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I am absolutely glowing in admiration for my little hound dog today. This good boy is Hastings, also know as the bane of my existence. We haven’t been on a big hike with this guy for a long time, which means we haven’t hiked in a long time, because he is such a spaz, but this weekend he was amazing.
This weekend we took an urban hike through Eagle Creek. There were so many dogs out enjoying the weather with their owners. Dogs that cared about our dogs and dogs that didn’t. But, do you know who didn’t care about any of them? This beautiful little hound on the top of the page. He didn’t pay them any attention, even when they tried to sniff him. He kept his cool and kept right on walking by. It was like a body snatcher took control of him!
I couldn’t have done all this without our amazing gentle leader dog collar, but mostly it has been time, consistency, work, and dedication – both from him and from me. Months and months of bribing him with treats to leave other dogs alone has finally paid off. Here’s what I did, hopefully it will work for you.
Step One: Know the Bribe
I know that my guy is a dedicated food hound. Our German Shepherd was a challenge to train to walk on leash, but she didn’t give a fig about treats. Hastings the Hound is a completely different story. This dude loves to eat and he loves his treats. There are a lot of small treats that you can purchase for dogs to help with training. Make sure it’s something that they love and will work for. Hastings loves these sausage treats and I bring a few with me on our walks and break them into smaller pieces (I sneak some to Heidi as well, if she’s feeling left out, but usually she couldn’t care less).
Step Two: Be Hyper Aware of your Surroundings
This one is a bit of a drag, but if you have a spazy dog, you already know that you need to know what’s going on around you. So, instead of zooming out on our walks, I need to be looking around and thinking ahead. Is that a cat or just a weird bunch of leaves in the front yard? Is that truck going to pass us or is he going someplace else? Will that guy with the dog cross the street or do I need to do it?
Knowing what’s coming gives you time to plan. When I was first training Hastings if I didn’t present the treat before he saw the “threat” then it was like I was rewarding him for spazzing out – and he didn’t even stop barking and flipping out until he wanted to, even if I shoved the treat in his face or even into his mouth.
Know what’s coming and get out the treat ahead of time.
When First Using the Bribe
It was very frustrating to my husband, but when we first started using the bribe I rewarded Hastings for looking at me and sniffing the treat. Sometimes he still carried on and barked. My husband thought we were rewarding bad behavior, and it sure felt like it, but I was attempting to get him to associate the distraction with the treat.
Once the Dog knows the treat is coming
After you’ve managed to associate the treat with the distraction, now the hard work comes in. After a little while Hastings would see something or hear a big track and quickly look at me to see if I had a treat out. I would say “Leave it” and hold the treat in front of his face. He was so interested in his treat and knew that I would give it to him, he started walking with his nose right up on the treat, usually walking right by things that would have triggered him before.
If I noticed that today would be a day he wouldn’t be able to resist barking – his frenemy from up the street was coming, or whatever – I would make an effort to say “Leave it” and then give him the treat after he pushed his nose into my hand. At least that way he was getting positive reinforcement. I got out another treat, but sometimes they allure of the other dog was too great.
The New Stage we just entered
Yesterday Hastings demonstrated that he was ready for the next stage of our training. He knows that a treat is coming if he ignores the distractions. I get the treat out, but now he doesn’t need to press his nose into my hand. Instead he’s started just walking and watching the other dog. I don’t know if it was the months of training that got us to this point or if it was the hike with so many dogs, but here we are. He’s confident that he can walk right passed a dog or a truck – cats are a whole different story and we’ll have to see how he does with outside cats.
Consistency
Yeah, this one is a drag. Get out there and do it over and over and over again. Day in and day out. Morning, evening, lunchtime, whenever you walk your dog get out there and do it. You know your dog and you can adjust the training for your pup. But, if you have a spazzy food hound who loves to chase trucks, motorcycles, and freak out at other dogs, maybe this is the trick for you.
