I work with a lot of people to help them learn to make dog walking an enjoyable activity.
One of the first things I always ask is, "What side do you walk your dog on?" so that when
I work with the dog I'm working on the correct side. So often, though, I get responses like,
"Oh, he just goes back and forth," or "Well she just goes to whatever side she wants."
Let me rephrase the question: WHAT SIDE ARE YOU GOING TO WALK YOUR DOG ON FROM NOW ON? [laughs] Ok that was a little creepy.
Ian here with Simpawtico Dog Training, and as I'm sure you're figuring out by now I for
sure advocate picking a side for your dog and sticking with it. This will yield several
benefits for you. The traditional wisdom was that you were supposed to train your dog to
walk and/or heel on the left side. Back before sidewalks and such people walked against traffic,
putting the dog on the inside. There's also some historical evidence that using the left
side had to do with keeping the right hand unimpeded for swords or pistols...because,
bandits and highwaymen, I guess. Approximately 80% of the world has always been right-handed
and left-handedness used to be frowned upon and even forcibly retaught to the right side.
So, consequently, dogs were traditionally on the left, always leaving the right hand
free. Now, it's the 21st century. You can pick whatever side you want. I usually recommend
using your dominant hand, but some folks prefer their non-dominant side. Doesn't really matter,
your dog doesn't care, just PICK ONE. When you train your dog on one side, they come
to know their position and will go there. This frees you up to do other things, and
just enjoy the stroll. If you stop to answer your phone, or pick up a poop, or even just
hang out on a park bench, getting back to the walking part becomes an effortless step
because your dog's on autopilot in that respect. Putting good behaviors on autopilot without
having to cue them every time is the end goal for most dog training. It allows you to recover
from mixups faster. Also, not having to manage their position frees you up to work on your
situational awareness like we talked about in our last video. Plus, as you train yourself
to work on that side, it's a much faster process than trying to be ambidextrous. If you've
read or learned about how dogs learn, you've no-doubt heard that dogs suck at generalization.
If you train your dog in the kitchen, you have a great kitchen dog, but they're anywhere
between sloppy and terrible everywhere else. So we have to teach behaviors in lots of different
situations and places so they connect the dots and have their lightbulb moment: it means
the same everywhere! On the other side of the coin, dogs are AWESOME at discrimination,
meaning that telling the difference between situations and environments, finding details
they know and understand, and cataloguing those details is a skill they excel at. In
other words, if you practice routines and patterns, your dog will be ALL OVER THAT.
It makes sense to them, and they like it. Capitalize on that strength and be consistent
in your walking configuration. Naturally then, heeling becomes a snap when you stick to one
side. Can you imagine how much more difficult this would be if you had to communicate which
side to heel on? Or worse, didn't specify anything and your dog had to guess? Forget
that nonsense. Train a side, the same side always, and you remove a ton of guesswork
and time. This sets you both up for success. All of these benefits become even more evident
when you have more than one dog. Here's an example. My English Bulldog, Dexter, was trained
on my left ever since he was a puppy. I'm left-handed, so it made sense to put the big
guy on my strong side. My Boston Terrier, Bobo, I trained on my right side. This was
done on purpose so I could walk them together. Later, when I met my wife and her dog became
OUR dog, I had to figure out what to do. So my Jack Russell, Darwin, was trained on the
right, since my wife is right-handed. In the whole group, that puts Darwin right next to
Bobo and I put them on a splitter when I walk them by myself. The two of them have kind
of figured out an equilibrium too: Darwin's always on the inside, and Bobo always moves
to the outside. The benefit of this, as I've said, is that when the four of us move together,
the dogs know their place and immediately go into "formation" without me having to say
anything or prompt them. It's just how we've always done it. When we go on solo adventures,
the dog still walks on their trained side, no matter what. And they do it automatically.
And when my wife and I take them out together, one person takes Dexter and one of the little
guys so there's freedom, but structure too. It makes everything smooth and effortless.
So how do we manage that? How do we teach it? Easier than you think. First, remember
that feedback is your #1 training tool. You should be talking to your dog, giving them
that running commentary on their performance and behavior. Remember also that walking is
a reward to your dog. It's one of their favorite hobbies. If they try to switch sides, we stop,
take the walk away, and give them feedback. Guide them back to where they're supposed
to be, and then praise and reward that by restarting the walk. You're showing them that
the walk only continues when it's done the way it's supposed to be. This is an enforceable
statement and I talk more about those in another video.
Remember: you're driving. They're in the sidecar. Not the other way around. Really, that's it.
Now admittedly there's more to teaching walking in general, but that's beyond the scope of
this particular video. If you're struggling with walking, this is only one small piece
of the puzzle. If you're interested I'll link to some of my walking resources in the description.
But as far sticking to one side or the other, there's really not much more to it than consistency,
and good feedback. So what do you think guys? Have you been walking
all willy-nilly? Do you have stories or questions about choosing a side to walk on? Share in
the comments. And if you learned something useful please subscribe to my channel so you
never miss any videos, and shoot on over to the Simpawtico website for more goodies, or
to set up training with me if you're in the Southern Tier area of upstate New York. In
the meantime, keep learning, keep practicing, and I'll see you soon. CHEERS.