Having some great tools to help you with your loose leash,
walking training is only going to make things better.
And today I wanna help you with a tool that is going to do just that.
There are three moments in your leash walking training that could have you
failing and struggling before you've even gotten started.
My goal with the tool that we're gonna give you today is to help keep your walks
wonderful and stop the pulling, stop all the frustrations,
stop your dogs getting distracted by other things out there in the world as
well. I bet you're wondering what the tool is that I keep talking about,
and the tool that's going to help you with all of your distraction training.
I like to call the distraction ladder,
and basically that ladder is something that is going to be individual for you
and your dog and something that's really important to understand when you apply
the ladder to your loose leash. Walking, for example,
you might be taking several steps up the ladder and doing great,
but then you might have to reassess and take a few steps down the ladder when
things change in the environment. Let's get a little bit deeper into this.
The big mistake that a lot of people make is expecting that the distraction
works starts when they're already out there on the walk.
And I will tell you that the first time that you're going to use your
distraction ladder is before you even step out the front door with your dog.
Before I even open the front door and walk outside,
I'm gonna make sure that I can get my dog's focus on me,
that I can have him sit calmly at my side,
and then he is not in that high energy state that I know I'm gonna lose him the
second there's a slight distraction. Then when I step out onto the front porch,
I can do the same thing. I can work some simple tricks with my dog.
I can work a sit at my side, I can work a little bit of focus,
and I know from there if I can get those simple behaviors from my dog,
I have a much better chance of retaining his focus When I'm out there and the
distractions do start piling on,
last thing I wanna do is end up in a situation where I'm frustrated and having
to fight with my dog just to get his attention.
Taking steps back down means taking a step back in your training.
If I know that my dog's attention is not on me in this situation,
then I know that the more distractions I add, the tougher it's gonna be for him.
So we want you to have success,
which means you might have to take a step back inside the house,
work on that focus, work on that attention,
and then after a couple of minutes of success there,
take a step back out and see how things go again on that next rung of the
ladder. Something really important to remember with your distraction ladder is
if you don't get a win, your walk can't begin.
But if you're all the way at the top of the ladder in this location,
come with me, you're ready for the next step.
It's really important to set up a ladder that is going to be successful for you.
So for me, I'm gonna move from the front of my house to the back of my house,
and I'm gonna make sure that I can get the same quality,
performance and attention from my dog in this location before I take a step up
to that next rung of the ladder. Maybe you live in an apartment,
your situation is gonna be a little bit different and your ladder is gonna look
a little different. Maybe you live in a townhouse in those scenarios,
maybe you're using the hallway in the apartment or the parking lot in the
townhouse complex so that you can build a ladder that makes sense for you using
the tools that are at your disposal. One of the bigger mistakes that people make
is expecting their dog to do finished product perfection right off the bat.
And I'll tell you for a fact that that is going to set you up to be frustrated
and feel a little bit anxious about your training with your dog.
And your ladder might be completely different than mine.
Everybody's dog is gonna be a little bit different,
but what I wanna do is make sure that I'm not headed straight out from the front
door to the sidewalk where things might end up crashing and burning for me. Now,
depending on where you live, your weather might be like ours,
where every day looks a little bit different.
Yesterday we had some snow on the ground. Today we've got sunshine out.
We never really know what we're gonna get.
And trust me when I say the change in seasons and the change in temperatures
makes a huge difference to a young dog,
the smells that they're going to be exposed to,
the sights that they're gonna be exposed to,
all of those things are gonna challenge their understanding of skills. So before
I make things more difficult for my dog,
I wanna make sure that I can get engagement.
I can get focus in a familiar location. So this is my backyard.
I'm working with my young dog here,
and I wanna make sure that I can get her attention. I can call her name,
I can work a sit at my side. I might pull out a toy and do some play with her.
We might work on some tricks. Basically,
my goal is to make sure that I can get engagement and some focus before I move
out there and make the distractions really challenging for her.
Lucy's having some challenges with the rabbit poo in the yard here,
so we're just working through.
All I'm gonna do is keep helping her get back into that sit. If she gets up,
I'm just gonna place her back, use my leash,
then loosen up again. Once she's sitting on a nice loose lead,
that's when I can say yes and I can follow through with my rewards.
What a good girl, good choice. Loose. Yes, very nice.
And the reinforcement starts to build more value for focusing on me than for
worrying about trying to eat the rabbit poo on the ground.
If your dog breaks a sit or makes any mistake, don't worry about it.
Don't get frustrated. Just give them good, clean information,
help them be right, and then make a decision on your distraction ladder as well.
If you're ready to move up to the next rung,
or if you need to keep working at that same level to make sure that you build in
enough success and enough value that you're gonna have an easier time.
Once you do start building distractions.
I was a bit surprised by the fact that there's a lot of bunny poo out in my yard
today. I wasn't really expecting that.
You might not know or know to expect the distractions you're gonna contend with
that day. What's important is that you give your dog good,
clear information of what you're asking them to do and what they need to do in
that moment,
versus just allowing them to do their own thing and sniff the bunny poo. Now,
Lucy's doing great after a couple of quick reminders of me asking her to sit and
now she's learned some valuable information. She needs to pay attention to me.
Even when there's something really tempting in the environment like bunny poo,
the next step in your loose lead walking training has to be starting to get out
to different locations and challenge your dog's understanding of the skill that
you're trying to teach. Now,
always remember in your ladder that there is room for you to take a step up and
down. So if I've mastered my loose lead plan at home and in the backyard,
my dog's doing great and I've hit the top of that ladder,
now it's time to get out somewhere else.
But know that you're probably going to have to take a step down the ladder.
You might even have to start right at the bottom of the ladder with really easy
stuff like sitting at your side looking for attention.
And then you might even have to reassess that again as time goes on,
because my environment is not within my control,
life is full of surprises and you may have a surprise of some distraction you
weren't expecting. At that point,
it's gonna be up to you to adjust your ladder and make things easier for your
dog. I might have to, if there's people that are distracting for my dog,
I might have to step off the path and have my dog sit and just observe them. Or
I might have to ask those people to remain at a distance because my dog is just
not ready for that distraction yet.
We actually have a great video that dives really deep into this exact topic.
So if you'd like some help with that, click this card. Things might happen.
I might suddenly come across a bunny or I might run into some other people in
the park that have dogs as well.
I might need to change my plan and the messy part of dog training,
it's okay to assess and change things.
It's okay to think about things critically like maybe I need to be walking at a
different time of day where there's not as much going on,
or maybe I'm not quite ready for this location.
It's a little bit too challenging in its novelty for my dog.
Maybe I need to make things a little bit easier somehow and take a step down
that ladder so that I can continue to rack up those wins. One of the important
tools that you'll need is a bait pouch and some way of getting food delivered to
your dog quickly check out the amazing bait pouches that we have at
McCannDogs.store.
Maybe you reassess your ladder completely and you end up changing your plans,
having a seat on a bench somewhere and enjoying some time just sitting and
relaxing with your dog, letting them take in the sights and sounds of that park.
I wanna help you build your distraction ladder.
So I have created a downloadable document that you can use to build out your
training plan. Click the link in the description below to download yours now.
Now that you know how to master loose leash walking where it's time to give you
some skills to do so, click this card. And on that note, I'm Instructor Shannon.
Happy training.
Now that you know how to master your loose leash walking,
here's a video that'll help you with the skill. And on that note,
I'm Instructor Shannon. Happy training.