Getting More Out Of Your Walks with Your Pup

This past weekend as part of the Dog T.I.P. program at the Stray Hearts Animal Shelter in Taos, NM the conversation gravitated towards the benefit (or lack thereof) of walking shelter dogs and even dogs that are already living in a home.

Erica and I discussed the benefits of walks as well as dispelling some common beliefs folks have about walking their dog.

Of course, we can all agree that taking a walk or a stroll with our dog is one of the healthiest ways of spending some quality time with our four-legged friend.  Not only do walks increase our health by keeping us on the move but, it can also have a very positive impact in managing stress.

I, for one, miss the walks that Laika and I took around our Berkeley neighborhood!  I don’t miss much of the San Francisco Bay area where I lived for 22 years, but I sure miss the many “routes” Laika and I had for our daily walks; especially memorable are the Spring walks!  Just being able to take in all the aromas of whatever happened to be in bloom that particular morning.

So yes, of course, just a simple stroll as described above can do wonders. But wait!  There is so much more we can do in order to get more bang for our walking buck.

Here are some guidelines that I follow with my own dogs and that I recommend to my clients:

1. Make sure your dog is fitted with the proper “attire/tool” for the walk.  If using a harness- which has many advantages to any other tool one can use, please make sure it fits your dog properly.  I have seen so many dogs trying their best to walk with their owners only to be impaired by the shoulder strap being so low on their front legs that it makes walking almost impossible.  The same goes with a tightly fitting harness which can chaff your dog’s underside.  Please follow the recommendations for proper harness fit for the particular harness you use. Avoid, avoid, avoid clipping your dog on a collar! Any collar if your dog pulls.  Every time you allow your dog to pull (yes, we are to blame for our dogs pulling- sorry folks!) your dog is getting literally choked in the process. So either teach your dog to walk on a loose leash so that there is no choking or use a front-clip harness to help with the pulling.

2. Allow your dog to sniff at his heart's content!  This is one, if not the most, important benefits of walks for our dogs.  As Alexandra Horowitz mentioned: “Dogs smell the world as we see it.” Allowing plenty of sniffing doubles as mental stimulation for our dogs since the area of the brain for this activity is actually quite large in dogs. In a pinch we can use sniffing as a “life-reward”: Your dog walks nicely on a loose leash and you reward him with a sniff.

3. If your pup has some basic obedience (sit, sit/stay, downs, leave it, etc.) under his belt, practice by peppering some of these behaviors when you are both out and about. Nothing wrong with having dogs sitting to cross a street- that is awesome!  But why not expand the repertoire so that your dog has to work a bit harder during the walks thus increasing mental stimulation as well as solidifying some basic stuff all dogs benefit from learning.

4. Be polite with other dog owners, but prevent your dog from greeting other dogs while on leash.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, on leash greetings are very cumbersome for both parties but especially so for dogs.  What I recommend instead is to click and treat your dog for spotting other dogs on the road as you move on.  In this manner you are teaching your dog several things at once:   A.) We don’t say hi to dogs while walking on leash so there is no confusion for your dog as to why today we did say “hello” but not yesterday, creating expectation and even possible frustration when not allowed for whatever reason an interaction;  B.) Your dog is getting conditioned that dogs in general and in particular when seen while on leash, mean good things for him or her, and C.) Your pup will continue to offer eye contact because you have wisely paired the sight of another dog with a click and a treat.

5. Last, if your dog can handle not being in the move and just taking a break while watching the world go by, you are teaching your dog to relax in the presence of lots of stimulation. Not all dogs can do this.  If you are going to give this a go, just start by making this easy and enjoyable for your pup.  Begin with just waiting somewhere out of the way and the elements- if harsh, for a minute or two at a time.  Eventually you both might be able to just relax for up to 10 minutes or so.


Another cool advantage of working with our dogs while on walks, instead of just walking at the pace of a snail (at least that is what most of our dogs think we do!), is that your pup will become tired faster.  If your goal is to give your dog some physical stimulation, you will need to find another activity where your dog can truly work some pent-up energy out as walks rarely do this for most dogs.

Stop & Go

I am taking any opportunity I have to walk Rio and Deuce separately. In truth it makes the walks much more enjoyable for me.

Unfortunately for me, both Deuce and Rio were adopted when they were beginning adolescence and have not previously been taught to walk nicely on leash. For me a dog that pulls when walked is a real drag. It really pushes my buttons.

However, all is not lost, but believe me teaching an adult (or adolescent) dog not to pull requires LOTS of consistency and repetition and did I forget to mentioned tremendous amounts of
patience?

I have used many different techniques to teach these guys and my client’s dogs not to pull. By not pulling I mean walking on a slack leash either in front or to a side - either side. I do not want my dogs on a heel position when we are walking. I don’t find this to be necessary; after all aren’t we going to walks to have fun and relaxation?

Each dog is different in how they learn and what motivates them at a given moment. For example: Deuce as a herding dog would love to be able to chase cars, all cars while Rio (a beagle/cattle-dog mix) ignores them - so far at least. But try to get that Beagle to mind you when in the presence of a smell! You get the idea.

My training & leash walks with Deuce are peppered with behaviors that we use when sheepherding - the ultra-plus activity for a Border collie!

I have incorporated some of the cues I use when sheepherding to teach Deuce to walk nicely on a leash. One of the cues I use is the “Stop” cue which means just that: stop moving.

We begin with him on a loose leash and before he makes the leash taut (this is the critical part) I ask him for a stop.

