Building Bonds

What do your dog walks look like?

There is no standard for what a leash walk should look like.

In one clip, my dog is walking beautifully beside me.

In the next, my scent hound is completely absorbed in a scent trail, nose to the ground, following information that I can’t even begin to detect.

And you know what? Both are good walks.

A leash walk is not a performance, and it doesn’t have to look the same from one dog to the next.

Breed, temperament, comfort level outside the home, physical abilities and individual preferences all matter. So does the environment.

Did it rain?

Is it 90 or 60 degrees?

Are we on pavement or dirt?

Are there kids getting dropped off at school, bikes and scooters flying by, buses, cars, dogs, construction or a million other things happening around you?

All of those things change what your dog is capable of doing in that particular moment.

So please don’t compare your leash walk with your dog to someone else’s leash walk with theirs.

That comparison is a recipe for frustration and can set you up to think you’re doing something wrong when your dog is simply being your dog in that moment.

Instead, work with the dog who is actually at the end of your leash.

Every walk.
Every environment.
Every moment.

Sometimes that might look like a beautiful, connected walk beside you.

Sometimes it might look like stopping to sniff for five minutes.

Sometimes it might mean giving your dog more space, changing directions, slowing down or heading home.

The leash walk is dynamic.

There is no one “right” way for it to look.

The goal isn’t to make every dog walk the same.

The goal is to help your dog navigate the world successfully, safely and comfortably.

Three dogs walk into a bar…

Wait. No.

Three reactive dogs walk into class in Sahuarita.

They see each other. They have opinions. They communicate those opinions. We listen.

Then we give them some space, some good information, a few snacks, and a chance to make better choices.

Basically, happy hour. 🐕🦮🐕‍🦺🍺🍺🍺🍖🦴🍗

What if we’ve been thinking about dog training all wrong?

We spend so much time teaching dogs to understand OUR language.

Sit. Down. Stay. Come.

But how much time do we spend developing a shared language that helps our dogs understand the world they’re living in?
What’s happening? What’s about to happen? Who is that person? What are we going to do next? What choices do I have?
To me, that’s where some of the most meaningful “training” happens.

And it has very little to do with obedience.

I think we’re missing a much bigger piece of what training can actually be. Training is developing a shared communication system with your dog.

Yes, I use verbal cues with my dogs. But I think of those cues as information. I’m telling my dog something I’d like them to do, and then they have to learn what that information means through experience.

And there’s so much more to communicate than “sit,” “down,” “stay,” or “come.”

Kim Brophey calls this the Mr. Rogers hack: narrating the world for your dog.

And I do this ALL the time.

“I’m going to put your collar on.”

“I’m clipping your leash.”

“We’re going on walkies.”

“That’s a neighbor.”

“Neighbor is crossing the street. We’re going to keep walking.”

“That’s a friend. They might come closer and talk to us.”

“Car or walkies?”

And yes, I really do stand outside saying things like:

“Neighbor! That’s a neighbor. Cross the street. Good crossing the street. Stop. Wait. Good waiting! What good waiting. Awesome sauce. Let’s go.”

My neighbors probably think I’ve lost my mind. 😂

But my dogs understand what I’m saying.

Because I’m not just teaching them words. I’m pairing language with context and experience.

One of my favorite examples is what happens at the end of our walks. I field trip my dogs for their walks, so we drive somewhere, get out, and go exploring. When we’re finished, I don’t just decide that the walk is over and march them back to the car.

I ask:

“Car or walkies?”

And she gets to make a choice.

Some days it’s “CAR!”

Other days it’s very clearly “WALKIES!”

And I honor that information.

Over time, my dogs have developed a vocabulary that goes far beyond obedience commands.

They have words for what’s happening around them, what’s about to happen, who we might encounter, what their options are, and what they can expect from me.

That, to me, is training.

It’s creating a shared language that makes the world more understandable for both of us.

And honestly?

It has made living with my dogs so much more interesting, cooperative and connected.

The goal isn’t just to teach our dogs how to respond to us. It’s to teach them how to understand the world we share.

P.S. If you watch the video, Jasper has an obssessive water consumption problem that can lead to regurgitation. This is why I am limiting how much he can drink!