Loose Leash Walking Breakthrough!

Dog Training

During the last few years since I’ve been on an unexpected horse hiatus, I have been getting more involved in training our dogs. My first dog came to me from a rescue with excellent manners and needed very little training. I could leave a meal on the coffee table (while watching TV), walk into another room, come back and the food would still be there. These two have needed some edu-macation. As have their owners.

Last night Missie and I completed the final session for Control Unleashed Level 2. It’s a class for dogs that are over-reactive and need to be taught how to relax so they can focus on their owner/handler. Yes, taught how to relax. It all starts with a mat and lots of treats. Like yoga, but with food to aid in concentration.

Not All Treats are Created Equal

During Control Unleashed Level 1 I learned not all treats are created equal. For example, a tube of peanut butter is more highly desirable than the peanut butter treat sold at Trader Joe’s. String cheese cut up into little pieces is better than kibble.  Although on occasion, when I’m lazy, I will try to pass off the grain-free kibble as a small treat. (Tigger my Golden falls for it. Missie, the Doberman, not so much.)

A central concept taught in Control Unleashed is that if your dog is worried or wants to bark at another dog, person, or  inanimate object, get her attention on you so she is looking at you and rewarded for focusing on you, not the distraction. It might be hard at first by just saying her name or giving a command, so you bring out the aforementioned high value treats such as peanut butter or string cheese or even bits of lunch meat. One woman with a particularly nervous dog used Cheese Whiz and sprayed it right in her dog’s mouth at a class session.

When you squeeze peanut butter into your dog’s mouth, she’ll likely ignore the Great Dane on the other side of the training room or the teen skateboarding down the street and give you her focused attention. Over time she’ll think, “big dog over there=treat” or “skateboarder=treat.” So when anything distracts her, she’ll look at you first to be rewarded. Over time you can wean the dog off the treat and make a verbal cue like an overly enthusiastic, “YES!!!” the big, exciting reward. Clever, huh?

Now I’m the lady with a dog treat bag (not a fanny pack!) who goes walking around the neighborhood intermittently popping treats into Missie’s mouth to circumvent her chuffing and freaking out when another dog ferociously barks from inside a house as we pass by (usually a small dog). This has been helpful with the attention, but she still has, in horse terms, a “forward stride.”

The Elusive Canine Good Citizen Certificate

Missie and I have taken the Canine Good Citizen class and test two times and have failed both times. Loose leash walking has been the bane of our existence. Partly because Missie forges ahead of me to look at all the “scary” things (just like a spooky horse). I know it’s in her breeding to be a watch dog, but sometimes it’s overly ridiculous that she watches EVERYTHING. I guess you could say she’s observant.

Frequently I walk in circles and do serpentines down quiet streets–anything to get her to be by my side and not stomping off ahead of me. It’s like an odd version of doggie dressage. The figures of eight, halts, and changing direction help temporarily in our goal of loose leash walking, but on a straightaway, it’s usually a losing battle, even with a Gentle Leader (which is like a horse halter for dogs).

Until Last Night!!!!

The culminating activity for our 4-week Control Unleashed Level 2 class was to walk our dogs in a single file line around a 1 mile long path around a pond. The pond has a busy trail that is circled by other people walking their dogs, kids on skateboards, people fishing, and groups of runners. Our procession was like a doggie trail ride. We had six dog and owner pairs and three trainers walking next to us to coach us on what to do as we potentially came across distracting “obstacles.”

I told the trainer who was walking behind me with her perfectly behaved agility dog, “I feel like I’m walking a race horse. I keep pulling on her face to keep her next to me.”

“When she gets ahead of you, walk into her and do a small circle.”

“That’s what you’re supposed to do with a runaway horse! ! Circle!” I thought, but didn’t say because I didn’t want to sound like the crazy horse lady.

So I tried it. And when I did, Missie looked up at me and then walked right next to me for a few strides.

She got in front of me again and so I tried the same thing. I cut her off and with my thigh bumped her slightly and pushed her over as I made the tiniest of voltes. And she walked next to me for even a few more strides!

“Now pat your hand on your leg a few times,” the trainer slapped her thigh three times so it made a clapping sound, “and when she comes back by your leg, give her a treat.”

So I tried that too! And that worked.

For the next several yards I alternated between walking into my dog and then tap-tap-tapping my leg. She got a little better!

Oh, did I mention there were geese at this park and she’s never seen geese before? So she wasn’t perfect.

The trainer commented that it was actually kind of fun watching me. There was one point Missie and I got on opposite sides of a tree–we got straightened out. The assistant trainer said, “We’re going one mile and you’re technically going two! More exercise.”

“I’m worried people are going to see me from their houses when I do this at home and think, ‘that lady is abusing her dog,’ if they see me walking into her.”

The lead trainer replied, “People use electric collars and pinch collars. I hardly think you walking into your dog is rough.”

She has a point. I really am just kind of bumping her side with my leg and she moves out of the way.

A Successful Walk

I just got back from a 15 minute walk. It was in the 90s here today so I went late and didn’t stay out long. And yes, I walked into my dog.

And you know what? After the first few minutes of sporadically walking into my dog in a small circle, for the rest of the walk, I’d say 90% of the time there was slack in the leash! It hung like a letter J between my hand and Missie’s lil’ face!

Canine Good Citizen Test, we’re coming for you soon! And as they say, three time’s a charm.

Although, I just remembered, we are unable to use the Gentle Leader for the Canine Good Citizen Test, so it might be a while. But still, there’s hope!

Dog owners, have you found any helpful techniques for loose leash walking? Or any other dog training tips you’d like to share? Or perhaps you have a good dog shaming incident you’d like to share. 🙂

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram! Check out the Saddle Seeks Horse Facebook page while you’re at it!