Because of the way I have used the stop while sheepherding for Deuce it also means lay down on the spot. In between these two behaviors we walk and make turns as needed to keep that leash loose. This requires given Deuce constant feedback (stop, walk, good boy, etc.)

After just a couple of sessions I have seen Deuce walk for longer distances on a loose leash.

Now, trying to teach two dogs to stop pulling at the same time is one of the craziest things you can do. In essence the dog must first learn to individually walk on a loose leash without distractions say in a “boring” environment such as a living room. If the dog cannot walk nicely on a leash here, the chances of you being successful in the big outdoors are probably nil.

It is unfortunate that we live in a world that is enamored with effortless and fast results - no matter what the task might be. In addition, some quasi-dog training TV programs makes things looks oh
so easy.

Viewers who drink the cool-aid think that if someone can train a dog to do pretty much anything in a ½ an hour show the same should apply to their “smart” dog! Ah, what a trap this is. To prove my point I think of how freaking difficult it is for me to make changes in my own behavior… you know where I am heading, no?

So in between teaching my fab’ dogs not to pull, I try on double the session so that I can learn to breathe deeply and remind myself that quick and effortlessly does not exist! At least not in the world of dog training.

Life happens… even to trainers

Last Sunday we decided that we were going to take both Laika and Deuce for an “urban” walk in Santa Fe. I know it sounds funny to think of Santa Fe, NM as “urban” but since we live in the country about 10 min. away from Santa Fe, we think of walks within city limits as urban walks. These urban walks are some of the things that I miss the most from where we previously lived: Berkeley, CA. I used to take Laika (we did not have Deuce at that time) for 1 hr. walks almost daily. I had my routes depending on how I felt and what kind of training I needed to do with Laika.

A big plus for me during these walks was to have the opportunity to relax by looking at how people kept their gardens (as it seems everyone in Berkeley does). During our walks, I would also enjoy taking in the smell of flowers in spring… ah… I surely miss the fragrance of Jasmine! Here in the high desert there are not fragrant flowers on our walks. As we headed down a semi-busy street in downtown Santa Fe – John ahead with Laika and me behind with Deuce. As I was trying to manage his compulsive border collie (and highly obnoxious) behavior of spotting cars ready to chase them, a car with a huge brown dog - half way out the window sped by with the dog constantly barking.

I tried to warn John that Laika might begin to pull hard on the leash in a combination of frustration and wanting to get to the dog- this is called "barrier frustration." Barrier frustration in dogs is quite ubiquitous. In a nutshell, barrier frustration occurs when the dog that is being held back by any kind of barrier - in our case the leash - becomes frustrated because they cannot access something that they want: dog, person, cat, etc. An animal can get very thwarted over time and it begins to associate the stimulus that initially he/she wanted to access with a source of (the feeling) frustration and thus can respond by lunging, barking or any other display of frustration such as whining.

Laika’s outbursts are for the most part not a source of concern. This is after six years of on-going training, know-how and lots of treats and patience. In essence, a dog that has barrier frustration will ALWAYS have the predisposition to react with an explosive display while in the presence of the stimulus that elicits frustration; since this is just how this particular dog responds to feeling frustrated… think of someone who is under stress and frustrated responds with “road-rage” while others continue to follow the tune on their radio.

This past Sunday was the perfect example of Laika not being able to keep her “stuff” together: the close view of the massive dog halfway out the window barking at her was too much! She began to pull and puff! Off she went in hot pursuit of the car and dog! Needless to say, both John and I were startled and consumed with worry that Laika might either: 1. get run over by the car with the dog or by another car, and the possibility of the dog jumping out of the car followed by a dog fight, or 2. Laika jumping on the car intending to get to the dog and scratch the heck out of the car. John began to run after her as I walked - still holding on to my dog and trying to ignore the pain in my left foot (bad case of plantar fasciitis). The car, Laika and finally John made the corner… out of my sight but not out of my mind. I approached the corner with Deuce in tow to find John and Laika reunited.

So indeed, life happens also to (good) trainers! Collars get loose and we are encountered by circumstances that are beyond our control and potentially very dangerous to our dogs. Is there a moral to the story? I will say yes, since in my view there is always a silver lining.

Now here is an interesting fact for you: Dogs are one of the easiest species to train. Perhaps because of domestication and how much we know (in relation to other species) about them in laboratory settings. Having said this, a dog that will respond to a given cue (request) 90 % of the time (under the same circumstances and levels of distraction) is considered well trained. What I am trying to get at is that in training and behavior modification, as in life there is no 100 %. Of course it does not mean that we need to be satisfied with a behavior having a rate of 90 % when with practice in a myriad of situations (this is called generalization or proofing a behavior in trainer’s talk) a behavior’s reliability will go up.

I wanted to write this week about this particular incident because sometimes I feel people have unrealistic expectations about what their dogs can do albeit a little training and effort on their part. If trainers got paid for every time we heard from a potential client: "I want my dog to come to me when called ALL the time" we would be really rich!

Having a dog follow with our requests is really not magic as in: give your dog this pill and call me tomorrow if things have not improved. Training takes a LOT of effort and consistency- something we humans are not good at  - at all!

There is yet so much more that I can say about dogs chasing cars and their motivations for doing so, but instead I am planning on teaching a class to give clients of dogs who chase cars ( which by the way, it is normal dog behavior- pre-installed and all) some tools so that they can better understand circumstances where their dog might take off in hot pursuit after a moving car (or bike or…). The class that I am designing will also teach the dog alternative behaviors to chasing moving objects.