3 Lost Dogs

This is what an engaged walk looks like.

Almost every dog training client we speak with says they have the same two problems:

"𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘐'𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯?"

and

"𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴!"

Sometimes it's hard for owners to see the connection between both of these challenges - but when we put them side-by-side like this, there's an "aha!" moment.

A dog who's engaged with you doesn't mean they're staring up at you, following your every move blindly.

In fact, if you're struggling to get your dog to pay attention to you when you're out of the house, we can almost guarantee that they've been asking for your attention all day.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗴, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁, 𝘁𝗼𝗼. This whole relationship thing goes both ways.

Look for chances to accept your dog's invitations to play, explore, and work together. Engagement isn't a training exercise - it's a bond.