Walking with a Service Dog

How do I take a morning walk with my Service Dog Azul?

Very much like any other dog and human would do. You see, some SD Handlers believe that a dog can't learn the difference between a working heel and a free sniff-a-bout kind of walk where the dog is allowed to walk in front, behind, beside you...where ever they want. This video is to demonstrate that dogs can generalize these cues to the environments you train them in.

The key is consistency in your set up.

Here are my simple criteria that tells Azul what to expect. Azul always wears a harness and a short traffic lead attached to his harness no matter what type of walk we are doing. Some handlers will use different gear, an exercise harness for sniffing and a working harness for heeling and increased focus. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact I do this with my younger dogs. But I hate switching gear out so I end up phasing out that gear change.

My walking style predictor is the leash I use, or more specifically the length of leash I use. Places where Azul is free to sniff around I use a 6 ft or longer leash, quite often my homemade 10 ft leash. Places where I want Azul in work mode, I use a leash that is 4 ft or shorter, often an 18-24 inch traffic lead. And no matter where we are walking, my leash is almost always attached to a waist belt or shoulder strap as my hands would frequently drop the leash. The other set of criteria that I train is environmental. Most often outdoors walks are meant for Azul's enrichment and he is free to sniff, while indoor walks are meant for work and he should stay close in his loose heel. There are a few exceptions to this rule. Outdoor places such as exhibit space at an arboretum, conservatory, or memorial garden are working environments with a short traffic leash and heel required. There are also a few pet friendly stores such as the pet store where our main goal is to allow Azul to smell, so here we use a 4-6 ft leash and I follow Azul around unless I need to ask him to avoid a certain aisle or animal. Azul also knows that he has lots of friends at Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and our local library so the chances of me giving him permission to socialize is much higher in these locations then other places. So you see, I'm pretty far from having exact established criteria for walking. I make exceptions all the time! For the most part Azul knows those exceptions in our local environments. But that is also where verbal cues and hand signals come in to play. If I need Azul to do something other then what the leash predicts, a simple cue tells him what I need from him in that moment. Because Azul is a Medical Alert & Response Service Dog, he has to be ready to work pretty much 24/7 no matter what environment we are in. Azul is trained for some light mobility tasks including forward momentum and counterbalance to help prevent me from falling. Due to multiple issues with my disability I fall often which can lead to further complications and his tasks help to reduce that risk.

In this video you can see how he helps me walking down a hill and pulling me a hill. This takes place during our normal morning walk which I would not be able to do without his support. So here he is working for a short period of HIS sniff-a-bout and exploration walk.

Azul has learned to switch back and forth from work mode to play mode at a moments notice. On average he works less then an accumulation of 2 hrs a day but he's always ready. Often the work Azul does goes unnoticed by those around us. That is by design! It's important to me that Azul and I work as a team to take care of each other. That means that I watch out for his needs to explore the environment by planning to spend more time sniffing and looking around in new environments. Azul watches out for my needs by frequently checking in with me to see how I feel and what I need. Often he knows I'm going to need help long before I know I need help.

We are still working to increase those check in's in high distracting environments such as when we are walking with friends or working with clients but as Azul gets older this becomes easier. Adolescence is a long and trying time for both handler and dog. My next blog will focus on using environmental processing to help your adolescent dog be more successful.

Environmental Processing

What is Environmental Processing?

Dog's naturally process any environment they use looking at things, sniffing things, listening to the sounds, etc. While this is a natural occurrence, some dogs do a better job of environmental processing then others do. We tend to focus so hard on teaching our dogs to walk nicely on leash, ignore distractions, and focus on us as handlers that we often don't take the time to let them process their world as a dog. And this seems to be the #1 thing I see in any dog that struggles with fear, anxiety or a lack of confidence...they simply never learned to process new environments or changes in the environment. This leads to being easily triggered by new things coming into the environment such as that person who is approaching or that dog on the other side of the park. And this leads to the behaviors that we as people don't appreciate our dogs repeating; barking, lunging, jumping, pulling, etc.

One of the reasons I like to meet with new clients at or near a local park is so that I can see how their dog processes the environment we are meeting in. Does the environment stress them? Do I stress them? What coping mechanisms have they developed? And many other questions like this. Then the first thing I want to teach them is how to process new environments safely and effectively as a team. AKA - Take a sniff-a-bout at the start of the training session and slowly work up training new behaviors.

