Leash Walking Gear - Managing Unwanted Behavior
Any leash walking tool you use - body harness, flat collar, head halter, prong collar, choke chain, slip leash - is designed to manage a problem, typically pulling on leash.
What we choose to walk our dogs with comes down to our individual education on dog training tools, what we are comfortable using, and the problem we are trying to address.
Reliance on tools is where dog owners & trainers often fall short. We use a tool that works to manage the pulling but we don’t teach our dog what to do instead. When used correctly, management can lead to a problem behaviors begin extinguished, but it is often a slow and unpredictable journey. Teaching what we would like the dog to do is going to get you much greater results and have a more lasting effect on your dog’s behaviors.
Commonly, I hear people say that their dog walks great when they use tool X, but when tool X is not on the dog they are back to pulling on leash. All this says to me is that you have been managing a problem, but not teaching toward a solution.
My goal is to use management tools (harness, head halter, and flat collars are the only tools I choose to use) WHILE I am teaching my dogs to walk with me, then I want to fade out those extra management tools as quickly as I can. Ultimately, I want to walk my dogs on their flat collar and a 6 foot leash.
For my dogs, Nellie is now walked on her flat collar and a regular 6 foot leash. We started out on a harness, then transitioned once she learned that walking with me earned her the rewards she loves. She does not pull on her neighborhood walks at all anymore. Mango is now walked on a Gentle Leader. He is a young, strong, teenage dog who often gets overly stimulated on walks, so being able to control his head is a big win for me and allows me to teach him more quickly. We spent time conditioning him to the head halter and now he readily accepts it and is learning how to walk with me like his older sister. Once I am happy with his leash walking skills, we will fade out the head halter and transition to his flat collar.
Regardless of which tools you choose to use with your dog, it is important that you realize that the dog is who decides what is aversive, not you. If your tool of choice is not helping you in the teaching process, it is time to try something else. Proper use of our tools and excellent teaching is the recipe for fantastic leash walking with your four-legged friend!
Let Them Sniff
In today’s busy world, us humans often hurry so quickly from one task to the next that we don’t notice the little (or big!) things along the way. As dogs have become a larger part of our lives, they have suffered from this rushed lifestyle we live…
Meals are no longer a foraging and searching event, instead they are a gobble it down as quickly as possible so we can move on to the next thing.
Midday naps are no longer a time to rest and refresh, instead they are interrupted with our hustle and bustle throughout the house (not to mention the phone noise from us snapping a few adorable pictures along the way).
Walks are no longer a leisurely exploration of the environment, instead they are a race to complete your two mile loop as quickly as possible.
Now imagine if someone forced you to work even harder and longer without any breaks to enjoy what you like - that would be the worst, right?! Well, this is basically what we have done to our dogs on their walks…
I’m 100% guilty of this myself. With Nellie, we use to hike and enjoy nature. She was free to explore, find all the critters, and get in the extra steps that she needs to meet her goals. But, somewhere along the way, we lost this exploration mindset and walks turned into a mission to get from point A to point B, all along a straight, paved sidewalk.
With that decrease in exploration came some unwanted behaviors. There was leash pulling, frustration (from both of us), and the ever dreaded reactions to other dogs. Walks had become a chore that I no longer had any interest in and I blamed Nellie for that.
Only within the past few months have I really made an effort to improve our walks again. I stopped blaming Nellie for her behaviors and instead found ways I could help her be more successful! (I mean who am I to tell her she isn’t allowed to chase the squirrels now, when she has been allowed to do that her whole life.)
I have made a point to slow our walks down, enjoy our neighborhood, and refresh our teamwork while she is on leash.
With a few simple changes, our walks in the neighborhood are great again! I allow Nellie the time to sniff, explore, and squirrel watch and she gives me her attention when I ask for it.
If you and your dog have been struggling on walks, allow them more time to sniff and enjoy their environment. Sniffing lowers a dog’s heart rate and is calming. The more they are allowed to use their strongest sense, the more they will thank you for it on your walks!
