How We Walk
“Wanna go for a WALK?”
Four simple letters make up your dog’s favorite word—WALK! Taking a walk with your dog is one of the best ways to build a healthy relationship with them and create new ways of communicating with each other. But especially if you live in the city, walking can be a real pain in the tail for the two-legged animal on the other end of the leash. They pull, they bark, they have no regard for other pedestrians… sound like your dog? Have you ever seen someone else walking their dog and felt a tinge of jealously that your dog doesn’t trot politely next to you like that? That your dog terrorizes the neighborhood instead of just enjoying the walk? Let’s talk about how to change that.
Believe it or not, every dog is capable of being a polite walker—it’s instinctual! Moving as a pack is an activity that is so ancient and inherent to a dog, migration is their religion. It is a sacred activity for them, and it is also the one activity they do every day where they can guarantee that they’re going to come across something that could be a stress trigger for them. Whether it’s another dog, a bike, or the mailman, you guys are going to come across something that your dog feels a decision must be made about. Do we ignore, warn, or approach the thing? If you don’t make a decision, then your dog will.
But how do we communicate who is making the decisions here? It’s helpful to have an understanding of pack positions in canine migration. You may have heard of these terms used to describe a dog’s personality, but it’s more layered than that. These positions describe a dog’s job within the pack migration, and it so happens that every dog tends towards one of these positions over the other. There are three distinct canine migration positions to know about:
Front of the pack — Dogs at the front of the pack are the primary decision makers. They set the direction and speed for the pack, and any changes or stops must come from them. If it’s communicated to the front of the pack that there is a danger nearby, the front makes the decision about whether we fight or flight.
Your dog might be a front of the pack dog if they have a tendency to be aloof, aren’t super fond of physical touch, and don’t provide much if any warning before escalating to aggression with other dogs. They’re usually “picky” about what dogs they like and don’t like. They develop very individualized relationships between their different humans, and they respond very well to obedience training. They are also usually fairly independent and will freely remove themselves from a social setting, but get upset if someone else does the same without their permission. When you think of a stereotypical German Shepard Dog personality, you’re thinking of a front of the pack dog.
Middle of the pack — Dogs in the middle of the pack are the communicators for the group. If the front of the pack says to stop, they communicate that to the back of the pack. If the back of the pack alerts to danger, they send that message up front through the middle of the pack.
Your dog might be a middle of the pack dog if they are emotionally expressive, enjoy a good snuggle, and are friendly without hesitation to other dogs. They’re good at matching energy with humans and dogs, and good at escalating and deescalating from playtime to rest time with you. They’re the kind of dog you wouldn’t worry about getting into any fights at the dog park, even though you don’t take your dog to the dog park. (Why We Don’t Like Dog Parks) They follow you around the house most of the day, but also aren’t too stressed about being home alone. They are often more difficult to motivate for obedience training, as they’d rather just hang out and vibe with everyone. When you think of a stereotypical Golden Retriever personality type, you’re thinking of a middle of the pack dog.
Back of the pack — Dogs at the back of the pack are the lookouts. Dogs don’t have much awareness about what’s going on behind them and are quite vulnerable at that position, so the dogs at the back of the pack look out for any trailing danger from behind everyone and alert everyone to it immediately.
Your dog might be a back of the pack dog if they tend to be anxious, need to snuggle like they need to breathe, and bark at other dogs and people before they meet them. They emote the most out of any dog might be a bit of a hypochondriac. They pick up on obedience training pretty well and seem to enjoy following instructions. They are velcro dogs who follow you around and stare into your soul all day, and they might be dramatic about being left home alone. When you think of a stereotypical Chihuahua, you’re thinking of a back of the pack dog.
Your dog probably fits mostly into one of those positions, but has also displayed behaviors more indicative of another position. Maybe they seem like a back of the pack dog inside, but behave more like a front of the pack dog outside. The specific reasons for that will be individual to every dog, but in general it is because they feel that there is a position in the pack that needs to be filled, and no one else is stepping up to do it. A middle or back of the pack dog doesn’t necessarily want to move to the front of the pack, but if there is no one else stepping up as a leader they will do it to protect the pack. In fact, most front of the pack dogs don’t even want to be at the front and would happily step aside if they identified someone else was more capable then them—they just know that it’s their skill set.
So who should be in front? It’s YOU! Dogs live in a human world and don’t have the information that they need to make the best decisions when out on a walk. They’re going to have their best time out walking when they don’t have to stress about what triggers you may come across, because they know you’re going to make the decision that protects the pack.
Getting to the front of the pack after spending so many walks behind your dog may seem daunting, but learning how to do it will be the most fun you’ve ever had with your dog! Your relationship with your dog will deepen and everyone will build confidence. There is no better feeling than when you’re “migrating” with your dog in a flow state, fully aware of your surroundings and fully aware that your dog has blissfully turned off their brain to just follow you.
So… how do you learn to lead? That’s what we’re here to help with! When you hire a member of The Pet Parade to train your dog, you’re hiring us to train you, the human, as well. We treat every dog and human like the individual that they are. We will learn your dog’s personality type, their triggers, and their preferences. We will show them the fun in following and will build their ability to focus. And then, we’ll show it all to you!
We want “walk” to be your favorite word, too. Reach out to us for one on one training today!