In this video, Azul is wearing a longline attached to a back clip on his harness. We are walking in one of his favorite parks because there is tons of shade no matter what time of day. The layout of this park allows provides us an area of park surrounded by a sidewalk, slower traffic roads, and houses on the other side of the road and from any place in the park we can see all the way across the whole park. While this makes for a small area to explore (roughly the size of a small city block) there is plenty of distractions present that we can work at a safe distance from. Azul pretty much leads this walk by moving in any direction he wants to move as long as he doesn't cross the sidewalks that create our boarders. Together we zig-zag around, moving at his pace (as long as he doesn't pull by trying to go too fast). This video is just under 2 minutes long, but we generally do this same activity for roughly 10-15 minutes and hotter days, we often stop and sit under a shade tree to watch the distractions all around us.

In this video Azul and I are using a longline on a rarely used trail. This trail is a mowed section inside a marsh that connects to a paved bike trail. Here we tend to see more wildlife than people with the occasional off leash dog. We use a longline for safety to make sure Azul doesn't chase wildlife or approach another dog uninvited. But it's a good environment to practice our skills together. This is his walk, on his time as he had been working for me all day. By exploring and processing this fun environment he can empty his stress bucket if he needs to. You will notice I hurry him on a few times. I don't like to do that on HIS walks but this day we only have 15 minutes to make the loop and it's much hotter then normal so I want to get us back to the vehicle for water ASAP. I spend most of his walk managing the longline and watching his body language. I can learn so much about how he's feeling by watching his movements.

In this Video, Azul has already taken his sniff-a-bout around the park and has chosen to lay down to "watch the world go by" while resting in the shade.

I've done this with Azul since he was a puppy and honestly this is how I survived adolescence! Huskies are known for being hyper and active breeds that often want to to go-go-go so I've made a point of reinforcing his ability to simply relax and watch things. By doing so Azul has learned to process things using his eyes and ears more thoroughly instead of relying solely on his sense of smell as many dogs do. Azul gets plenty of opportunity to process smells every day. But as a Service Dog, he needs to be prepared to go in lots of new and different environments, many of which he shouldn't be sniffing everything. So watching and listening are invaluable tools in his environmental processing toolkit.

More about processing new environments as a Service Dog coming up in the next blog!

Building Up Interactions with Children

Azul loves children and pretty much always has, yet I still needed to approach interactions with youth by training smarter!

Azul was born into a house with 4 young girls and with me he has had lots of experience with my grandkids.  This has helped build his desire to interact with kids.  As a Service Dog, I frequently need Azul to go into public spaces where kids will be present.  And as a Therapy Dog, we often visit places where there are larger groups of children that all want to see him.  Not all dogs will enjoy doing educational presentations with large groups of children or enjoy laying in the library while youth read to them.  For this blog, I'm going to describe the slow approach I took to help Azul increase his love for interacting with children of all ages.

Azul at 4 months interacting with 2 girls on the library stairs while a concert was taking place across the street.  We were sitting at a safe distance far away from the music with just a few people coming and going on the library stairs.  These girls played the Pick One game with Azul!

  

By watching from a distance at parks and community events Azul learned to be calm around larger groups of people with kids running around playing nearby.

 

Azul learned to watch my grandkids playing with a wide variety of toys inside and outside the house.

  

 

Azul learned the cues for when to interact with kids, when to give his focus to the kids, and when he was free to play with this those kids by working with friends and family members on walks, while camping, and during training sessions.

 

Spending the day at a quiet park with my kids & grandkids.  Azul had time to play on the playground equipment with my adult children and relaxed on the bench with me while the kids played.

 

Then we practiced some pre-public access training skills at an ice cream shop with the grandkids.  Azul had previously practiced at quiet, outdoor patios.  But when we were ready to add in more distractions we were able to practice his under my seat tuck with family.  A few months later we were on vacation and had a meal at a picnic area with 18 family members for Azul to ignore.  I allow him to visit with family freely during non-meal time.  However at meal time, even in outdoor environments such as the campground we practice his Service Dog skills of laying under my seat or on a mat beside me.

