Incorporating Choice, Control, and Predictability Into Our Walks With Our Dogs
By Alisha Ardiana of Empawthy
Alisha is a certified positive reinforcement dog trainer in San Francisco, California. She works primarily with dogs who are labeled as shy, fearful, and aggressive. Her goal is to teach guardians how to support & care for their dogs’ unique needs. In Alisha's words, "In all honesty, I am more like a dog detective. And your dog is a puzzle for us to solve together. I understand the temptation to control your dog. But control is an illusion! Control your ENVIRONMENT instead.”
Read our other blogs with Alisha:
Gamify Your Walks
Be Your Dog’s Chaperone
Let’s Talk About Loose Leash Walking
Some of Alisha's clients
Being Stuck in the Middle Seat
We’re coming off the holiday season, so I’m curious. Did you travel over the holidays? Did you fly? Did you drive? Take a train? How did traveling over the holidays feel for you? I think public transit is a great way for us to understand the complexity of novel social situations, and how it relates to dog behavior.
For a lot of people, traveling can be stressful. Think about an airport. It’s crowded, loud, and the bright lights and constant announcements put us on edge. We don’t always have control over where we sit, whether our transport arrives on time, or even whether our belongings stay safe. We’re surrounded by other stressed out people, and we don’t have the option to leave. Traveling can bring out the worst in people, making them short tempered and far less tolerant than they might be in daily life.
All of these factors are compounded inside a small space like an airplane.
If you get stuck in the middle seat on an airplane, how do you feel? It sucks, right? No one chooses the middle seat. Why would you? Your control over your personal space is extremely limited, and you have no easy way out.
We all want to have choice, control, and an exit strategy. We all want to be able to leave a situation that makes us feel uncomfortable.
Taking away choice and control leads to anxiety, and can cause us to behave in ways that are unpredictable or unexpected.
The same is true with our dogs.
I firmly believe that the solution is giving dogs more choice, control, and predictability.
Alisha's dog Civetta on a walk in San Francisco
Dogs don’t have a call button to press to when their personal space is being threatened. But we can teach dogs that they have choice and agency in public spaces. For many dogs, that is going to mean moving away from things that make them uncomfortable.
When dogs get upset about unknown people, unknown dogs, skateboarders etc - what is the “typical” training advice? It might be:
Tell them to sit.
Tell them to look at us.
Give them a treat.
Does this work to interrupt the behavior you don't like? It might, but it doesn’t actually teach your dog how to solve the problem.
Civetta and a training client on a walk in San Francisco
Choice, Control, and Predictability
I always tell my clients, if something goes sideways with your dog, ask yourself:
Did they have Choice? Choice is limited when the dog is in the car, on leash, in the house. Why? Because they all limit the potential for escape.
Did they have Control? Can the dog create distance from what bothers them? If the dog is on a 4 foot leash or in a crate, or if they are not allowed to do anything besides stay in one place (or sit), control is impossible.
Did they have Predictability? This can take months or years to establish because the world can be so unpredictable.
Typically one is missing, but most likely, all three.
I walk and train dogs in San Francisco, which is FULL of noise, people, other dogs, and general unpredictability. In my view, it is absolutely essential to teach dogs that they can make choices about how they interact with their environment in order to increase their sense of safety. All of my work is centered around teaching dogs that they have access to choice, control, and predictability, even if they’re on a leash.
For me, walking my client dogs on a 10 foot leash is nonnegotiable. It helps me to teach them that they have the choice to MOVE AWAY from things in the environment. If dogs have never been given this choice before, it might take a LONG time for them to learn and practice active avoidance. Once they understand this, they immediately gain so much more control. We then layer in games, patterns, and reinforcement to give dogs predictability. I teach dogs that moving away means that GOOD things happen!
Walks should be fun, dynamic, and predict good things. We see people or other dogs - we move away, we play games, we sniff, we have a treat fiesta. Over time, seeing other people or dogs will be a predictor of fun!
More training clients having fun on a walk!
The Role of Dopamine
I’m thinking back to the airplane analogy. If you’ve done any traveling in airplanes - you know that parents often have an iPad for their kids. Why? Because the iPad can provide choice, control, and predictability in an environment that might feel stressful or overwhelming. It allows kids to stay occupied in that small space with something that is fun. It supplies a steady stream of dopamine - in other words, it makes the kid feel good!
We can take this same concept and apply it to dogs on city walks. Often when we have our dogs in public, we want them to do nothing. What I want for my client dogs is for them to be an active participant in their walks, and to do things that feel good. What feels good to a dog? Sniffing, for one! They also can play games. They could jump up on a bench, they can put their paws on a fire hydrant. They can forage for treats. If I want a dog to be able to ignore the public, I have to give them something else to do. A 10 foot leash gives us the space to do all these things.
Another happy training client
What if I’m worried about my dog getting too far away from me, or running towards a trigger instead of away when they’re on a longer leash?
Many people argue that using a longer leash is impractical in the city. I believe the opposite - it’s essential. It gets dogs out of the middle seat and gives them the choice and control they need to feel safe. Is it a little scarier for us, as the guardian, to let go of that control? YES. It takes planning, situational awareness, handling skills, and lots of practice.
Using a long line can be a game changer, but it takes practice and situational awareness to use one safely.
Skills take time to build. None of this happens immediately. It can take a long time for dogs to learn that they have other options besides distance increasing behaviors like barking and lunging on walks, especially if they’ve been rehearsing those behaviors for a long time. If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to a certified force free, positive reinforcement trainer. And make sure you have basic leash and long line handling skills. Use a safety strap or a waist to leash strap for added layers of safety and peace of mind.
Another piece of advice (and don’t worry, this will be its own stand alone blog post): I advise ALL of my clients to purchase a 10 foot long line with a custom traffic handle placement 3 feet from the loop handle (NOT 3 feet from the clip). High Tail Hikes can do this for you as a custom add on. It has been a GAME CHANGER for me and my clients! Essentially, it provides an “emergency” brake on your leash, and another point of attachment for two handed control if needed. It can convert a 10 ft leash into a 7 foot leash quickly and easily. Stay tuned for more about how we use this type of traffic handle.
That’s all for now - thanks for reading!!!