Now get outside with your dog, and notice all the beautiful nature you have been missing along the way!
Welcome Home New Puppy!
Welcome Home New Puppy!
So you just picked up your adorable, lovable, sleepy new baby dog. Now what?
So many people, myself included, are so excited to bring home their new best friend that they forget a lot of the important details… Where will puppy sleep? How much exercise should puppy get? What do I do when they have an accident in the house? When should I start training puppy? Can I take my puppy places? What is this thing called socialization?
New puppies do require time and energy from us, but getting off to a solid start will make everyone’s lives that much easier. I want to help all you new puppy parents (and your new puppy parent friends) get it nearly right from day one! My biggest tip for surviving your new baby dog is; don’t sweat the small stuff! Take life one day at a time, focus on the positives, and move on from the negatives. I’m a firm believer in “if no one died, then we are good!”.
Here are some other useful tips and ideas to make your transition to dog parent a smooth one.
Management is crucial! We all want to let our puppy explore their new home, but you have now created a recipe for disaster… so many cords to chew and those lovely rugs could use some urine. Instead of giving your puppy freedom to make mistakes, set them up for success by teaching them that their crate is a magical place and the playpen in the kitchen is a fun playland! As your puppy learns their house-manners they can gradually earn more freedom in the house, under your supervision of course!
Sleep is needed (by everyone!). Get your puppy on a regular nap schedule. It is important to give our baby dogs the time they need to rest and recharge their growing bodies. Have a designated nap area (crate or playpen) in a fairly low traffic area of the house for your puppy to get their ZZZ’s in. When it comes to sleeping through the night, set up your bedtime crate near the side of your bed. Dogs are social beings and they thrive off your presence. Puppies need 16-20 hours of sleep a day, let them get it!
House-training can be a chore…but it doesn’t have to be! Take your puppy outside for regular potty breaks about every 30 minutes for the first couple weeks. That may sound like a lot, but I would much rather take them outside every 30 minutes than be cleaning up a mess in the house every 30 minutes. Now here is the most IMPORTANT part of house-training - when you take your puppy outside, they must be ON LEASH! You may have the best fenced in back yard, but that yard is full of distractions and we need our puppy to potty quickly and completely when we take them out. Once they have eliminated fully, they can have that fun off leash playtime in your fenced yard. If you do find an accident in the house, do not scold your baby dog, instead place them in a confined area while you clean up with an enzymatic cleaner (follow their instructions for use).
Exercise, it’s good for us and our dogs! Puppies will need less exercise than your adolescent or adult dog, only because they do need a lot of sleep. Get them up and moving their body and brain for at least 2 hours a day. With your baby dog, avoid high intensity activities such as chasing a frisbee or ball, running, and jumping. Their bodies are still developing and we want to avoid injuries. Instead opt for walks with lots of time to sniff (avoid high dog traffic areas), brain games, and training!
Training, When should you start? Well you are training your puppy nearly every second they are awake, so why not start on a path to teach them what you do want from their first day home? Keep training short and fun! Play games that get your puppy rewarded for engaging with you in the beginning and save the obedience for later on (I would much rather have a dog who give me attention when I ask, than a dog who sits ten times in a row). As long as you and your puppy are having fun and they are learning what you would like from them, it is never to early to start training!
Socialization - it’s not all about dogs! Focus on getting your puppy seeing new people (tall, short, old, young, with a cane, in a stroller, wearing a hat, etc.), hearing new sounds, and exploring new surfaces! The more we can make all these new experience a positive encounter for your baby dog, the more success they will have in their adolescent and adult years. Puppies should not be meeting every dog they come across. If you want your puppy to meet other dogs, choose puppies near their same age or adult dogs who LOVE puppies and are well vaccinated. Avoid dog parks and other areas that are frequented by dogs.
I hope this has got you thinking all things puppy! Don’t get overwhelmed with too much information though. When in doubt, have fun with your puppy, reinforce what you like, and enjoy those baby dog weeks - they sure go by fast!