Dog School and Luc Leash Walking (Part II)

Lucy enjoys her peanut butter kong during her break

Lucy and I returned to Dog School for the 2nd and 3rd weeks of our Polite Walking course. After our first--somewhat disastrous and extremely stressful class--I made sure to be more prepared: I researched dog car sickness to prevent pre-class vomiting. Having run out of rewards by the end of the first exercise, I brought MANY more treats. Rather than just bringing a stuffed animal, I brought a kong filled with peanut butter to keep Lucy occupied during the "breaks" between exercises. I wore a sweatshirt that had pockets to hold treats for easy dispensing during activities. And I brought everything in one giant bag, so I had my hands free to get Lucy calmly (well, relatively speaking) in the door. 

  The class operated from several basic principles: 

1. Teach Lucy that it's fun to be at my side--that good things happen there (i.e. you get treats). 

2. Teach Lucy that pulling is NOT going to get us to move forward more quickly (or at all). 

3. Teach Lucy that I am more important than any distraction. 

We applied these principles in a few basic exercises, each building off the last. I wasn't supposed to advance to the next exercise if she hadn't successfully completed the last, which meant that Luc and I quickly fell behind. 

The first step was to use "backwards walking" to get Lucy to walk on the leash without pulling. I'd never considered the fact that it's impossible for her to pull if I walk backwards while she walks towards me, but it worked like a charm. Every few steps, I'd reward her with a treat. 

It is worth mentioning that the trainer often reminded us to use really delicious, highly desirable treats  (real chicken, liver bits, etc) early in the training process. She said that although some dog owners worry using really good rewards will make the dog "reward dependent", she suggested the opposite: learning takes place far more easily with stronger rewards, and in turn, it takes less time to get to a point where you need very few (and then no) rewards at all. I took her advice to heart, bringing dog bacon bit treats to our 2nd and 3rd classes. Those were more effective in getting Lucy to focus in the classroom, but still did little to keep her interested when in the real world. 

When we mastered backwards walking, I was supposed to take a few steps backwards and then smoothly turn around, and walk a few steps with Lucy at my side. If she pulled, I smoothly turned around and went back to backwards walking. This did not go so well. My "smooth" transitions were very, very choppy.

Lucy pulls --> I force her to turn around --> We do backwards walking --> Turn around with her at my side

Practice in the yard

We spent the rest of our time introducing more and more "distractions"--unfamiliar objects and sounds--and changing the pace, direction, and pattern of our movement. Lucy really, really liked to be out in front of me, even if she wasn't technically pulling, but we were making progress. By the end of week 2, we could semi-successfully do the exercises during class.

The problem became applying our new knowledge in the real world. As you may recall, Lucy is the sweetest, most loving, people-oriented dog inside, but when I got her outside, it's was if I didn't exist. She became totally 100% absorbed in her environment, so the trainer recommended that we do our practice in smaller, safer, less distracting spaces, eventually working up to a normal walk. We mastered walking on the tennis courts. We mastered walking in the backyard. But for some reason, walking on an actual street just wasn't happening. I was determined and also very frustrated.

The miracle of chicken sausage!

The evening after our last class, I saw one remaining Trader Joe's chicken sausage link in the fridge, and remembered the trainer's parting reminder to us about the importance of using "strong rewards." On a whim, I cut up the sausage and put it in my little treat bag, put Lucy on the leash, and took her out for our evening stroll. Oh my goodness! INSTANT transformation!!!!!

Suddenly my side was the BEST place to be. Suddenly, Lucy couldn't take her eyes off me. We made it around the entire block without her pulling even once! I was ecstatic! A few days later, I ran out of sausage and went back to the bacon bits--transformation reversed. I ran out to the Kroger and replenished my supply before our next walk... and we were back in business!!

As the trainer promised, by the end of the next week I was able to go more and more steps between rewards. I was able to get Lucy's attention to sit at corners. I started to genuinely enjoy our walks! I was so, so proud of both of us!

Sitting at the corner of our busiest street. Total focus. 

Lucy, calmly and happily sitting within
30 seconds of getting off the main road 

I'm still learning what works and picking up on conditions for success. One day last week, we had one of our most frustrating walks since the discovery of chicken sausage. Lucy was pulling non-stop, jumping out at every sound, and I was growing more and more frustrated. I decided to turn off Indianola and onto a smaller street that runs between Summit and Indianola for several blocks. It was like a miracle had taken place! Without cars, bikes, and motor cycles whizzing by, Lucy quickly and easily found my side. Lesson Learned: Rush hour is NOT the best time for our walks. Side-streets are way better than Summit or Indianola (which run north south and are part of major commuting routes). I also gained an appreciation of the fact that we'd been training in THE MOST distraction filled conditions: major road close to campus with dogs, tons of cars, parties, bikes, trash, etc. I was even more proud of the progress we've made.

Took me about 4 weeks to figure out how
to hold the leash, clicker, and treat bag ;) 

We still had (and have) issues... Lucy hates bicyclists, HATES skateboarders, and HATES HATES HATES motorcycles. Given that I live on a very busy street with a 2-way bike lane, this causes all sorts of problems for the start and end of our walks. She is still pretty reactive to dogs across the street (though she seems to do better with dogs she can actually greet), and there are still some days where even the best treats can't hold her attention. But we are striving for progress, not perfection. I walk with my head held high with total confidence that we can do this. I think she is confident, too.