 

Azul learned to ignore over 22 family members during meal time while we were camping before we went with these same family members into a restaurant as a Service Dog.  This was as much training for the family as it was for Azul.  He had already done quiet restaurant training with 1-2 friends and family members.  But taking this time during a family camp allowed us to set the boundaries of petting and play with all our friends when it was not meal time and totally ignoring everyone (and everyone else not trying to interact with Azul) during meal time.

As an adolescent Azul needed to go back to the park and other outdoor settings to remind him when to interact with people and when to ignore people.  By the time he was 2, Azul had generalized this to pretty much all environments.  This led us to be able to do one of our latest adventures....The Kid's Play Area during a birthday party!

     

 

This environment was far more stimulating then anything we had done before.  At 2.5 Azul is pretty much ready for anything or anywhere I need to go.  He handled this environment far better then I did.  Our next adventure is going to be the aquarium!

I hope you enjoyed this photo blog about building up interactions and the ability to ignore children by starting in low distraction environments and slowly building up.  This is extremely important for training Service Dogs!  If we move too quickly, putting them in environments they have not built up to yet, we run the risk of making them fearful around kids or in those environments.  

It's way more beneficial to Train Smarter, Not Harder! 

 

FAD Workshop - Day 3

  

Welcome to Day 3 of the FAD Mini-Workshop!

On Day 3, we take a look at the distractions our dogs get most amped up about and how we can set up training sessions in the environments where are dogs can be most successful then slowly building up to more distracting environments.

A to B/ U-Turns Games 

U-turns are important no just to teach proper heeling/loose leash walking and to avoid unwanted things, dogs, cats, strangers, or even shopping carts in stores. The basic idea is to turn quickly with your dog, in either direction. 

1. The game is simple, with the lead in both hands, slide the hand closest to the dog down the leash, close to the dog. 
2. As you turn, call your dog toward you. 
3. This should be done in both directions and on both sides of the dog.

Again, start in. Low distraction environment and gradually add distractions. 

Pace Games - Quick, Quick, Stop! 

When your dog is slightly distracted by something in the environment, changing your pace can be an awesome way to get them re-focus on you.

1. Since most dogs like to move faster then we do, I tend to make the first pace change a bit more rapid then our typical walking pace.  I use the double cue, Quick, Quick, to build some excitement and encourage Azul to change pace to keep up with me.  This cue also works well if we need to cross a road or move more quickly to avoid an obstacle or distraction.
2. The second pace change I add in is a rapid Stop!  I like this one because if my dog is not focused, they get gentle encouragement to help them be successful.  I will place my hand gently on Azul's back a second before I cue the Stop, then if he doesn't stop he can feel the hand drag slowly down his back. Then after a bit a practice they learn to focus more intently during the Quick pace knowing that I could quickly Stop at any moment.
3. Once your dog has those 2 pace changes down, you can get creative with other changes.  Some of my favorites are Slow Mo mode, left/right turns, a brief wait at an intersection or when something is crossing our path then right back into the previous pace, and so forth.

Here is a link to Nala, a 3 yr Aussie, and her handler playing this game for the first time.

https://youtu.be/Rg65lrtlCIU

Here is a link to Maverick, a 1 yr Husky, and his handler playing for the first time.  Note that Maverick is much more excited and offering a jump every now and then.  This is an important example of being careful to not amp your dog up too much or they will struggle more with the rapid stop.

https://youtu.be/TVFO3lb0RSM

Wrap Up of Day 3

We hope you enjoyed the games and information presented today!  It's important to remember that while we can not control all the distractions in our environment, we can control the environments we put our dogs in.  Start small with less distracting environments and slowly build up to more distracting environments after you've had a chance to build up a history of playing the games in this workshop.

If you have questions, you can post them in our FAD Workshop FB Group here.  We would love to see your videos playing the games and hear your feedback from Day 3 of the FAD Workshop!

