. The dog does not know what to do with a super exciting squirrel over there. So leave it, and we keep walking. After the leave it, we show them what behavior we expect. Just relax and keep walking.
While on the walks, we have helped establish you lead and they follow. Leave it, timed with the correction, helps them learn to pay attention to your words. Your words have meaning. We create away for us to communicate with our dog. Working around the distractions helps them lean to listen, even when excited. The correction timed with the command will help remind them, leave it means leave it.
