Amata (they/she) on Nostr: I thought I'd talk a bit about hiking skills your dog should have! >> Leashes You may ...
I thought I'd talk a bit about hiking skills your dog should have!
>> Leashes
You may have noticed a lot of photos of my pup off leash. We do this where it is allowed. Many public trails require dogs to be leashed, and many cities take this a step further and specify a six foot maximum length (that flexi users happily ignore...).
We actually hike on leash most of the time, despite the fact that she was nationally certified for Search & Rescue working off leash for many years. This only was for *working* situations and does not give us the right - despite the actual high level of training and skill off leash - to do this on public trails with leash laws outside of working missing person cases.
*If we, who are actually nationally certified, still hike on lead where rules require, so can your dog!*
>> Let's talk about skills for polite hiking now that we are all on the same page to use a leash.
Dogs should not automatically approach other dogs or people on trails. This is hard for "friendly dogs" but it is not friendly for the recipient to have an unwelcome dog coming up to them! In addition, nose to nose greetings are rude in the dog world, which passing on a trail is likely to cause, and likely to trigger a reaction which no one wants to have ruin their hiking day.
Solutions: You should train your dog in the following skills:
1. Heel on both sides (left and right) so you can always put yourself between your dog and the other party. If their dog (or humans!) are not well trained, this means you can more easily intervene on your dog's behalf. Or, if they ask, then "sure you can pet!" - but do not assume everyone loves your dog as much as you do!
2. Take it a step further and work on passing in narrow spaces with distractions.
3. Practice sitting calmly with you and watching life go by. Find a park bench. Sit outside a dog park. Practice! What does this skill turn into? Being able to step off trail and sit calmly in both heel and *behind* you, while watching others pass. A great solution if you need a little more distance, or you can tell they don't have their dog under control. I use this a lot when I see someone approaching whose dog is already lunging & dragging their human towards us as soon as they spot us! We will just get off trail as far as we can and have her sit behind me, again putting myself between their dog and mine as they holler "My dog just loves dogs and is friendly!" as they pass. (No, your dog is overstimulated and this is a potentially dangerous situation!)
Find a friend to practice with! Use a large stuffed animal in your yard to practice walking by weird things calmly!
I also love short traffic handle leads, and most of my leashes have one built in. This is long enough to reach from my dog's height to my hand, but no extra space. It is a great way to showcase visually that your dog won't be a problem to pick up that short loop, giving others peace of mind that your dog not only won't lunge, but actually, cannot.
#dog #dogs #DogsOfMastodon #training #DogTraining #Hiking #Skills #Adventure
>> Leashes
You may have noticed a lot of photos of my pup off leash. We do this where it is allowed. Many public trails require dogs to be leashed, and many cities take this a step further and specify a six foot maximum length (that flexi users happily ignore...).
We actually hike on leash most of the time, despite the fact that she was nationally certified for Search & Rescue working off leash for many years. This only was for *working* situations and does not give us the right - despite the actual high level of training and skill off leash - to do this on public trails with leash laws outside of working missing person cases.
*If we, who are actually nationally certified, still hike on lead where rules require, so can your dog!*
>> Let's talk about skills for polite hiking now that we are all on the same page to use a leash.
Dogs should not automatically approach other dogs or people on trails. This is hard for "friendly dogs" but it is not friendly for the recipient to have an unwelcome dog coming up to them! In addition, nose to nose greetings are rude in the dog world, which passing on a trail is likely to cause, and likely to trigger a reaction which no one wants to have ruin their hiking day.
Solutions: You should train your dog in the following skills:
1. Heel on both sides (left and right) so you can always put yourself between your dog and the other party. If their dog (or humans!) are not well trained, this means you can more easily intervene on your dog's behalf. Or, if they ask, then "sure you can pet!" - but do not assume everyone loves your dog as much as you do!
2. Take it a step further and work on passing in narrow spaces with distractions.
3. Practice sitting calmly with you and watching life go by. Find a park bench. Sit outside a dog park. Practice! What does this skill turn into? Being able to step off trail and sit calmly in both heel and *behind* you, while watching others pass. A great solution if you need a little more distance, or you can tell they don't have their dog under control. I use this a lot when I see someone approaching whose dog is already lunging & dragging their human towards us as soon as they spot us! We will just get off trail as far as we can and have her sit behind me, again putting myself between their dog and mine as they holler "My dog just loves dogs and is friendly!" as they pass. (No, your dog is overstimulated and this is a potentially dangerous situation!)
Find a friend to practice with! Use a large stuffed animal in your yard to practice walking by weird things calmly!
I also love short traffic handle leads, and most of my leashes have one built in. This is long enough to reach from my dog's height to my hand, but no extra space. It is a great way to showcase visually that your dog won't be a problem to pick up that short loop, giving others peace of mind that your dog not only won't lunge, but actually, cannot.
#dog #dogs #DogsOfMastodon #training #DogTraining #Hiking #Skills #Adventure