Alexandria, VA – Is the “simple” act of walking your dog turning out to be much harder than you expected? Welcome to a very large club.
Part of all that pulling, lunging, and barking may well be your frustrated dog asking the question, “What the heck is this walk FOR?” Answer that question in a way that makes sense to a dog, and you’re well on your way to a better walk.
What’s a Natural Walk for a Dog?
Humans have such rosy expectations for the classic walk around the neighborhood. We think it’s the most natural thing in the world. Unfortunately for our canine friends, there is nothing natural to a dog about being tethered to a human by a taut line, moving (forward only) at a uniform pace, ignoring all scents, and passing other similarly confined dogs at incredibly close range. That is frankly the opposite of the walk a canine with free choice would choose.
But don’t worry. That doesn’t mean we’re all doomed to a walk that isn’t mutually fun and rewarding. It just means that in order to craft the right style of adventure together, we need to think a little bit harder about what our dog’s genes are telling him or her. We can tweak our approach to better meet our dog’s natural needs, which is the fastest path to meeting our own.
In nature, animals only do things that have a purpose related to survival. Their activities are always rooted in one of these three categories:
• Foraging for food
• Social and reproductive
• Hazard avoidance
On our walks, we generally don’t let our dogs eat garbage, hunt squirrels, or mate. So perhaps they’re barking and lunging because they have concluded this walk is about hazards.
Here’s How to Add Purpose
By combining your creativity with your treat pouch, you can add some classic canine purpose to your walk. Here are some things to try:
Sniffari: Let your dog sniff. At length. Over and over. Your dog is gathering data about the world at a level that we humans with our measly scent receptors can only dream of. (This can be a trifecta of foraging, social AND hazard avoidance.)
Events: Include your dog into regular walkable events that have a purpose For example, picking up the kids from school or getting a cup of coffee. Dogs absolutely understand the jobs of keeping the family together and procuring food.
Find it: You can set up foraging activity by tossing treats in front of you as you walk, saying “find it!” Make it harder as your dog gets better at it and begins to understand the game.
Scenting other animals: Right after your dog has politely passed a dog on the other side of the street, reward that by crossing over to sniff away at the wake of scent left by that other dog. This is in such direct contrast to a stressed, on-leash meeting where neither dog can act naturally. Instead, let your dog gather data about the other dog at his or her own pace.
Play “paw”kour: Play a dog version of parkour, where you encourage your dog to engage with the environment at your direction. Allow jumping on the bench, putting both paws up on the tree trunk, etc.
Trash “hunting”: Bring an extra bag on a walk and enlist your canine partner to help locate trash you can clean up. Add in a nice protocol with a gleeful celebration of discovery, a nice long sniff of it, followed by a treat.
The common thread running through this list is that — rather than constantly spending your walk being surprised and off-balance by what comes at you — you’re taking the initiative and curating the active experience for the both of you. The more you do this, the more your dog will begin to feel this walk falls deeply into the “social” category as you two walk with what finally feels like canine purpose through your world. (By the way, my fellow Alexandria-based trainer Mike Tomai and I do a deep dive into this topic on our podcast “Pick of the Litter” if you want to hear more.)
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Kathy Callahan is the author of “Welcoming Your Pupy From Planet Dog.” Her new book, “Old Dog New Dog: Supporting Your Aging Best Friend and Welcoming a New One” is out this spring.
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