If you are like most people, you take your dog for a walk for exercise or for a potty break. Surprisingly, one of the questions I get asked frequently is when and how I walk my dogs. There are five main reasons I walk my dogs, and the walking is always intentional. Those reasons are for elimination (toilet breaks), relationship building, to give my dogs a chance to sniff (read the pee mail), exercise, and sometimes to socialize.
In the episode you'll hear:
- The types of walks I take with my dogs.
- How I walk my dogs, and when I choose off-leash or on a leash.
- About Tater’s LOVE of people and what that means when walking him.
- The reasons I am cautious and intentional when walking in new places.
- Why I am always on alert when walking my dogs on leash in a city.
- What I do to keep my dogs safe when walking in new places.
- When and why I use a head halter, a harness or a flat collar.
- About how I start when walking the dogs at home.
- The games I play on walks with my puppy for relationship building.
- About letting dogs scent on walks and sniffing to read the pee mail.
- What I do when my dogs don’t come when called.
- How Tater, Momentum and This! love to use their noses.
- What I do to be intentional about my dogs sniffing on walks.
Resources:
- Podcast Episode 48: Potty Train Your Puppy in a Week (Easy 3 Step Process)
- YouTube Video: Susan Garrett’s Perch Work Dog Tricks (Pivots and Spins)
- Podcast Episode 40: Using a Head Halter on a Dog, Why My Approach is so Different
- Podcast Episode 16: The Thing Before Your Dog’s Thing
- Podcast Episode 11: The Power of Permission in Dog Training
- Recallers
- Podcast Episode 73: Why Your Dog Is Still Pulling on Leash and How To Fix It
- Podcast Episode 53: Stop Your Dog Pulling on Leash and Start Walking Together
- Podcast Episode 29: Understanding and Preventing Reactivity and Aggression in Your Dog
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
Thank you so much Suzan for all your advice full of common sense and love! I just discovered you and find you really inspiring! About letting dogs read the pee mail I agree so much! I just love watching them sniff and always let them take their time to do this! Being outside is THEIR special moment and sniffing everything is just part of what they are!
I’m having trouble making my dog understand that he’s free to sniff around but not pull on the leash, could you talk about that Susan?
Enjoyed the episode about walking. I got excited when Susan said that Tater is crazy about people and children But I was a little disappointed that she didn’t discuss how she walks him around people. My 4 yr old German Shorthaired pointer definitely red zones when we try to walk around people. Since I started HS I have walked her on a gentle leader and things are improving. We are making progress around adults but children still a problem with my girl. Is there another podcast where Susan discusses walking around people?
Hi Susan,
I have been enjoying your podcasts and want to Thank you for taking the time to do them.
My youngest Border Collie has a lot of eye and this is new to me (my other BCs didn’t have as much eye) I would love to hear you do a podcast on how you handle the training struggles that comes along with training a sticky dog. The struggle is real with vulture sits and training contacts.
Thank you,
Debbie
Thanks! Lots to work on here😊🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