Pack Walking

For some training fun, get some dog friends together and practice walking your dogs in a group. Over the years we've practiced pack walks like this in the Sunday Our Pack classes just for fun and to help the dogs to relax. It's good to change directions to get the dogs used to staying calm while walking towards other dogs, while keeping a comfortable distance.

Here's a video from the Sunday Our Pack class:

Our Pack Training Article Featured in Bay Woof Magazine

Pleased to Meet You

Managing Successful Dog Introductions

By Marthina McClay, CPDT

Our Pack has a training article featured in this month's Bay Woof magazine! This is the second time we've had an article featured in the magazine's "Good Dog!" training column. The article focuses on how to set up and manage polite dog-dog introductions. Here's an excerpt, click on the link below to read the full article:

Imagine you are out walking your dog around the neighborhood, when around the corner comes a neighbor with her dog. As the new dog spots you, its ears shoot forward, its gaze locks onto your dog, and it lunges to the end of the leash, pulling its owner across the street toward you. "It's okay, he's friendly!" she calls.

As the neighbor's dog rushes forward, your normally calm, laid-back dog freezes, emits a low growl, and maybe fires off a few warning barks. Your neighbor, looking shocked and slightly offended, drags her dog away.

What just happened?

Read the rest of the article here.

It's Not You, It's Me

Those of you who read this blog regularly are familiar with my efforts to help my leash reactive dog, Bear, stay calmer on walks, especially when he spots other dogs. Bear has made so much progress that I thought I would give an update in the hopes that my experience might be helpful to others who are struggling with this challenge.

Our Pack leash reactive class.

Earlier this summer, I was taking Bear to Our Pack’s Sunday leash reactivity class. I have three young dogs, and walking them all together is a challenge, especially when one or more of them is leash reactive. Bear was doing well in class, but on walks around our neighborhood he was still getting pretty spun up. He makes this funny squeal when he gets excited or nervous, which would turn to barking and lunging whenever a strange dog got too close.

So I took Bear to see Marthina for a private consultation with her Pit Bull ambassadors, Hailey and Professor Dexter. He did great there too - making me look like an overwrought, anxious owner who was blowing this all WAY out of proportion. He laughed at me all the way home.

Marthina kindly advised me to just walk Bear alone for a while, without my other dogs, to continue building his confidence.

Well, a couple of months ago, I had knee surgery and couldn’t walk my dogs at all anymore, so I hired someone to come in the mornings to exercise them. Once my knee got a little better, I took Marthina’s advice and started taking Bear out for a second, short walk around the block in the afternoons, just the two of us. Well, it’s funny, the knee surgery meant that I had to walk REALLY slowly at first, which actually helped us both to relax a lot more. I think that before, I had been prone at times to taking those grim, “Grab the leashes, stare straight ahead, you are all going to behave!” death march walks with my dogs. You know the kind, where you keep walking a little faster and a little faster, just to “technically” stay out in front of your dog? You know who you are!

Now, with my bum knee, Bear and I would just sort of amble (limp) along, stopping often to rest and sniff the rose bushes. But I also took the opportunity to continue to work on his leash skills, giving him lots of treats and positive rewards for coming back to my side. I did this every time a dog barked inside a house or behind a fence we were passing, or when a squirrel ran across the road, a cyclist went by and, of course, when we saw other dogs. I went through a LOT of treats. But in the space of a few short weeks, our walks, and Bear’s leash skills, have vastly improved. We have gotten to the point where he will walk on a very loose leash without pulling, even as we pass by other dogs. Even excited, barking dogs.

I hadn’t realized, though, how much progress we’d really made until a recent afternoon. We were walking around the block and I was daydreaming a bit, not really paying attention, when a dog in a neighbor’s yard suddenly rushed the fence and erupted in furious barking. I nearly jumped out of my skin, then

Bear in Our Pack's class.

quickly recovered, only to see Bear, standing calmly at my side, looking up at me as if to say, “Well, where’s my treat??” He reacted better than I did! Amazing. I think the combination of me relaxing and providing TRUE consistency (we go every single day, even for just ten minutes) did wonders.

Bear still has his moments, but it is just awesome to see his progress. Our little daily walks have really helped us bond. I can see his trust in me growing every day, and more importantly, I’ve learned to trust him, too.

A Poem From Leo

Please don't put your face up to mine.
I tell dogs this all the time.
They don't listen and they don't care,
could it be because their owners aren't aware?
I'm a dog, a dog has a code,
not to greet in a face to face mode.
It's scary when a dog on a leash goes to the end.
It's not that I'm mean, I'm social and like to have a friend..
People then say, "oh he's aggressive, look he snapped",
But how is this wrong when it was the other dog making ME feel trapped?
Please respect other dogs and don't walk your dog up to their face,
then this world for dogs, will be a happier place.

