Do you have a dog that as soon as you open that door is blasting out?
So much so that you dread going for a walk with them.
That's exactly the case with Storm, the dog we're gonna work with today.
Her owners have struggled so much with her dragging them through the door and
then pulling them down the street. Welcome back to McCann Dogs.
I'm instructor Carol.
Today I'm gonna show you how to be successful on a walk with your dog and it
happens before you even open the door. Storm looks pretty calm here.
She's interested in the door, but uh,
she's pretty calm except when I open the door.
She's just learned that she can burst through that.
It's pretty exciting for most dogs. Going through a doorway,
going outside is a thrill. Uh,
and she's rehearsed.
Just going through and even the act of rehearsing that is rewarding. I don't
need to reward my dog.
Just that release of energy getting outside is so rewarding.
So it's likely to happen and get worse. So, uh,
we're gonna work through with Storm that teach her that that's not the way to go
through a door. So initially I'm gonna make sure my lease isn't tight.
I'm not holding her back. That's actually gonna increase the desire to get out.
If I am holding you back from a million dollars, you're just gonna want it more.
So I don't want the leash tight. However,
I don't wanna hold it like this cuz then I may go airborne when she decides to
go through. So I've got just enough slack so that it's not tight.
She can make a choice and I'm just going to add a result to that choice.
So I'm just stopping her from getting out to little tension.
So she said that wasn't very acceptable.
So I didn't actually pop her or yank her.
I don't wanna add to our energy level. All I did was put on a brake.
So she tries to go through, Oh there's a force field, she just can't,
We're gonna try that again.
My leash is gathered up but I'm not holding her back. The door opens.
I'm just gonna prevent her from leaving. Good.
And notice I didn't pull her back in when I prevented her from leaving and that
tension was on the leash, she's sort of stuck. So dogs will move in.
So that went pretty quickly. It may seem like an hour,
it might be two or three minutes.
Just holding that tension so that it's parallel.
Dogs will eventually move into the direction of that tension. We gonna go's
attention. We're gonna go outside. We can go outside. Oh,
she didn't cross the threshold this time.
She'd like to tension on.
You can see leash parallel to the ground cuz I want her to move in the direction
of the tension. If I had the tension up,
I don't want her to jump up into my face. Okay,
She's still interested in going out. Now here's what happened there.
There was the slightest bit of tension, but dogs are black and white.
If I reward the tension by letting her go out,
I'm gonna get more and more tension. So I'm just gonna be patient.
I'm gonna wait till I have no tension on that leash.
Just that little bit of tension. They understand that. Should we try it again?
Girly? Do you wanna go outside?
So I'm gonna add that tension now I'm gonna see if she holds there.
If yeah, almost. I'm gonna,
I've got a little tension on but she's not really pulling.
I'm gonna see if she looks back cuz that's an acknowledgement of her choice.
I still think her choice is to go through that door.
So I'm gonna add the tension.
I don't want her to stand there and self-reward staring outside forever.
But I really thought a good choice was coming there. Again,
I wanna explain that.
If she's just sort of standing there and I think she totally focused outside,
she may not even be making the choice.
But if she says this isn't working and she looks at me now I know she's making a
choice. Oh, I like that. Yes. I'm even gonna reward that attention.
Storm doesn't know me very well, I'm gonna reward from my face.
I want her to think that looking at me.
She says I'm not too interested in the food cause I'd rather be outside. Yes.
When she looks at, yes, when she looks at me, that's when the door opens.
Oh and she's sitting there. I like that. Yes. Ok girlie let's go, let's go.
That was exciting. You may say, uh, it didn't seem too exciting.
Well I tell you it was cuz she made a choice not to pull.
Now it wasn't, you know, six feet wasn't for 10 minutes,
but she made for clearly several seconds. She made the choice not to pull.
That clip on her collar was hanging straight down,
meaning there's no tension. Meaning she made the choice not to pull.
What a good girl. So I immediately give her a release word.
Okay, let's go, ran out with her so that she's gonna now start to associate.
I don't burst out. That's how I get out. But when she tried to pull through,
didn't work too well. So you think we're done? I'm gonna say no.
She's doing a great job.
But I want lots of value of not bursting through that door.
Cause again, the allure of the great outdoors is so high.
So I wanna catch a couple of things. One,
I'd still like her to give me a little more attention.
She's doing it when I to get out. But once the door opens,
she's still thinking a little bit too much about the outside.
Even though she's not pulling. Would I trust her if somebody left the door open?
No. So I'm gonna do a couple of things. I'm gonna see if she looks, if she does,
I'll go out just like I have. But if she doesn't and she holds on a loose leash,
I'm gonna put a little more value from not bursting out that door and you'll see
how I do that. So I like she's sitting,
she's looking at me now cuz she's figured out that's part of the process.
Oh, I love the fact that she is sitting. You know what,
I'm gonna reward that little piece with some food. Yes. Good girl.
And you know what?
I might even take a treat and I'm gonna reward her for that great choice.
Going back into the house. Yes. Get that.
So not all the excitement is out there. Aha. What.
A good girl.
Yeah, she's Oh, oh, oh, I didn't release you.
I'm just gonna start over. Black and white. No big deal.
That was hard because the door didn't open. I threw that treat. Oh.
Oh you are brilliant. Yes.
And I don't need to use food now cuz she's learning that sitting patient looking
at me is what's opening the door.
Just gonna make it sure it's loose. Yes. Okay, good girly.
Good girl. I just thought my first win dog on a loose leash. Getting attention,
nice and calm. Your dog's done that. Are you ready to go for a walk now?
I don't think so. I know what storm's gonna do the next time I go out.
I need a second win. You need a second win before you go for a walk.
What does that look like?
I need a mindful dog that's paying attention to me and able to be on a loose
leash. You might not even get for a walk today, but you know what,
if you don't get these wins, you might never get a good walk.
Good girl. Yes.
Okay. Oh, but now we get some pulling.
So she's doing pretty well. If I just let her burst through,
she would've been so much higher.
But the fact that um,
we worked inside it allowed her to calm herself down.
But I'm still getting pulling so I'm not going any further.
Just the same way it took me time to come out the door.
Now all I'm gonna do with her is I'm just gonna do some circles.
I'm not dragging her. I'm walking along giving some tension on that leash.
Just waiting. She'll eventually look back into that tension.
I know outside is so exciting. And if you notice,
there's one thing I don't think I've said so far. This whole video is her name.
Cuz I'm not asking for attention. I'm just gonna work this.
Good girl. Yes. Yes.
And I got a look. So I mean,
yeah. So I'm gonna take the opportunity to reward that good girl.
Yes. And then we might try, Can you walk me? Let's go. Let's go.
Good. I'm gonna encourage her when she's working with me.
When the leash goes tight, I'm no longer encouraging. Right? Little girl. Yes.
Let's go. Good girl. Now she's not. Are you not pull? Yes.
So that means we get to go even farther just like we came. Yes.
I think that deserves a reward though.
I want her to have lots of value for this. Yes.
I don't want her to think this is a bad thing.
I want her to think walking with me is wonderful.
So whether your dog is wild and crazy or a little bit nervous that just
moving around saying, I'm not gonna let you pull on the leash. Being a leader,
just moving her around, um,
letting her focus on whatever's exciting them or getting them a little bit
nervous. You could see how she changed around. She was able to sit,
look at me on a loose leash. And that's what we all want.
If you're looking for personalized instruction for you and your dog,
check out the link in the description below to our Life Skills program.
Getting out the door is the first and probably most important step in successful
leash walking. To find out the next steps, check out this video right here.
On that note, I'm Carol. This is Storm. Happy. Training