You take your dog for a walk, and another dog passes by. Your dog begins to pull you toward the other dog. He is also barking and lunging and making a lot of noise. You try to hide behind a car or shove treats in your dog’s mouth to no avail. All you want is to be able to take your dog for a walk!
The benefits of walking your dog are great. A walk gives your dog exercise and mental stimulation. Many dogs are home all day while their owner is at work. A long walk will help tire your dog out both mentally and physically. Dogs are meant to walk. Back in the day, in the wild, dogs spent much of their day in packs walking to hunt for food.
You should also be training your dog during walks. It’s the perfect time to work your dog. Having your dog heel (walk at your heel) while you walk takes a lot of concentration from your dog. He has to be sure to watch you and follow your lead. You should also work on sit, down, come, etc. while taking your dog for a walk. Keep your dog on his toes so that you are the main focus.
Heel is the most important command for dealing with reactivity. If your dog is focused on you how can he react wildly to a passerby? Practice heel indoors with low distraction first and then build up to higher distractions. Make sure your dog knows this command and listens to it.
There are a few tools needed to help fix this issue. You need to have a quality prong collar (you may want to hire a trainer to learn how to use properly), and a Pet Corrector. Use the prong collar on walks to assist you in mastering the heel. You will have more control over your dog with a prong collar and you will be able to have nice walks.
When a distraction passes, make sure you move fast to get past it. Do not stop and ask your dog to sit. This is too difficult for the dog whose mind is already over stimulated. Put your dog in a heel and walk past the distraction. Try to figure out what distance your dog doesn’t react to the distraction and begin to work at that distance. Slowly, over time, work to get closer and closer to the distraction.
Your dog knows heel and implements it well. If you still are having issues with your dog reacting, a simple spray of the Pet Corrector will likely snap your dog out of it. Do not spray it at the dog, spray it into the air. Try to spray it before a complete over reaction so your dog still has some focus on you.
With the right tools and good training, anything is possible. It should not take long for these techniques to work. If you are still struggling after trying these methods, reach out to a local, balanced trainer for help.
Our 18 week online program is a hands-on program where students are required to work with dogs. Skill and ability is determined through a series of videos submitted to the school. We also offer a 2-week and 4-month in-person internship. To learn more about the courses we offer, visit ISCDT.com
Jessica Freedman
ISCDT - The Dog Trainer's School 