Is Your Dog a Nightmare to Walk? 5 Common Mistakes You Could Be Making
Do you find yourself thinking, “my dog is a nightmare to walk”? Youâre not alone. Many owners unknowingly make common mistakes that lead to leash pulling, over-arousal, and poor behaviour. In this post, Iâll discuss 5 mistakes you may be making that are stifling your dogâs progress and offer practical tips to help turn walks into a more enjoyable experience for both of you.
Having a dog that is a nightmare to walk, that pulls you around, lunges and barks at dogs (or people or cars) or even jumps up on people can be super frustrating and even more so embarrassing. Dealing with this on a daily basis can be taxing for a lot of owners.
Now normally I’d give you tips of things to do to improve your walk, but we aren’t going to do that today (if you do want some tips I do have a blog post on loose leash walking games you can check out).
Today we’re going to look at the mistakes that we as owners constantly make which can make our walks even harder to deal with.
5 Common Mistakes Owners Make on Walks
#1 – Allowing Constant Interaction With Environment
I see this a lot, especially with puppies. Constantly running up to other dogs and people. What may seem like a behaviour that is cute and pure actually is one that is going to cause issues.
Allowing a dog to constantly run up to people or other dogs is going to start creating an obsession with other people and dogs. You will end up having a dog that when they see a person or another dog will start to become over aroused and will attempt to make their way over, whether you want to or not. They may even have trouble holding back the excitement and react a bit stronger, letting out a bark.
As this behaviour repeats it becomes stronger and more stubborn. Soon you may have a dog that struggles to contain themselves in the presence of these triggers and then is deemed âreactiveâ and then you’ll screaming ‘help, my dog is a nightmare to walk!’
- Solution
I’d love to say stop all on-leash greetings but that isn’t a popular choice for many people. So what I recommend is making your dog ask for permission before interaction (in the form of a sit or eye contact).
Getting that permission is impulse control, your dog has to wait before you allow them to go interact. The skill of impulse control allows a dog to slightly decompress and when developed make better and calmer choices.
So instead of letting your dog pull you to another dog or person, stop, hold your ground, wait for them to give you attention, hold it and then release. If you consistently do this with a âcompeting motivatorâ on your walk you will start to build that engagement and impulse control out on walks.
#2 – Allowing Too Much Stress and Overarousal
An issue I see a lot is people allowing their dogs to just pull them around sniffing at things. Now for some dogs this is fine, but for others this can lead to frantic behaviour and overarousal.
I always recommend that with reactive and anxious dogs you have to set boundaries. You can’t allow them to pull or constantly sniff around, because it can be overwhelming which can lead to a dog overstimulated on walks.
I don’t know about you but there have been times Jasper and I are walking and he’ll be sniffing and catch the scent of another dog. His body then goes into an instant state of arousal.
Now if you imagine a dog bouncing around from scent to scent maybe near traffic and people and other distractions, it can truly be overwhelming.
Having a dog that becomes worked up and overwhelmed can also lead to trigger stacking – the build of stress and overwhelment until a reaction becomes imminent.
- Solution
The solution is simply to set boundaries. There’s always a weird grumble from some when I mention boundaries but remember, these can be as strict or as loose as you choose, you just require your dog to abide.
The benefit of boundaries is the same as with above, they help build impulse control.
When walking Jasper (or other dogs) I use a structured walk method. My left leg becomes a boundary and I teach him to stay behind that leg (due to reactivity I prefer him slightly behind). I use this when we are walking through busy areas or past children and triggers. However, when it’s more relaxed I allow calm liberty and to walk in front and sniff and enjoy the walk.
Having structure on a walk is incredibly beneficial especially if you have a dog that pulls or is reactive or can be fearful. It can help slow them down and think and engage a bit more.
The ability to walk with your dog by your side and then release them and allow them to do what they want is the definition of partnership.
#3 – Allowing Repetition of Bad Behaviour
Behaviour is just a series of habits ingrained into our system.
A mistake many people make and then wonder why they aren’t making progress is allowing the behaviour to keep happening. You can’t think my dog is a nightmare to walk and then allow them to continue as they were.
If they have a dog that pulls, they keep allowing the dog to pull. If they have a dog that they know gets excited by everyone, they’ll still allow everyone to come up and interact.
The more a dog practises a behaviour the more prominent that behaviour path is going to be. Think about it this way, if you caught a ball with your left hand all your life and I threw a ball at you, what hand would you catch it with? Your left right? So when we allow our dogs to pull, lunge and jump up we strengthen that behaviour, making it the norm.
