Heading to an off-leash dog location with your inquisitive canine? Remember to bring along a few useful behaviors to make your outing an ideal situation. The following are a few I would bring along to help knock any challenge outta the park!
- Eye-contact: this helps to remind your dog of the fabulous relationship you share and that you’re there together. And, when they’re looking at you they’re not doing other things that you might find annoying.
- Walking nicely next to you (or in close enough proximity to where you feel comfortable) while they’re off-leash. Some dogs learn to discriminate that being on leash means walking next to you, and being free as a bird means they’re free as a bird.
You can simply follow the same steps for teaching on-leash healing, with the added steps of allowing the leash to drag behind while practicing in low distraction areas. Once you move outside and
to the park you’ll want to still have your dog drag the leash while at the same time using higher value motivators more frequently to help keep them focused on you. You can then switch to a long-line (as long as it’s safe for everyone) and slowly fade out the leash altogether once your dog has learned this new skill.
- Coming when called. The sound of your voice calling should be music to your dogs ears. Once again this is a behavior you’ll want to practice first in a low distraction area, then gradually moving to those places he or she would find more interesting. And, as above with the leash walking, you’ll want to use rewards your dog would do backflips over. You can read additional tips on teaching dogs to come when called on this inquisitive canine blog post.
- Leaving things alone when asked. A cue such as “leave it!” can be used during those times that might be more urgent – such as right before your dog decides to take a swim in a lake or go after a wildlife creature. Of course it’s best to interrupt their behavior beforehand using your “coming when called” but if you’re caught off-guard, this one can get their attention.
If your dog already has a baseline of these skills continuing to practice now and again helps to maintain proficiency. If you’re starting from square one we suggest you start by dividing overall behaviors into smaller, single behaviors. Asking too much at one time can send any animal over the edge and into a pool of frustration (humans too), so make sure you’re consistent with the less-is-more training plan.
5 Responses
Thanks for sharing this post to us. This is really informative about taking care of our pet dogs. This will really help dog owners.
Thanks for sharing these tips. I’m looking forward for trying a new approach for walking with a leash. You’re the best!
Hey Lisa – glad to hear you find our leash-walking tips helpful. We’re thrilled you’re spending time with your dog, providing the education and skills they need for heading out on the town. Click-treat for you both!
Dear Inquisitive Canine, hoping for a little advice please. I have a 1.5 yr old moodle. ( Maltese x toy poodle) Emotionally charged and by this I mean he decides whence wants to play ball at park and when he feels like playing with his friends. Having issues with younger puppies. Especially male. They can be neutered or not. The play fighting quickly becomes more aggressive and he definitely trying to show his dominance. To a point where after we ( other owner and myself) have leg them try and work it out) I have to pull this teeth baring fluffy thing off the other dog. Sometimes the squeak of the ball stops him. There has been a couple of occasions where after many meetings both dogs now play well together.
If I take him away froth the situation he’s fine to play alone and doesn’t run back to ‘attack’. Is there anything I can do or not do to? We will always come across new puppies so want to stop behaviour. Thanks
Hello Dee – Thanks for joining in the conversation. Regarding the bullying the younger pups, I would redirect your dog to a more appropriate behavior, one that you can reward him for. For example, puppy appears, you lure your dog to you and reward for sit, down, walking next to you – throw the ball, treat with high value food, pet and praise him. This way, the other dog doesn’t get targeted, and your dog starts to associate puppies with good things for himself. For dogs he plays well with, reward him for playing nicely, shaping his behavior to using more appropriate play skills. 🙂