The first step of socialization with any dog is to get them to walk on a loose lead in a controlled environment such as your house or yard. Next to the loose lead walk, the most important thing is conditioning your dog that you own any door/gate that you go through. These are bottlenecks for movement and build the dogs fixation with the expectation of movement of the door and people coming in and out. If you cannot control your dog when movement in “framed” in a door you have no chance of controlling them outside where movement is unpredictable in a 360-degree word. A dog that is not under control on your property should not be expected to be under control off of your property.
“Door work” teaches your dog to focus on your movement or lack thereof over any other distractions in the environment. Once your dog is consistently under control and focuses on you on your property it is time to venture out. Anytime spent trying to get your dog under control outsider your house is wasted effort. You train them not to get out of control instead. Traditional talk and treat training only distract from their primary form of communication which is eye contact and movement. Don’t add variables to a simple process.
For lack of a better explanation your dog should always be in neutral waiting to be shifted. When you go out into the world you are moving as a pack with you as the higher-ranking dog. Their reaction to any person, place, or thing, should be and is predicated by your reaction to them. If they are not focused on you there is no way for them to see that so they will respond with excitement either in the way of fight flight or frolic. Allowing a dog to walk outdoors in front of you or walk on the leash in front of you ensures you are never in their “frame” of the situation or world view. If a person cannot control their emotions in response to the environment, there is no chance of them controlling their dogs.
Instead, we have a culture full of people being walked by their dogs at 5 AM and 10 PM to avoid distractions. Worry about voice commands and tricks later. First you must become the lens your dog used to view the world even when you are not with them. A dog that cannot be in neutral with a handler cannot be in neutral alone. That is the definition of separation anxiety.
Consider making an appointment with us for your dog of any age, breed, size, behavior or background. Our In- Home 1- hour Love & Leadership appointment is based on the belief. It is what has allowed us to help over 3000 dogs since 2017 with 85% of clients only needing one session. We focus on the Canine mind, not the dogs breed or personality. This is also why we are one of the few trainers that work with aggressive dogs…. because we use the same process. We are basically Rosetta Stone for dogs. We don’t teach dogs anything, we teach you Canine Culture.