Okay, now that you understand the common reasons for leash reactivity to occur, how to avoid letting your dog rehearse it, and why it’s so important to work with your dog below threshold, let’s get to hands-on training!
Emergency exit strategies
Before we jump into set ups and working around triggers, work on these foundation exercises. I refer to these as “emergency exit strategies” because they are most commonly used to prevent your dog from getting into a bad situation, or getting him out when he’s already starting to go over threshold. You should first practice them randomly at home and on walks, when everything is calm and there are NO triggers around. Practice until your dog responds correctly and happily to each cue.
Name game: Use to improve your dog's responsiveness to his name.
Call your dog's name.
Immediately after, throw him a little party - happy talk, a treat, playtime, etc.
U-turn: Use to cue your dog to turn around voluntarily, without stress and without alerting him that a trigger is nearby. Later on, this will also make it easier for your dog to do the Engage-Disengage exercise (see below).
With your dog on leash, walk forward a few steps.
Say “u-turn!”
Turn around 180 degrees.
Jog forward a few steps.
Reward your dog for catching up with you.
Climbing up the leash: Use when your dog is at the end of a tight leash, and you need to get closer to get his attention or lead him away.
Place one hand in front of the other along the leash, as if you were climbing a rope. Repeat until your hands are close to your dog's collar. (Make sure that you are the one moving toward your dog, not pulling your dog toward you.)
Use the name game, treat magnet, or gentle but steady pressure on the leash/collar/harness to turn your dog away from the trigger.
Treat magnet: Use to distract and lead your dog away if he’s to too fixated to respond to the “u-turn” cue, or when you really don’t want him to look around and spot a trigger in the area.
Grab a small handful of treats in your hand. There should be enough treats that your dog can lick and nibble for a while, but not so many that they’re falling out of your hand.
Hold your hand into a lightly closed “tunnel” shape, and place it directly in front of your dog's nose.
As your dog starts to lick or nibble at the treats, lure his head to the side and have him follow the treats until he's turned around and walking away from the trigger.
Let him continue to eat the treats as he's walking away.
The handful of treats should act like a “magnet” attached to his nose - he doesn’t look up or away, just keeps his attention fully focused on the food.
Ziggy and his owner demo turning away using the name game, climbing up the leash, and the treat magnet.
Demo of teaching the “scatter” cue.
Scatter: Use to distract your dog when you are unable to completely avoid a trigger. Also use to give your dog a break and help him calm down (works best in grass).
Say “scatter!”
Scatter 3-5 treats on the ground and let your dog hunt for them.
Repeat as many times as needed until trigger is gone or dog is calm enough to continue walk.