By Leo
Poet
Therapy Dog
Pit Bull Ambassador (hence the poem)
Best Loved Family Companion

Sometimes Training is About Doing Nothing

Sometimes the impression is made that dog training is all about getting your dog to jump through a hoop, offer a paw shake or perform an instant "sit" on command. It's easy to get caught up in the idea that, in order for it to be "training", the dog must be constantly moving around and doing something.


Of course, it is very important to train your dog to be able to live happily with you, and these behaviors can help replace behaviors you don't like. They can also be used to help your dog cope in certain situations. But sometimes, it's good training or conditioning to just do nothing.



In my work, I often encounter dogs that may be obedient, but that are not well-adjusted, balanced or happy dogs. There's a big difference to me in a dog that has been taught to sit on cue, but doesn't like being around other dogs, or even people, because they make him nervous. Other dogs are very well-adjusted, confident and love to greet people by jumping up, and simply lack training.



For example, a client came to see me about her dog, which reacts around other dogs on leashed walks. Her dog is okay with other dogs after a slow introduction (I think it is normal for dogs to go slow getting to know each other, see our article on dog intros here.), but while walking on leash, he exhibits an intense reactivity to other dogs. (For more information on leash reactivity, click here.) Her dog has been to our classes, and she has worked on distraction techniques and has made a lot of progress. But sometimes, it's best to just do nothing.


If your dog isn't even listening to your cues because he's too worked up, then it's best to just let him get comfortable IN that scenario, i.e. on leash, in the street, or on a walk with another dog. You can take the pressure OFF of your dog by letting him know he doesn't have to meet the other dog, react the "right" way around the dog, or perform some command. Just let him get used to the idea that there is a dog somewhere around and it's okay. There is NO pressure, no "you have to say hi to this other nice dog," or "you have to sit and look at me, and you can't do anything else." Many dogs, in fact, "do something else," such as sniffing the grass, in order to cope with this sort of experience.


When the pressure is off to meet and greet, or to do something else, the dog will generally relax, especially if she's a comfortable distance from the other dog. It's important to make sure that you don't push your dog too far, too fast. If your dog is comfortable a block away from another dog, let her have that. Then work in baby steps until she can comfortably be closer to the other dog. Don't push it to the point where she becomes very uncomfortable. Of course, you would still provide leadership to let her know that she doesn't have to worry, and that you have everything under control.



We work with dogs that come from abuse cases, and sometimes it's helpful to just let the dog know that, wherever he is, he's safe and all is okay. This is not so much "training" as it is "conditioning", and sometimes one is more helpful than the other, depending on the dog and the situation. In our work, we do a lot of conditioning or counter-conditioning, and letting the dog know that all is well.


-- Marthina McClay, CPDT

Our Pack Featured in New Issue of Bay Woof

The new October issue of Bay Woof includes a training article from Our Pack in the Good Dog column! The photos are from our Sunday Pit Bull training class.

Of Love and Leadership

By Marthina McClay, CPDT

There is no question that love is a wonderful thing to give our dogs, and giving it is great therapy for us humans, too. In fact, in our organization's work with rescued Pit Bulls, we have seen that, despite their false fearsome reputation, they often make excellent therapy dogs. Why? Temperamentally correct Pit Bulls have a strong love of humans; they love being touched by people, even people they don't know. They can easily tolerate the unsteady touch of a patient who has had a stroke, an elderly person using a cane or walker, or a child learning how to pet and interact with animals for the first time. In a temperamentally correct Pit Bull, the people-loving nature is already present, and the dog mostly needs to be trained in basic good manners such as sitting instead of jumping, waiting to go through doorways, and greeting people calmly.

Read the full article here.

Is Your Dog Leash Reactive?

Leash reactivity is a common issue with all dogs, and is often confused with aggression. (Not sure if your dog is leash reactive? Check out our Leash Reactivity page). Leash reactivity can be reduced using positive training and socialization techniques. Check out these recent photos from our Sunday training class:

Many of these dogs came into class with no leash skills, and look at them now! You’ll see pit bulls (and other breeds, the class is becoming very popular!) learning to walk together calmly, focus on their owners and relax around other dogs. The class is run by Our Pack's certified trainers and is held outside every Sunday, where we can simulate real-world situations. Best of all, it's free for Our Pack adopters, foster families and volunteers. For more information, email info@ourpack.org.