Penny Beeman

Owner of Yooper Paws of Love

Professional, Force Free, Dog Trainer

& Animal Behavior Consultant, ILLIS

Visit my website at: www.yooperpaws.com

Find us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/YooperPawsOfLove/

Cindy Campbell

Owner of Cindy Campbell Dog Training

Visit my website at: https://cindycampbelldogtraining.com/

Find us Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BrienwoodsAmericanFlyerNikolaRN

Considering How The Environment Affects Distractions

If you're heading out the door with your dog for some fun and training, choosing the right environment can be essential!  In February I wrote about picking new environments wisely, so read that post here. For this blog, I'm going to focus on matching the environment to the energy level you want for the training you are hoping to accomplish.  As owners, we probably all know certain things that get out dogs more excited then others!  And this is where we can use common environmental predictors to set the stage for a successful training session.

What is your dog's #1 Distraction?

I'm going to use Azul's love of making new doggy friends for this example.  As a frequent dog park attendee (with extreme caution), Azul has such a love for this location that he starts loosing his mind at 8 blocks away due to excitement.  My normally, calm & quiet teenager turns into a loud, obnoxious teenager going to the amusement park to ride the rollercoasters.  If my intended training session is to help Azul switch back and forth (engage & disengage) while in a high arousal state, I might choose this location.  However, if my goal for the session is to practice leash manners I'd be choosing the wrong environment for that and setting us both up to fail.

Being winter weather and not being able to get out as frequently as we'd like, Azul's outdoor leash manners need some spring touch ups.  This means that I'm going to choose some more remote locations to practice leash skills where Azul can stay in a calmer, less aroused emotional state.  One of our favorite places to walk last fall was a 1 mile loop around Strawberry Lake.  But this being one of the only paved and plowed paths in our area during the winter so this path is used frequently by dog owners.  Add in the snowbanks on the sides of the trail, and this limits our ability to move off to the side if another dog is passing.  Three walks in a row we were met by new dogs in the same short stretch on the back side of the lake.  On the fourth walk, Azul had difficulties focusing at this part of the trail in anticipation of meeting a new friend there.  And since this was mid-walk, Azul's energy remained higher the rest of the walk.

Now setting that location up for success, I made a few changes to make that section of the trail non-eventful.  First, we altered our time to earlier morning before the temps became more tolerable to others.  Second, we parked at the back lot where we could walk towards this spot or away from it depending on how Azul was able to focus.  This made the trouble area first or last in walk instead of right in the middle!  I decided to do it first because the other lots at the other side were still empty allowing me to reasonably expect no new greetings at this same location right away.  This also helped Azul walk slower because he wanted to sniff all the p-mail more extensively.  I was able to wait till we were passed the trouble area before asking Azul to give me a bit more focus.  At the end of the walk, I was able to put Azul's longline on in the empty parking lot where I could do some work and he could watch dogs on the trail from a safe distance, without interacting.

Now for the picture at the top of the page.  This environment was chosen for a very different reason!  I have Azul and puppy Roz who both need some decompression sniff-a-bouts and a chance to potty before we go inside a pet store for training.  But the 2 have not had a chance for off leash play yet and Roz has no longline skills yet.  So I chose a spot behind an empty building near the pet store as it was plowed for safe walking, but I could reasonably expect no other cars or dogs to enter our environment.

This is another sniff-a-bout on our property with Azul & Roz

We chose the pet store as our first indoor walking location so I could let the dogs move more freely and observe Roz to see if she would be just as confident and happy walking with us as she was walking with her person earlier in the day.  Pet stores are super distracting locations for young pups so we didn't do any work on her leash manners here.  The goal of the session was for me to watch and observe the interactions between Azul and Roz in a higher arousal environment.

Now fast forward a day, and change to a much less arousing store environment and Azul and I were able to begin teaching Roz some indoor leash skills.  Here you can see how quickly Little Miss Roz is learning her heel position in the right environment for the session.

So before you head out to do any training session, think about what are your chances of running into your dog's biggest distractions in the environment and what are your goals for this outing.  Set your team up for success by matching the environment to the arousal level you want to work at during that session.  Don't just head out and hope for the best because that rarely happens unless we make good choices about our environment.

New Environment Training for Service Dogs

Helping Service Dogs be Successful in Early Public Access Training Sessions

Public Access Training should be among some of the last training sessions that you do with your Service Dog in Training!  Be sure to read my previous posts in this series, especially posts 9 through 11 about new environments.  This is the final post in my January series: Plan for Success and it targeted specifically at my Service Dog training clients.

