Walking with your dog can be one of the most pleasant things you can ever do, but we all know there are plenty of things that can make it a little less pleasant and a little more stressful. Regardless of where you are walking, crossing paths with other trail users can be one of the main causes of stress.
Whether that’s another dog, people, joggers, horses, cars, bikers, or that one guy who’s always walking his goat, seeing someone coming towards you and your dog spikes the adrenaline in many of us. When you are in this scenario, you’ve got a few options. Turn around and go back where you came from, pull over and let them go past, or keep walking forward to pass them head-on. Whatever you choose, having a few cues in your back pocket will make this situation less stressful for all.
Here is what you can expect from this series;
Which cues to use
How to teach those cues
How to use them most effectively in any scenario
First, let’s take a closer look at “Pull Over” or moving off the trail or sidewalk.
Whether your dog is reactive, nervous, over-exuberant, or just in a situation that you feel requires a little caution, pulling over is always a good choice. There are two common problems we run into trying to pull over though.
The first is our dogs trying to struggle against us and the second is our dogs getting suspicious whenever we pull over. These can lead to dogs fighting against us and even creating or worsening reactivity and frustration without realizing it! There is an easy way to avoid those things though, putting ‘Pull Over’ on cue and practicing it when no one is around.
The cue ‘Pull Over’ is a versatile one that can be employed in all sorts of situations and scenarios. After training, we want ‘Pull Over’ to mean move to the side of the trail (or way off the trail if needed!) and hang out there until released.
To teach Pull Over you will need;
Treats, whatever your dog enjoys!
A marker. This is a sound that tells your dog they have done the behavior that earns a treat. You could use a Clicker or a verbal marker word like, “Yes!”
A release cue. What do you tell your dog after they wait for their food bowl? We use, “Okay!” to give Manzo permission to move after a stay or a wait. Some people use, “Release,” or, “Free.”
Start by putting a treat in front of your dog’s nose, say, “Pull Over!” and lure them to the side of the trail by holding that treat near their nose and slowly moving it in the direction you want them to move.
Reward them when they get there by giving them the treat. I like to offer a few more treats, one at a time so that the dog will learn that there are potentially more treats to be had and this will build some patience before your release cue.
Look in both directions before saying, “Okay!” to release your dog and return to your walk. If you need to ask your dog to ‘Wait’ at first, that's fine too.
Once they have some practice with this, practice saying ‘Pull Over’ and walking to the side of the trail without the lure. Still, reward them when they get there and release them with an ‘Okay’ before moving on.
You can combine this with other training patterns like Look At That, or the 1-2-3 pattern game. You can use predation games like Sausage Tree or Go Sniff as well to help desensitize your dog to the things that are passing by.
Here are some tips to make this as successful as possible.
If practicing in the wild on a trail seems like it may be too difficult for your dog, just start in your driveway for now.
I like to reward this one by dropping treats on the ground. That gives your dog something to focus on rather than what’s approaching.
Always release with an ‘Okay’ so your dog learns that pull over also means hang out there until released.
It’s important to practice this more for fun than to use it because something is approaching. This is particularly true the more sensitive your dog is. They can easily learn that us pulling over means that something scary, exciting, or interesting is coming our way.
Practice pulling over close to the side of the trail and way off the trail so if a situation arises that you need more space, your dog won’t be suspicious of the change in your behavior.
You can practice this on road walks as well!
During your next walk, take these tools and start to introduce ‘Pull Over’ to your pup. It will feel a little awkward at first but it will start to feel natural with practice. Whether your dog is working on reactivity, polite greeting, or realizing that not every dog or human is there to be greeted, it's a great tool to have to make everyone’s walks easier.
Comments