Working the walk

While Soos generally walks well on or walks, he does get more excited than I like when he sees other dogs.  This is pretty common with foster pups that come to us for fostering.  I believe it's likely a result of their very limited experience of walking on leash in environments with a good amount of stimuli.  This being something I want to work on with him, I needed to come up with a plan. My main goal is to set him up for success which means breaking the work down into small parts so that WE are successful.  I've learned the hard way that it doesn't make sense to just start the work outside/once we see a dog.  That's frustrating for both the dog and myself.

 

So, in our house I've been rewarding Soos when he looks at me.  Basically the work is:  Soos looks at me, I mark that behavior with a verbal "yes" or a click of the clicker and then he gets a treat.  Once he had that down, we then added in the next step - walking down the hallway in his walking gear.  When I stop, I want Soos to look at me.  By doing this work in the house there are less environmental distractions.  Soos is super smart and it took him no time at all to figure out what I was wanting from him.  Remember - reward the behavior you want!  These little "training sessions" last just a couple of minute and happen 3-4 times a day.  These training sessions are fun for Soos and it reinforces our teamwork and connection.

Here's a great post on 8 tips for successful dog training

 

Over the course of a week and seeing that Soos had this skill down, we were ready to take it to the street.  I opted to try this out on a quiet street where we rarely run into dogs.

 

"I'm ready!"

 

So, when we are walking and I stop, I want Soos to look at me.  I'm marking the behavior (with a "yes" since I can't video, click and reward all at one) and rewarding him when he looks at me.  Good boy Soos!

 

And then our work pays off despite me not being aware of what's coming... foster mom trying to do too much with getting a video for this blog post.  And I'm very lucky this didn't go south!  As you can see, Soos did great - there was no barking or getting overly excited about seeing that dog.

As with anything training requires practice, repetition and an ongoing commitment.  Soos and I will keep at this in and out of the house and I have no doubt he's going to continue to do great!