Start slow by getting used to the environment before the environment!

The Car:

After getting my puppy used to riding in the car, some of our first pre-PA training sessions happen right there in the car.  We go thru drive thru's at restaurants, banks, and such, pay at the pump gas stations, and hang out in parking lots together from inside the car.  This can be done with young puppies before they are fully vaccinated and older dogs as well!  Pair the car outing with some great food and simply reward for being in the environment.  Then as the sessions advance, reward only when the dog looks toward a potential distraction such as a car driving passed, a person moving, another dog, a shopping cart, etc.  You can also start out in 5 min sessions, slowly building up to 20 minute sessions.  As you add time, you slow down your reinforcement rate and only deliver treats when something unusual happens or if you notice any fear or discomfort setting in. 

The Parking Lot:

The next step is to start some training sessions outside of the car.  Practice basic manners and obedience cues in the grassy areas on the outside of parking lots, slowly moving through the parking lot.  The first thing I do when I get out of the car with a dog is give them some time to sniff around, getting familiar with the environment and taking a moment to go potty.  Before I leave the grass, I will do a few simple behaviors and make sure that my dog is calm enough to listen to my cues.  This helps you to determine if your dog is stressed or overly distracted.  If your dog is not able to listen to your cues, you are in an environment that they are not yet ready to be in so find a quieter location.  If your dog is able to follow your lead, you can continue with your training session.

Doorways:

Once my dog is comfortable on the outside edges of a parking lot, I start working on parking lot manners, mainly walking on a loose leash, stopping for traffic, and walking near people & carts.  Depending on your dog, you may be able to do this type of training for just a couple of sessions or it may take longer.  I've had dogs that needed to work in parking lots for a few months, slowly progressing to busy, more active & distracting parking lots.  Take it at your dog's pace paying attention to their emotional state and you will progress much more quickly then you think.  As you are working in parking lots, choose a slower location and time of day to slowly make your way towards the door.  Pausing outside the door to watch some people coming and going.  Take some time to run through some basic cues in this location too.  

Pet Friendly Stores:

Then when you think your dog is ready, take a few steps into the store. This should be a pet friendly store even if you are training a dog to be a Service Dog!  There are a lot more pet friendly stores then you would think, you just have to look around your community.  Hardware stores, craft stores, and sporting goods stores tend to be pet friendly, so call or stop in without your dog and see if they allow dogs in the store.  Plan your first session to be outside the store for about 15 minutes and inside the store for only 5 minutes.   With time, at your dog's rate you can start slowly transitioning it to be the opposite, 5 minutes outside and 15 minutes inside.  Stick to just one or two stores to practice in until your dog becomes extremely comfortable in those stores.  Then you can slowly add in new locations, new distractions, and longer visits.  But don't forget to stop in the grass and let your dog sniff for a few minutes then capture focus before going into any store.

Service Dogs Public Access Situations:

There is no set formula or stage that your Service Dog in Training is deemed "ready" for public access training.  But every trainer has their own guidelines or things they want to be able see in a dog before beginning public access training.  Here is a short list of my preferred behaviors that I want my dogs to know and have a history of achieving in pet friendly locations:

• The ADA states that Service Dogs must be fully potty trained before being taking into any public access related environment.  Sure accidents happen, dogs get sick, etc.  But this should be a rare occurrence that your dog has an issue in the store.  I want to see that all my dogs can potty on cue before I start working in pet friendly locations & I want to see that they have generalized that to multiple environments before I start PA training.
• The ADA also states that Service Dogs must be under handler control at all times.  While this can mean a lot of different things, but bare minimum I want my dog to be able to walk nicely on a loose leash.  I don't expect a perfect competition heel, but I want my dog to be able to follow my walking lead matching my pass and direction changes accordingly.
• I also want my dog to feel safe, calm, and comfortable walking with other people nearby.  And while this is a process that can be perfected during PA training, I want to see that my dogs remain fairly stress free or the handler is prepared to take whatever steps necessary to help the dog feel safe.  I won't take any dog in training into a place where I'm not prepared to leave immediately if they start to show signs of stress!
• Lastly, I want to have a few cues generalized to be able to use as needed in the environment; sit, down, under, wait, etc.  Each handler needs to decide these cues for themselves as there is no hard and fast right set of behaviors that are dictated by laws.  If you are not sure what you want to have in place for your Service Dog in Training I suggest you review the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test as a bare minimum standard of training.  Your dog may not be 100% perfect on all behaviors, especially if they are in the adolescent phase, but you want to be happy, comfortable, and confident in their skills before you take them into a public access environment.  Remember to practice all new skills in pet friendly environments so you can begin the proofing process before you ask your dog to do a behavior in a public access situation.

