Dog Hiking Foundations (Wk 3)

This is part 3 of a 6 part series on group hike prep for your pups! If you’re looking for part 1, click here, and for part 2, click here!

Making your pup into the best hiker they can be involves more training for some pups than you’d think. There are so many essential skills that go into a successful and safe adventure, and one that is often overlooked is a dog’s ability to focus, slow down, and have self-control. It isn’t all about letting loose and running free, unfortunately!

But the slower more controlled parts of adventuring aren’t necessarily boring! The exercises we’re about to give you to help your pup out in the impulse control department are actually quite stimulating to their puppy brains and can tire them out as much as physical exercise can. The benefits that come from being better controlled are bountiful as well- more freedom, more trust, and more opportunities will come from a pup better able to control themselves. Check out these two rewarding brain workouts to better your pup’s ability to focus, slow down, and gain self-control!

*Play this Zen Bowl game at least once a day for the next week*

Zen Bowl is a game for teaching your pup that resisting the urge to go in and grab food actually pays off for them. You can play this game at mealtimes, or whenever you’re about to give treats for the next week to increase self-control around food. 

When you have treats in your hand or food in a bowl, start the game by having your pup sit and raise the bowl high to begin. Slowly move the bowl down towards the ground (or your hand closer to your pup’s face). If your pup breaks their sit to go for the bowl or your hand, zip the food back up to the start position and wait for or ask your pup to sit again so you can start over. 

If they can remain sitting while the bowl lowers or your hand gets closer to their face, you can say “good!” and then zip it down to the ground or to their mouth immediately to reward them. Over time, you want them to be able to hold that sit longer and longer as the bowl gets closer to the ground or your hand gets closer to their face. Anytime they move, the game starts over so they learn that patience will get them their food faster than trying to grab it! Watch the following video for inspiration and additional tips! (Include video reference here- I’ll make one of Ayla)

*Use It’s Your Choice at the door each time your pup goes outside over this next week*

This game can be played with food as well, but since we already have a food game, this is for more daily life scenarios! Specifically, if you have a dog who loves to rush outside as soon as you open the door or try to let them out of your car.

Rushing through a threshold is all about just getting from point A to point B faster for our pups- they don’t mean any harm by it! But harm can certainly come by it! Dogs rushing out of doorways or out of cars risk running into streets or chasing wild animals and getting away from you. Not only do we not want that, but we certainly would love to see our pups practice some patience in these scenarios, too, since that patience and self-control can then carry onto other things like resisting the urge to chase after other trail users on a hike, or bolting through a parking lot at a trailhead!

It’s Your Choice is all about the dog making the choices here, good or bad, and we simply control the consequences. Good choices are waiting, sitting, laying down, or offering eye contact at thresholds for us. Bad choices are darting for the open door crack, pushing doors open, and barking or jumping up to get us to open the door. The good choices cause us to continue on with opening the door and allowing the dog to pass through on our say. The bad choices cause us to back up, stop everything, and wait for our dog to offer better choices- no going outside for bad choices!

You can start by reaching for the doorknob to your house before letting your dog out on a walk. With your hand on the door, wait and see what your dog is doing. If their nose is at the crease of the door, keep your hand there and wait them out until they offer back up or looking at you instead. When your dog is being patient, you can turn the knob. If they get up to rush the door, take your hand off the knob, wait for them to again back up and offer a better choice, then try again.

Your goal is to be able to touch the knob, turn the knob, and then open the door a smidge while your dog waits patiently. If they can do that, you can release them to go through at your say! Each time you practice this, try to open the door more and more while they wait patiently until you can swing the door wide open and they remain seated, waiting for you. If they make a bad choice and try to go outside before your say, close the door and don’t allow them through, using your body to block them out of the way while you close it if necessary. 

If your pup struggles, meet them where they are at and see if you can at least get them to wait the few seconds for you to open the door just a crack before releasing them and opening the door for them. 

There is NO talking in this game, just saying your release word at the end when they “win!” This is all about the dog learning that it’s their own choices that decide whether or not they go out. Not a matter of listening to “sit” or “wait.” 

The following video demonstrates IYC at a doorway so you can see this game in action! Give it a try each time you go in or out of your home with your pup and you’ll find they catch on quickly to learning that patience pays off more than impulse!

(insert video here- my dogs are a bit too good at this but will try to use a kennel dog)

Good luck, happy training, and as always, reach out to us at adogslife.dog if you need training help!

This is part 3 of a 6 part series on group hike prep for your pups! If you’re looking for part 1, click here, and for part 2, click here! (link to first and second blogs)

Making your pup into the best hiker they can be involves more training for some pups than you’d think. There are so many essential skills that go into a successful and safe adventure, and one that is often overlooked is a dog’s ability to focus, slow down, and have self-control. It isn’t all about letting loose and running free, unfortunately!

