Educating The Dog During Daily Walks
Educating your dog during daily walks allows you to teach him to be balanced while enjoying the moment and avoiding problems with other dogs.
Surely you have seen or experienced it yourself: dogs that pull the leash when they are in the street or that start running without paying the slightest attention to the calls of their master. This is why it is important to educate the dog during daily walks. Find out how in this article!
Educating the dog during walks: main rules
If a new puppy has just arrived in the house and you need to start taking him out for daily walks, it is essential to implement some basic rules, which will make these moments more pleasant and fun:
1. Collar and leash
Both are essential when the animal is small and has no experience. Using them will prevent the animal from straying too far from you and will be able to control it better.
Initially he could pull a lot, but with patience and dedication you will be able to make him walk alongside you as “he should”. In some cases it may be necessary to use a harness to avoid injury or neck injury in the dog.
2. Control
This is essential for the walk to continue smoothly. The dog – whether it is a small Shar Pei or a Dalmatian – must know that you are in control and not the other way around.
He must walk beside you – neither in front nor behind – following your step. You can reward him with some snacks when he behaves right.
3. Calm down
It should not be forgotten how animals identify people’s emotions. Therefore, if you are calm, your dog will be calm too.
Before going out, avoid arousing him with words like “walk” or “road”, otherwise he will become nervous. Walk, take breaks and enjoy the moment… it will too!
4. Patience
Dog training is not an easy task, it takes time, effort and effort, but the results will be satisfying.
Your dog will learn day by day, and if you show him your pride and praise him, he will undoubtedly want to behave better and better.
5. Rewards
What better way to let your dog know that you are happy with how he is behaving than by giving him gifts?
They don’t need to be cookies or snacks, just a caress, a loving word or extra time dedicated to playing with him.
Educate the dog during off-leash walks
Once you have achieved all the above goals, it is time to complicate things a bit by trusting that he will be able to make it in any situation.
Taking your dog for a walk off the leash may seem impossible, but it’s not at all.
To start, let it go a little at a time. You can buy extendable leashes with a radius of a few meters, so that the animal thinks he is free while remaining under your control.
Choose a large space, if possible delimited, to practice the first few times. Your dog’s reaction will be to leave and run, and in the heat and joy it may cross the street or bump into passers-by.
It is very important to choose direct and concrete orders to ensure that the animal understands when to return to your side and how to walk very close to you (as if he were on a leash). One word may be enough: let’s go, walk, play, etc.
Educating a dog to avoid fighting
When we go out for the daily walk, we usually take our dog to the park or to a green space where other animals are also found.
While it is important for the animal to socialize for its full development, interacting with other dogs can lead to behavior problems such as dog bites or fights.
By this stage your dog should have learned who’s in charge and be able to obey your orders. However, if he “forgets” this detail, it is probably because he identifies an imminent danger (such as the presence of another dog).
To start, let him approach the newcomer slowly, without taking off the leash. Evaluate his reaction and body language and be careful if the time comes to take him away from the conflict.
Instructing the dog during the daily walk is not an easy task, but the rewards it will give you are immense. For this it deserves effort!