Federal laws do not cover Service Dogs in Training, only Service Dogs.  So be sure to research your state and local locals involving Service Dogs in Training before you decide to take your dog into a public access setting.  If your state does not cover Service Dogs in Training, you will also have to have your dog trained to do at least one task that mitigates your disability to meet the ADA requirements before you start Public Access Training.  If you have additional questions about how I work in new environments, please reach out to me by leaving me a comment or sending me an email.

Picking New Training Environments Wisely

It's just as important to pick an appropriate environment to train in as it is to plan your training sessions properly.  There are a few things you need to consider when choosing that environment.

• What emotional states will my dog experience in this environment?
• What distractions might be present in this environment?
• What management tools do I need to have in place to ensure safety?
• What type of reinforcement is going to work best in this environment?

Emotional States your dog may experience and how that impacts the environment.

Probably the single most important emotion to consider when thinking about choosing an environment for your training session is FEAR.  If you have a younger puppy or older adult that gets stressed out in new environments more easily, you have to plan for that taking baby steps in each new environment you enter.  I'm going to touch more on this topic in my upcoming post on "New Environments for Working Dogs" but I wanted to help you understand how fear impacts the environment in this post.  Fear is one of the basic emotions that all animals have no matter whether they have training with humans or not.  Most often fear causes the animal to slip into a fight or flight stage of brain activity that totally leaves them out of their mind and running on instinct.  That means that we have to be especially careful if we are going to be holding a training session with a fearful dog so that we can work at a level that can remain comfortable and in control of their actions with just a slight fear association that we can apply desensitization and counterconditioning techniques to.  If this is your dog, please consider contacting me or another professional dog trainer for assistance with creating a plan to help get you started!

Another strong emotion, but often overlooked is Over Arousal.  This emotion can present much like fear with inappropriate behaviors of barking, lunging, jumping, etc.  But since this over excitement is often considered happy or joyful, it doesn't tend to freak owners out or worry them as much.  We really need to consider this emotion when choosing a new environment as well or we will often regret it later.  Basically over arousal leads to a brain change that turns the brain off and sends the dog relying on instinct too, instead of fight or flight thinking the dog often goes into hunting or herding mode.  This of course throws almost all ability to recall your dog out the window and can have serious consequences.  It's important that owners learn to be able to see the subtle changes that occur with their dog when they move between excited/aroused into the over excited/aroused states.  If you can see the early warning signs of the change in your dog, you can end the session on a good note before something bad happens.

There are other less challenging emotions to consider as well.  If a dog is bored because you use the same training environment all the time, they may start searching for ways to spice up that environment in ways that you do not approve of; digging, rolling in the mud, hunting for trash, etc.  If your environment is one that you haven't used for a long time, the new smells might be too exciting so gaining your dog's focus may become challenging.  

If you would like more information about understanding your dog's emotional state, check out this infographic.

So you may be asking, how do you choose an environment that will best fit my dogs emotional state for the training session? 

First, consider the goals of your training session.  If you are going to be focusing on something new that you've only practiced at home previously, choose a location that you've been in frequently and been able to easily capture your dog's focus for previous training sessions in that environment.  Of course you want to take a few minutes to all your dog to explore that environment before you actually start the session.  If you want to practice something that you've been working on awhile so you are looking at more of a refresher or expanding current skills to the next level, you can choose a somewhat more challenging environment then the one you were successful at previously.  

For example, between 6-24 months you spend a lot of time working on leash manners as your dog does awesome some days and not so great other days unless you practice often.  Azul and I walk lots of different trails when weather allows, but we have 2-3 favorites that we use more regularly if we need to touch up on specific leash skills based on what that environment offers us in the way of management and potential distractions.

