4 PRACTICAL SKILLS EVERY REACTIVE OR EASILY DISTRACTED DOG NEEDS FOR RELAXING WALKS

At Dogs Trust I travelled across the North of England providing training, behaviour, enrichment, health and legal advice to hundreds of dog owners every week and developed new campaigns for responsible dog ownership, including the successful campaign to parliament for compulsory microchipping.

I’ve worked with thousands of dogs and their families over the years and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are 4 practical skills every reactive or distracted dog should know so that you can enjoy stress free walks.

Let me explain why . . .

1️⃣ Loose lead walking

For some people loose lead walking is the biggest problem and so it’s the obvious thing that needs addressing. But for others, the pulling on the lead problem may feel secondary to other more distressing issues such as reactivity. However, teaching your dog to walk on a loose lead is essential for dogs of any temperament because a dog who is pulling is not calm. And a dog who is not calm is not listening. They’re worked up, just trying to go forwards, forwards, forwards. Loose lead walking is a calm behaviour. Calm body = calm mind. 

2️⃣ Recall 

Whether your dog is reactive or distracted, if they don’t have a reliable recall, it’s a problem. By distracted I mean those dogs who love life so much they want to go and say hi to all people and dogs. The issue of course is that not all dogs or people want to be approached by friendly dogs. Reactive dog owners, I know what you’re thinking; my dog is never off lead anyway so I don't need to worry about recall. I would still encourage you to have a watertight recall. Why? Because when you find a nice quiet place to walk you’ll feel confident letting your dog off lead. Plus it’s fun, it strengthens your relationship, and, black-sky thinking; what if they slip their harness or the lead breaks? Knowing you can recall your dog means more enjoyable walks for everyone. 

3️⃣ Focus techniques

We all need some simple strategies for getting your dog to focus on you and ignore a distraction. The distraction could be a person or another dog, or just general excitement making them pull on the lead. We call these Ninja Moves - they’re for when you need laser-sharp focus from your dog to avoid meltdowns. Have a variety up your sleeve to pull out whenever you need them. It's what every reactive or easily distracted dog needs!

4️⃣ Sniffing 

You would think this is not exactly a skill we need to teach our dogs - after all, dogs have such powerful noses! But although dogs obviously know how to sniff, not all of them do so on walks. Some dogs are so hypervigilant on walks, always looking for triggers and distractions, that they don’t do what dogs do best - use their nose to explore. Give your dog a little extra time just to sniff around – and if they don’t, the place you’re walking might be too distracting. Choose somewhere quieter. Sniffing is calming for dogs and helps them feel relaxed so more sniffing and less looking can lead to calmer behaviour. Nose down, bottoms up!

Practical skills are just one part of the puzzle; having a dog that’s calm enough to learn these skills is the most crucial step. It’s what we teach in Scentventure.