But the slower more controlled parts of adventuring aren’t necessarily boring! The exercises we’re about to give you to help your pup out in the impulse control department are actually quite stimulating to their puppy brains and can tire them out as much as physical exercise can. The benefits that come from being better controlled are bountiful as well- more freedom, more trust, and more opportunities will come from a pup better able to control themselves. Check out these two rewarding brain workouts to better your pup’s ability to focus, slow down, and gain self-control!

*Play this Zen Bowl game at least once a day for the next week*

Zen Bowl is a game for teaching your pup that resisting the urge to go in and grab food actually pays off for them. You can play this game at mealtimes, or whenever you’re about to give treats for the next week to increase self-control around food. 

When you have treats in your hand or food in a bowl, start the game by having your pup sit and raise the bowl high to begin. Slowly move the bowl down towards the ground (or your hand closer to your pup’s face). If your pup breaks their sit to go for the bowl or your hand, zip the food back up to the start position and wait for or ask your pup to sit again so you can start over. 

If they can remain sitting while the bowl lowers or your hand gets closer to their face, you can say “good!” and then zip it down to the ground or to their mouth immediately to reward them. Over time, you want them to be able to hold that sit longer and longer as the bowl gets closer to the ground or your hand gets closer to their face. Anytime they move, the game starts over so they learn that patience will get them their food faster than trying to grab it! Watch the following video for inspiration and additional tips! (Include video reference here- I’ll make one of Ayla)

*Use It’s Your Choice at the door each time your pup goes outside over this next week*

This game can be played with food as well, but since we already have a food game, this is for more daily life scenarios! Specifically, if you have a dog who loves to rush outside as soon as you open the door or try to let them out of your car.

Rushing through a threshold is all about just getting from point A to point B faster for our pups- they don’t mean any harm by it! But harm can certainly come by it! Dogs rushing out of doorways or out of cars risk running into streets or chasing wild animals and getting away from you. Not only do we not want that, but we certainly would love to see our pups practice some patience in these scenarios, too, since that patience and self-control can then carry onto other things like resisting the urge to chase after other trail users on a hike, or bolting through a parking lot at a trailhead!

It’s Your Choice is all about the dog making the choices here, good or bad, and we simply control the consequences. Good choices are waiting, sitting, laying down, or offering eye contact at thresholds for us. Bad choices are darting for the open door crack, pushing doors open, and barking or jumping up to get us to open the door. The good choices cause us to continue on with opening the door and allowing the dog to pass through on our say. The bad choices cause us to back up, stop everything, and wait for our dog to offer better choices- no going outside for bad choices!

You can start by reaching for the doorknob to your house before letting your dog out on a walk. With your hand on the door, wait and see what your dog is doing. If their nose is at the crease of the door, keep your hand there and wait them out until they offer back up or looking at you instead. When your dog is being patient, you can turn the knob. If they get up to rush the door, take your hand off the knob, wait for them to again back up and offer a better choice, then try again.

Your goal is to be able to touch the knob, turn the knob, and then open the door a smidge while your dog waits patiently. If they can do that, you can release them to go through at your say! Each time you practice this, try to open the door more and more while they wait patiently until you can swing the door wide open and they remain seated, waiting for you. If they make a bad choice and try to go outside before your say, close the door and don’t allow them through, using your body to block them out of the way while you close it if necessary. 

If your pup struggles, meet them where they are at and see if you can at least get them to wait the few seconds for you to open the door just a crack before releasing them and opening the door for them. 

There is NO talking in this game, just saying your release word at the end when they “win!” This is all about the dog learning that it’s their own choices that decide whether or not they go out. Not a matter of listening to “sit” or “wait.” 

The following video demonstrates IYC at a doorway so you can see this game in action! Give it a try each time you go in or out of your home with your pup and you’ll find they catch on quickly to learning that patience pays off more than impulse!

(insert video here- my dogs are a bit too good at this but will try to use a kennel dog)

Good luck, happy training, and as always, reach out to us at adogslife.dog if you need training help!

A few times a day, say your dog’s name like you’re calling them, or use whatever recall word or phrase you like, for example we have a pup that recalls to “aquì” which is a Spanish word for “here!” so that the word stands out to their dog when they need it to most. After you call them, magically produce the special treat from behind your back or out of your pocket or out of the fridge and give to your pup, wherever they are. They don’t actually have to come to you to get their treat this week!  We’re simply making a super happy powerful association between the recall and this super yummy special snack. 

If your dog doesn’t like sausage, don’t use sausage of course, it has to be something THEY like and the game works best when it’s a surprise to them. So if you need to get the special treat out of the fridge to hide in your pocket, put it in a smell-proof ziplock first and go about your business for 5-10 minutes so your dog isn’t suspicious! 

After a week of surprise snack recall associations, your pup should really start perking up when they hear their name called out! Be generous with their surprise snack, too, and give them a few bites at a time so it’s super exciting and special for them and they ONLY get these special snacks when they hear this recall/name.

If your pup struggles with trust, shows aggression, or is overly shy about either of these two exercises, we suggest seeking the help of a professional first. We offer training services as well as hiking groups and would be happy to help you out! 

Have fun with these little tips and tricks and stay tuned for our next week’s advice to getting your pup group hike ready!