If your going to choose an environment that you know while raise your dog's emotional state towards excitement or fear, be sure to use better management and higher level reinforcement methods while lowering your expectation of what your dog is capable of in that environment

Considering Distractions in a Training Environment

No matter what environment you choose for your training session, if your not inside a closed place such as your house, you really can't control the distractions that pop up during your session.  That means you have to consider what is naturally in an environment before choosing that place for your session.  Some things are obvious and anticipated distractions such as wildlife on a nature trail or children playing in a park.  While other things are not common distractions, such as a moose walking through a downtown environment.  Then you also have distractions that are dependent on time of day, driven by nature or common human routine.  This would be more like more dogs walking on a public trail when weather is nice and after work, school busses or larger groups of children walking/playing right after school gets out, or weekend vacationer traffic if you live in a tourist area like Michigan.

You can use predictable distractions to your advantage when deciding where to hold your next training session.  The more challenging the behavior you are working in is, requires a less challenging environment with minimal anticipated distractions.  The more you practice any specific behavior, the more challenging the environment can become.  Going back to my leash manners training example of earlier, I want my dogs to move to the side of a trail when distractions are coming from us from the opposite direction.  Choosing my environments wisely, means that I will start this on a less crowded day at a trail we walk often so that my dog can practice a few times but not be totally overwhelmed by non-stop passers.  Once my dog is starting to catch on, I will slowly choose busier times of day until we can be successful at the busiest time on weekends in great weather.  Some days this backfires!  I may expect a low turn out of strangers to pass us by and find no people on the trail or the opposite and have way more then I expected.  Since we can't control other people on the trail, we need to be flexible in our training and adjust accordingly by moving further away from an over crowded trail or inviting a few friends to join us for practice during quieter times on the trail when we don't have the distractions we want.  

Then there are distractions that we can't predict or control, such as wildlife which is an ongoing battle while your training loose leash walking!  On these occasions, we need to rely on our skills of management to prevent bad things from accidently happening during our training sessions.

Choosing the correct tools to manage your dog in the environment you choose for training.

I'm not going to turn this into a push for my chosen tools because that is a different post and one I've covered previously.  Instead I'm going to talk about ways to decide what is best for your team in specific environments with some safety in mind.  Let's instead focus on how you choose which tools are right for your environment.  

One of my big personal rules is the more distracting or crowded the environment is, the shorter leash I use.  On our property where I can control most distractions, my choice is commonly a 50 ft longline where Azul has the option to make as many choices as possible and I can reinforce his great choices yet still manage his not so great choices.  Scaling down to a not so frequently used, but public walking trail or an open field near a busier park, I tend to use my 20 ft longline so again Azul has to make some choices, but he's not able to go very far away which makes the choice to choose me easier for him.  Scaling down yet again to a wider, nature trail environment I'm prone to using my 10 ft leash so Azul can explore the environment in a closer proximity to me and I can quickly get him back at my side when a distraction is heading our way.  If we are training in public area such as a downtown district or outdoor event, I will use a 4-6 leash typically with Azul expected to walk in a loose heel position or settle near my feet if we are sitting down somewhere.  Then my final scale down is for public places such as pet friend stores and Service Dog level public access situations where I use a 2 ft or shorter traffic lead attached to my shoulder strap for hands free leash management.  

Another big thing I consider is the amount of distance I want Azul to be away from me to participate in the skills we are training during the session.  If I'm practicing recall or down/stays, I want more leash to build up a greater distance where as if I'm practicing heel work, I want less leash so I don't have to much in my hands.  If I've been working on a particular skill for quite awhile, proofing it in multiple environments, I want to use as much leash that I feel is safe for the environment to give Azul as much freedom in choice as I possibly can with safety driving the final tool selection.  

No matter what leash length I use, I'm most likely attaching that leash to a back clip on a harness with an option of creating a second attachment at the front of Azul's harness if there are more distractions than I anticipated or if he is struggling with focus.  Plus I almost always have my leash clipped to a shoulder strap or waist belt as my hands drop things too easily and I want to prevent Azul from bolting on a dropped leash.

Choosing the correct reinforcement for the environment.

