Episode #165 Turn & Walk Away

Unlock the secrets to a calmer, happier dog as we explore the art of managing canine reactions to environmental triggers. Your beloved pup can learn to turn tail and trot away from stress-inducing stimuli, and in this episode, we reveal how. By pinpointing what sets your dog off, be it squirrels or speeding cyclists, we tackle the issue head-on with strategic distance, safe zones, and the use of positive reinforcement. Embracing these techniques doesn't just soothe your dog's nerves; it strengthens your bond and turns potential chaos into collected calm. Let us guide you and your dog to a serene response to life's little surprises.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Puppy Training Podcast, episode 165, just Turn and Walk Away. This podcast is designed to help you on your journey of becoming best friends through love and learning, as you train your own dog from home, and I'm here to help you every step of the way. This is the Puppy Training Podcast, and I'm your host, amy Jensen. Welcome to another episode of the Puppy Training Podcast, where we talk about all things puppy. It's one of my favorite things to do. Today, we'll be focusing on an important topic helping your dog feel better about triggers, things in the environment that they might react to. Now, instead of reacting, we'll discover how to teach them to turn and move away Just walk away. That doesn't always come naturally to a dog, so we need to teach them how. Now dogs, much like humans, can have triggers that make them uncomfortable or anxious. Does your dog have any of these triggers? It's important to first identify them before addressing them, so make sure you know what they are. There are common triggers like loud sounds, strangers, a person on a bike. Maybe it's very specific, maybe this person has a hoodie pulled over their head, or maybe they have a beard, or maybe they're very tall, or maybe it's a small dog, or maybe it's a big dog. Dogs are going to have certain triggers and it's going to vary for everybody, so every dog is unique and different. It might be other animals, like cats, or small prey animals like squirrels, things like that, that are super exciting to your dog. So we want to pay close attention to your dog's behavior in different situations and then pinpoint what is causing them stress or over excitement. I like to keep a list with as many specifics as possible to really narrow down what triggers I need to help my dog practice being around. The more specific you are, the more time you will save yourself. Now that we've identified triggers, let's talk about creating distance. Distance is a magic formula here. It is important to add to your notes how far away your dog can be from said trigger and not react. Does that make sense? Now? You might need to experiment with this until you know where your dog can think and focus and at what point you've stepped too close and their brain is now just reacting. We are going to work behind that line where your dog can still think and focus. So if you're so close to the trigger that your dog won't take any food from you, they won't look at you. They really can't think in the moment. They are just reacting to what they're seeing. You are too close. I need you to create distance. This is a place of learning. So if I'm too close and my dog's too close to the trigger, they can't and nothing's going to happen. That's effective for their brain at that moment. They are just reacting. I need to move them away, create that distance so that learning can take place from a safe area, a safe distance that they can again focus and think. All right, so learning can take place from this distance, whereas if it can't, if you're too close and that's how you know you can identify whether your dog can focus on you or they can't. And if they can't focus on you, I need you to create distance.

Speaker 1: 3:02

Next, be sure, when working with reactivity, that we are using positive reinforcement. When your dog encounters a trigger but remains calm, reward them with food or praise and then turn away, because that again just gives them some space and it helps them keep themselves under control. Now, this helps create positive associations because gradually we're changing their perception of the trigger and we're showing them what to do in that situation. We're not just leaving it up to them to decide what they need, what they think they need to do, right, dogs are just going to react. So if they see a trigger and they feel stress, or they feel anxiety, or they feel fear or something whatever that is, they're feeling maybe overly excited, right? Maybe they don't know how to handle their excitement. We need to help them turn and walk away. So we're going to gradually change their perception of the triggers and show them what to do. It's important to teach our dogs what to do, not just leave it up to them. Now you're going to repeat that over and over and over again from a safe distance where your dog can learn, their brains can think and focus and learning is taking place. We're not doing it from a distance that they're so close that they're just reacting, because then no learning is taking place and we're both frustrated. So keep those distances and we'll work gradually to get closer and closer and closer to the triggers until we don't need to stay far away.

Speaker 1: 4:16

But initially, yes, create that distance and then we're going to turn and walk away. Turn and walk away. That's the thought I want running through your head when you see your dog alert to something. I want you to turn and walk away. Rewarding your dog as you walk away will reinforce that behavior. We are creating a new pattern for your dog to follow. I see something, we walk away. I see something. We walk away. Instead of see something, I bark, pull, lunge, cower, whatever it is that they did before.

Speaker 1: 4:44

So start teaching your dog to turn away by using a cue like let's go or this way, just some simple phrase that just lets your dog know we're about to change direction Anytime that you notice a trigger approaching. So if you start to see a trigger, let's go. We just turn and walk away and reward our dog as we turn and walk away. So they're getting reinforced for that good behavior of not barking, not pulling, not lunging. It's really important that we're turning and walking away before they're reacting. The timing is important.

Speaker 1: 5:11

In the sequence, gradual exposure again is key. We're going to slowly introduce your dog to the trigger in controlled environments. I love to set up these training sessions. Again. By making that list, you know what you need to work on. Now I can really set up these sessions so that my dog's going to see their trigger repeatedly and that I get to then work on helping them move away from it by rewarding them with positive reinforcement and we're creating that new pattern of behavior. If it's other dogs, start with a distance and then we're gradually going to decrease it as your dog becomes more comfortable.

Speaker 1: 5:43

So let's say that your dog needs to stay like a football field away from the other dog. That's how far away we need to be for your dog to focus. I want them to see the dog across the football field immediately. Let's go. We change direction, walk away. I reward my dog and you know, once they calm down and they're focused on me, maybe ask them for a few other simple behaviors, like a touch or a trick, like a turn or a shake or a high five. Then go back and start to head in the other direction. We see the dog again about a football field away. Oh, we see that trigger again. Let's go turn and walk away. We reward our dog and over time we get to gradually get closer and closer and closer to a dog Until finally we can walk past that dog on a sidewalk and our other, our dog, is just fine that there's another dog there, no big deal.

Speaker 1: 6:25

This is going to take time, so this is not something that happens in one session or two. This is a process. We are creating a new feeling in our dog. So anytime I'm changing an emotion in my dog, it's going to take time. It's not like I can just teach them to sit in one session and yay, we're good to go. Okay, so be patient. Again. In that notebook, jot down your successes. That will keep you going and focused on what is working and what to keep doing. This step by step approach also prevents our dogs being overwhelmed. We don't want them to be overwhelmed, right, we want them to enjoy their walks, just like we want to enjoy our walks, and so doing this kind of desensitization and counter conditioning is really important.

Speaker 1: 7:11

If you find that your dog's triggers are too challenging to handle on your own, please don't hesitate to reach out. We here at Backstreet Ramballa are certified dog trainers and we can provide personalized guidance to address your dog's specific needs. We are happy to talk with you via phone or a zoom video session and really help you brainstorm and create some good training sessions. And there you have it. That, you guys, is a roadmap to help your dog feel better about triggers. Remember just turn and walk away, that's okay. It is okay to just turn and walk away by using positive reinforcement, counter conditioning and teaching them to turn and move away. You are fostering a happier and more confident dog, and that's our goal. Thanks for tuning in. You guys have a great week and happy training. If you have a question about anything you heard on this podcast or any other puppy training question, visit my site backstreetramballacom to contact me.