More than walking your dog: Fulfillment
Most dog owners exercise their dogs by walking them. The dogs sleep, wake up, potty, eat, walk, chill, sleep, walk, eat, chill. Mix in some dog park time or the dog playing by themselves or hanging out in the back yard. The dog may seem like they are living the good life by having shelter, food provided, getting out on walks, getting loved and perhaps sleeping in the bed with their humans. However, I doubt your dog is truly being fulfilled as a dog within that daily routine.
Dogs are natural athletes
Imagine being built to move for miles and miles a day, to be able to sprint like a maniac but being contained to a backyard or walks on a short leash. Mix in some behavior issues and the world is very much limited for that dog. So many dogs are confined to short leash walks, even when they go to the park. I see so many dogs pass through the park and they don’t get to go off-leash, they just get the ability to sniff within the context of the leash. No running, no sprinting, no real seeking, no real fulfillment. Dogs are animals and letting use their animal instincts will have satisfy their animal needs.
Preparation to fulfill
I’m not saying you need to go to the park and let your dog off leash. There is a lot more to this than just uncliping the leash and saying get the zoomies out. Training is a great way to get to the off-leash life but even if you don’t have much training, you can use a long line and get an abundance of benefits from it. Teaching games can help create a focus on you and the activity that you will play. The games can mimic activities that are natural to the dog. For example, Chasing, catching prey, “killing” prey, fighting over it, celebrating it. Games in conjunction with a long line can allow for almost free feeling movement without the restriction of the short leash.
How to use a long line and games
Get a 50 ft long line. head to the park. you don’t necessarily have to give the dog the whole leash but you can hold it so your dog has 15-20 feet to move around. As you feel more comfortable you can give your dog more leash.
Let your dog move around, sniff and get used to the environment. You may do this the first few times you are at this partiuclar location. When your dog is used to the environment begin to ask for things. Work a follow by just moving in the opposite direction as your dog.
Begin adding in games. Cue your game and play. All dogs are different and their motivation may change if they are playing for the first time at the park. Don’t give up to quickly with the play, stick with it for at least 10 minutes. If they don’t engage, that ok just come back to it the next time you head to the park.
Once you get to playing with your dog build up the love for the game in the particular environment. Build up the rules to your game, the things you need to start raising the criteria to the game to make it more interactive, challenging and engaging.
Some dogs make take to all of this quickly and others may take more time. Don’t force your dog but read them. Seeing what they offer will help you decide what the next move is or how to progress to the next step.
As a bonus, as you build up these skills you can begin to add in obedience, work with distractions, desensitize your dog to triggers while playing a game with your dog.
The Don’t Do’s
Don’t just try this out without the long line. If your dog isn’t reliable on leash they wont be reliable off-leash. Unclipping the leash will be unsafe and counter productive to more long term goals.
Dropping the long line entirely is like unclipping the leash. If they aren’t reliable or you aren’t sure what your dog will do, don’t drop the long line which is your form of communication.
If your dog doesn’t play right away, don’t give up too soon. They may need time to get into it or to feel comfortable. Stick with it even if it takes a few sessions. You also may need to revisit how you are playing. What you are communicating can play a big role too.
Rushing the process to get to obedience or better leash walking can kill the want to play or the desire to venture out away from you to explore.
What the dog can acheive
Providing your dog with ability to move freely and to play games that mimic there actual needs as an animal is going to fulfill them more than the toy thrown all over the floor or the snuffle mats, puzzle feeders and lick mats will. Those other activities are like pacifiers to help pass time while the fulfilling activities will leave them tired mentally and physically, and more so when you can incorporate more training into them. The other thing and possibly the most important is the fact that these activities are done with you. They are not something the dog is doing alone. You are building a better relationship by providing something the dog needs and also by adding in rules, boundaries, and structure.
THe progression
These are all activities that require some kind of skill to manage. Learning how to use and manage the long line. Learning how to read and trust your dog. Learning how to play with your dog. Learning how to play yourself. All of these will take time to get better at. Allow yourself the time to practice and learn. Don’t expect perfection but rather begin little by little and add more as you feel better. The hardest part out of all of this is getting started, once you do that it all gets easier over time.