Content
- Accustomed to accessories
- Simulation of indoor tours
- The first outing
- What to do if the dog doesn't want to move?
- Walk your adult dog daily
Do you share your house with an adult dog that doesn't know how to walk with a guide? This is an especially common situation in cases of adoption of adult dogs, since many of them did not have the necessary care and also did not go out for a walk with a guide before. Sometimes, other problems are added to this situation, as in the case of mistreated dogs, whose training can be more complex due to their fear and insecurity reactions.
In any case, daily walks are necessary for your pet's balance and health. Therefore, in this PeritoAnimal article we will explain how teach an adult dog to walk with a guide.
Accustomed to accessories
To teach an adult dog to walk with a guide, you will mainly need love and patience, trying to make this learning for your puppy a pleasant and pleasurable learning. For the incorporation of new knowledge to be enjoyable it must also be progressive. In this sense, the first thing you should do is for your pet to get used to the accessories that will accompany him during the tour: the collar and the guide.
First you should start with the collar, don't put it on before your dog has snorted enough, then you can put it on and leave it with him for a few days until you realize that it is no longer a foreign element for your dog. Now it's the lead's turn and, as with the collar, you must first let it smell and get familiar with its texture. We recommend that you use a non-extendable guide for easy control, at least during the first trips abroad.
Do not put the lead on it for the first few days, just hold it with your hands and bring the lead closer to the puppy for a few moments throughout the day.
Simulation of indoor tours
It is essential that you simulate several walks inside the house before taking your dog outside. For this, it must get your dog to be calm before putting the tab on it. Once on, walk firmly beside him, if he wants to take it off, stop until he stops too. Every time you obey him and behave as you want, it's time to use positive reinforcement to solidify the learning. For positive reinforcement you can use several methods, it could be clicker training or dog treats.
When simulating tours inside your home, we recommend that a stopping point is the exit door. When you get there, you should always ask your dog to stop and reward him later, this will be the most effective way to go out into the street, your pet shouldn't leave before you, because if so he will try to mark the entire route, something that is not part of the dog's tasks.
The first outing
The first time you walk your adult dog outside the house, it is essential that he is calm before leaving. However, during the tour you can be restless and nervous, this is a normal answer.
As for the way of driving and rewarding it, it should act as in the previous situations in which we simulate the walk indoors. If the dog wants to remove the leash, must stop until it stops too. Then it will be time to give him a reward.
The same should happen when the puppy urinates or defecates outside the house, the reward must be immediate to understand that the outside is the place where he should do his needs. For more details, you can consult our article that explains how to educate a puppy to do his homework outside the home.
As a responsible owner, you must carry plastic bags to remove excrement from the ground.
What to do if the dog doesn't want to move?
This is a normal reaction in adult dogs that have been adopted and is usually a fearful situation, probably caused by the stressful and traumatic situations they have been through before.
If you start teaching your adult dog to walk with a guide and he doesn't want to walk, should never force your dog to go out for a walk if he finds himself in this state, as it would be a very unpleasant experience for him. What you should do in these situations is to excite your dog first. Encourage him with your voice (while holding him with the lead) to jump on you and walk around you, then show him a ball and play with him until he is very excited.
Lastly, allow him to bite the ball and have it in his mouth to channel all of this arousal energy. In the end, you will see how the dog will be more predisposed to the walk and calm, this will be the ideal time to leave the house.
Walk your adult dog daily
As we mentioned initially, teaching your adult dog to walk with a guide requires a lot of patience and, although it can be difficult at first, the routine will make the tour a very pleasant practice. for your pet and for you.
Despite the difficulties, be sure to walk your dog daily, since walking will be your main source of physical exercise, it will discipline you and allow you to properly manage stress. If you want to know how often your adult dog should walk and if it's better to walk after or before eating, don't miss our items.