Our goal now is to start teaching our dog to catch the ball in their right hand, show them a different path that is actually more rewarding and gets them what they want quicker.
- Solution
Figure out which behaviours you don’t want and stop allowing them. Obviously this is a lot easier said than done but this is the basis of this solution.
If you have a dog that pulls, stop allowing them to pull, when they pull, stop. They will learn that pulling gets them nowhere. Soon enough you can develop this into leash manners.
If you have a dog that barks at every dog, person, bike and leaf. Build up engagement and learn to use that BEFORE your dog barks allowing them to make a better choice.
If you have a dog that jumps up on people only allow affection when the dog is sitting. If it is more of a case of excitement, only allow the dog interaction if it is calm (also make sure the interaction itself is calm).
#4 – Aren’t Present on Walks
This might be a bit of a band aid to pull off for some people but a huge contribution to why your dog is so distracted and wants to interact in the environment and ignore you is simply because you aren’t interesting enough. Why should your dog walk with you and pay attention if you aren’t doing the same thing?
Now before I get crucified, think about honestly how much interaction you give your dog on the walk. How present are you when you walk together? Do you reinforce good behaviour? Do you check in with your dog? When was the last time you made an effort to be fun on a walk?
A lot of people zone out when walking their dog, the lights are on but there’s no one home. The point is if you aren’t present and engaged with your walk, why should your dog be?
We can’t expect our dogs to walk with us (a slower pace to them as it is) and not provide them with anything. It’s like being stuck in an elevator with someone you have nothing in common with.
- Solution
Have fun on your walks. Throw in some obedience, some structure but more importantly throw in some play and some treats chase games.
The goal is to make your dog think that walking next to you is the best thing since sliced bread. You want them thinking that there is an opportunity for fun that nothing else out there can provide. You make them want to walk with you.
A great starting point is just carrying high value treats or a tug and rewarding with treats or play for checking in with you. I have a post on loose leash walking games where you can discover how to start building engagement on walks.
#5 – Can’t Communicate With Their Dog
Finally is communication! A lot of you might be thinking, how the f*** do I communicate with my dog?! The answer is through your training.
Obedience, engagement, marker training. These 3 allow you to start creating lines of communication with your dog.
Obedience is what we may ask of our dog, engagement is having our dog want to work for us and marker training is how we show what behaviours we like and what behaviours we don’t.
How many times have you seen someone being dragged by their dog and shouting âheelâ âheelâ âALFIE HEELâ?
- Solution
Work on creating clear communication with your dog. Take the time to properly train what you need in low distracting environments before moving on to more difficult areas.
Work around different distractions in different scenarios and as time goes by and your communication improves you will start to see how well that rubs off into your walks.
Practise your basic obedience, create a high reward history and make your dog want to do the thing you are asking.
How to Turn a Stressful Walk into a Positive Experience
If your dog is a nightmare to walk, itâs easy to feel frustrated or defeated. However, the first step to improving your walks is to focus on making them a positive experience for both you and your dog. Shifting your mindset and approach can make a world of difference.
#1 – Focus on Engagement
Keep your dog engaged during the walk by using training games, cues, or treats to hold their attention and reduce distractions.
#2 – Clear Communication
Ensure that your dog understands whatâs expected of them by using clear, consistent commands. Communication is key to maintaining control and reducing stress for both of you.
#3 – Patience and Consistency
Remember that behaviour change doesnât happen overnight. By remaining patient and consistent, you can help your dog make better choices during walks over time.
#4 – Strong Foundations
Having a strong foundation when it comes to loose leash walking is something that cannot be rushed. You are teaching your dog exactly what you want and what you don’t want. Start basic in low distraction environments, make it reinforcing for your dog and then start building up distance, duration and level of distraction.
5 Day Stress Detox
If you are struggling with walks due to overarousal and frantic behaviour then you can also look into going through a stress detox with your dog.
A stress detox is a period of time where you work on reducing and eliminating the stress in your dog that is causing unwanted behaviour. Instead of going for stressful walks we focus on sensory activities, puzzles, meaningful exercise and most importantly the rest and relaxation required to get rid of the stress in the body.
I’ve made a FREE 5 day stress detox which is super easy to follow and customise and explains why it’s important to get rid of stress and how it can make your life so much easier!
Final Thoughts
Are you guilty of any of these mistakes? I made a few in my early stages of Jasper, complaining that my dog is a nightmare to walk yet also doing things that hindered progress without even realising. However, mistakes can be learned from and progress can still be made if you’re willing to shift your perspective from my dog is a nightmare to walk…to what can I do better?