All dogs are different as to what is reinforcing to them, so knowing what your dog loves can make all the difference in whether your training session will be successful or not.  This is especially true in more challenging environments.  A puppy might work just fine for kibble in low distraction environments, but it's common to need a higher value reinforcement in more distracting environments, especially if there is going to be a presence of even slight fear in the new environment.  As dogs age, they tend to find certain behaviors more reinforcing which tends to overpower the use of kibble as a reinforcement.  Sure they might still work for kibble in low distraction environments when their hungry.  But if they find sniffing the ground reinforcing, a low value kibble or food reinforcement is not going to be enough to encourage them to stop sniffing.  This goes for the behaviors we don't like such as jumping or barking and difficult behaviors such as recalling during puppy play sessions.  The more food motivated your dog is, the easier it will be for you to determine low, medium and high value reinforcement options to load into your treat pouch for the session.

What if your dog is not food motivated?  Or what if you don't want to carry kibble & treats for the rest of your life?  Then how do you reinforce your dog for choosing to do the behaviors you like?  I'm not a fan of the whole paycheck idea when it comes to dog training.  While I do believe in heavy reinforcement for the all of your dog's lifetime, I don't like when it becomes a transactional partnership of perform a behavior get a paycheck.  This is where you need to work on developing other ways to reinforce excellent behavior.  For example, getting to go on a hike and sniffing all the trees around becomes an awesome reinforcer for not pulling me over.  If sniffing becomes too distracting, we take a break of not moving for a bit so that my dog can settle down a bit before continuing the walk.

Once you've learned how to use some other reinforcers such as praise, petting, and games you have to then think about which reinforcer is going to work best for the environment you want to hold your training session in.  If we are working in an exciting environment, I want to make myself more fun than anything else in that environment.  This is where I'm going to play my dog's favorite game of tug or chasing the flirt pole or laser.  If I'm working in a less stimulating environment, then some well timed verbal and hands on communication can let my dog know that I'm happy with their choices.  And some environments call for both types of reinforcements depending on the behaviors I'm asking for.  If my pup is super chill and not wanting to participate in a training session out of boredom, I'm going to choose a reinforcement that is more fun based.  If my pup is extra hyper or excited and I want to reign them in a bit for more focused trained, I'm going to switch to something less exciting such as petting.  Having the right motivation for the job is one of the toughest things to learn when it comes to dog training and planning successful training sessions.  There will surely be more help in this manner in the future.

Having realistic expectations for the environment.

And last but definitely not least in picking new environments wisely is to set realistic expectations for the environment you've chosen for your training session.  It's not uncommon to need to back up a few steps in your training when you first move into a new environment.  If it's a skilled behavior such as sit, down, or making eye contact that you've only been working on a short time, you may need to go back to step one with luring the behavior with a reinforcement.  You also have to keep in mind that there may be a barrier or unexpected challenge to a certain behavior in some environments.  Your dog may struggle to sit on a slippery floor and so you make need to change your expectation into a down position instead.  A down could be challenging in some environments due to fear or an aversion to the surface which could make your dog dislike the behavior you are asking for.  These challenges take time to work through and probably require a higher motivation then what your offering.  

Other things that have happened your dog's day can also effect their behavior and cause a need for you to change your expectations; say weather prohibited the typical walk you would have done before the session so you may want to change your goals for the session from working on down/stays because your dog has too much energy for goals of working on loose leash or heelwork where your dog can move more.  Another thing that is common in the training world is the quote, "Work the dog in front of you at the moment!"  This is very important when we are trying to set our training sessions up for success.  If our dog is really struggling with a behavior during a specific session but has been more successful with that behavior in other sessions, it's up to us to figure out why and how we can fix that for our dogs.  That might mean we need to give our dogs a break to relax or play a game before circling back to the training session.  If there are other challenging in the environment that we didn't expect, we may need to cut a session short or work on different skills then we planned.  It's important to keep our expectations realistic for the dog we are working with in the environment we asking them to work in.  It's ok to push the expectation slightly to strengthen your teamwork, but be careful not to push too far too fast or you'll be stuck in one place in your training for a very long time.

Next up on blog for the January Theme: Plan for Success is applying new environment training with family and friends.  Watch for this post later in the week!