The trails are crowded on Thanksgiving weekend. Are you and your dog ready? (Photo: person hiking on a trail with their dog off leash and behind them)
If your dog is reactive on leash (barks and growls and drags you toward other dogs and/or people,) hiking on Thanksgiving weekend may feel like a pipe dream.
If you celebrate American Thanksgiving, you have time to prepare yourself and your dog for this challenge.
If you celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, there’s less time for prevention.
Here are some tips to help friends on both side of the border.
PREVENTION TIPS:
One of the most common causes of leash reactivity is simply allowing your dog to walk in front of you and have the leadership role.
When you are behind your dog, THEY deal with upcoming “threats”, not you. Pulling from behind on the leash creates tension and only makes a dog pull AGAINST the tension. That tension causes frustration.
Leash tension leads to leash reactivity. Say no to leash tension. (Photo: pulling lab with pulling Weimaraner)
Teaching your dog a structured walk allows them to view YOU as their leader, not someone they feel the need to protect. You can learn how to do a structured walk here: https://beyonddogtraining.ca/news/give-your-dog-a-break
The structured walk is the cure for your shoulder and back pain. This type of walking stops your dog from pulling you, so your body can finally heal from all that jerking that’s been happening. It’s also a lot safer for you (I’ve seen people pulled into traffic!!! Have you?)
Don’t be fooled by the beautiful sunset. This picture isn’t what you’re aiming for. (Photo: tall man wades in the water, being pulled by his three leashed dogs in the sunset)
PRO TIP: If you allow your dog to get away with EVERYTHING inside your home (and never listen to you), you will need to improve that relationship before tackling a structured walk in an area of high distraction. If they can ignore you when you say “Come,” inside your house, they will ignore you when you say “Come,” outside your house (where there’s more smells, sights, and sounds worth ignoring you for.)
With your dog under control (and listening to you,) hiking on busy trails becomes a lot easier.
If your dog has severe behavioural issues, there’s still time to work on those before American Thanksgiving. TAKE ACTION now and look forward to Thanksgiving hikes, instead of dreading them. You can schedule a FREE CALL or an ONLINE TRAINING SESSION no matter where you live.
Canadians are already hitting the hiking trails as we cruise into Thanksgiving weekend. Here are a few tips to help you navigate the crowded trails with your reactive dog(s):
WALK EARLY — Hiking trails are less busy early in the morning. If your dog is mildly leash reactive, head out early to avoid the rush.
Wake up early and beat the rush (Photo: a couple crouch beside a river with their dog)
2. ADVOCATE FOR YOUR DOG — If your dog is fearful or aggressive toward other dogs, a busy hiking trail is not a FAIR location for you to bring them to. Working through these issues takes time. It’s okay to walk your dog in your own neighbourhood and then go on a family hike without them. Your job is to protect them and keep them safe and happy. If they (and you) won’t be happy on the hike, then it may be the kindest decision to leave them at home. You can work on these issues over the next few weeks and bring them on a celebratory hike in November instead. It’s okay not to be ready.
3. WHAT IS YOUR ENERGY? — Dogs will only follow CALM and CONFIDENT humans. If you are rushing to get a hike done and worried that your turkey might burn while you’re gone, your dog will sense that you need protection. Be calm and confident from the moment you wake up until the moment you fall asleep. That’s leadership and that’s what you signed up for when you got a dog instead of a cat.
Are you the leader or a follower? (Photo: Alyssa Foulkes and her Rottweiler, Magic hiking on a trail. Magic is following behind Alyssa)
4. WATCH CLOSELY — If you are hiking with family and friends, you will likely be distracted (chatting more than directing your dog.) If your pack has lots of people and off leash dogs and collides with other big groups (this happens about every one to two minutes on Thanksgiving weekend in Ontario,) how will you respond? How will other humans in your group respond? How will the other dogs in the group respond? And how will your dog respond? You should know the answer to all of these questions. If you don’t know, you may leave the hike thinking “Out of nowhere there was this HUGE dog fight.” Dog fights NEVER happen out of nowhere. They happen because people missed dog body language that was SILENT and didn’t intervene in time.
5. STRESS and SOCIAL DISTANCING — Some trails have a lot of choke points/bottlenecks where it’s difficult to maintain 6 feet of social distance. If this is going to stress you out (tromping off the trail into the trees every five seconds) don’t hit the trails. Dogs are INSTINCTUAL. They can’t rationalize “Mom’s annoyed because of COVID, or mom’s annoyed because the tree just scratched her.” They can only assume that what’s in front of you is stressing you out — the people and the other oncoming dogs. “I’ll take care of those things for you, mom.” BARK, BARK, BARK (Go away, my mom doesn’t like you,) OR (You’re still coming toward my mom and she’s tense, and barking isn’t working. I will proceed to the next step of growling, lunging, and biting.) None of their actions are out of nowhere. Their actions are because of YOU. Be calm. Be confident. Have less dog issues.
Being calm and confident takes daily practice. It’s hard not to swear when someone cuts you off in traffic and it’s challenging not to feel stressed out during a pandemic. No one is saying it’s easy, but believe me — it’s worth living a more balanced and harmonious life. Your dog is showing you the way — live in the moment.
Be joyful. Find peace. Be grateful. You’ll be amazed at the effect it has on you, those around you, and your dog!
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a safe and happy weekend with your favourite dogs and people!
Alyssa
Photos by: Wilfried Santer (@wsanter) (person hiking on a trail with their dog off leash and behind them,)
Jeffrey F Lin (pulling lab with pulling Weimaraner,) Mel Elías (tall man wades in the water, behind his three leashed dogs in the sunset,) Upsplash photo (a couple crouch beside a river with their dog,) Parry Bast (Alyssa Foulkes and her Rottweiler, Magic hiking on a trail. Magic is following behind Alyssa.)