Dog Walking Tips

Holt Harness

If your dog is reactive on walks, lunges at bikes, dogs, barks at squirrels and generally makes you want to hang up the leash and never walk your pooch again--here are tips I give my clients to help them instantly improve their walks:

• Change your gear: The only domesticated animal we don't lead around by the head is the dog.
• Keep the leash VERY short, arm down, loose, relaxed at your side. Your dog is now beside you constantly. No yo-yo on the leash and he's not out in front of you.
• Project the energy you want your dog to mirror: calm, cool, happy, confident, positive. Fonzie--Ayyyy!
• Don’t “hunt” for people with their dogs or whatever it is that triggers your dog to escalate. Your dog is copying your behavior.
• Signs of your dog escalating: tension in body, maybe a slight crouch, ears forward and up, eyes locked, neck locked, nose pointed at “target”*
• Say "hello" in happy, upbeat voice to your dog's trigger when they're walking towards you.
• If you have to pop the leash, tug and pull and say, “Eh eh,” over and over—you’ve already lost the battle. Aggression begets aggression.
• When your dog pulls or refuses to go—hold onto the tension. Wait him out until he comes or returns to you. Train him to be near you—don’t let him train you to go where he wants.
• Catch your dog before he barks and lunges and loses his marbles. When he first tenses and starts escalating, or eyeballs his target, THAT is your teachable moment to correct, "Eh-eh!" 
• When your dog encounters his target and doesn't react negatively, he doesn't escalate in excitement PRAISE him!
• Your dog flips out and is barking and lunging--but hasn't hurt anyone. People ARE LOOKING. Use humor to defuse the situation: “Wow, whose dog is that? Oh--It's mine!" or "Is that a dog bird I hear? Such a beautiful tune.” You are no longer joining your dog in freaking out.
• If someone approaches and you know it's unwise for them to pet your dog, put your hand out and merely state, “My dog is in training right now. Just standing where you are and saying hello is helping.” If you say, “My dog bites,” or “My dog is aggressive,” then you're continually projecting that onto your dog and in your mind. Make sure everyone is safe, however, your dog IS learning and changing.
• Lead your dog through situations where he might be frightened. On the walk, navigate your dog confidently through the scary event without saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

If you have a dog that bites, has attacked before or that you're afraid to walk--seek professional help. It is amazing how pairing the right tools (information) with the right energy can change the walk. 


*Target in this instance is whatever causes your dog to escalate in excitement, whether that be a person, other dogs, prey (rabbits, squirrels, birds), bikes, skateboarders, or children. The closer dogs are to their target the stronger their reaction.