The Walk - Walking a Dog

The proper way to walk your dog on a leash: pack walks

Walk your dog, do not let your dog walk you. If you allow your dog to walk in front of you

while on a lead you are reinforcing in the dog's mind that the dog is alpha over you because

the leader always goes first. This can lead to many behavioral issues that some regard as a

"breed trait" or "personality," when actually it is your dog being in charge of its humans.

When a dog walks in front, it does not drain its mental energy. The dog is not relaxed,

as it has the big responsibility of leading the pack. This mental anguish can build up

 inside of a dog. When a dog is hyper or high-strung it means the dog is not getting the

proper amount and/or type of exercise. If your dog runs laps around your yard or house,

this is an indication that it is not getting enough exercise.

If you take your dog for long walks daily and it is still hyper, ask yourself, when we left for the
walk who led the way out the door/gate? Who leads on the walk? Was the dog following you,
watching you for direction or were you following the dog? Was the dog smelling where and
when it pleased? If you answered "yes" to these questions you are walking your dog while
it is in an excited state of mind. Your dog is worried about leading which does not calm the
mind. If you answered "no" to these questions, then you may have a super high energy dog
that needs even more exercise. It is not a natural state of mind for a canine animal to be so
hyper.

Keep in mind it is not solely the act of heeling, but also that you as the human are making
the decision for the dog to heel. How often do you walk? Do you MAKE your dog heel or
does the dog heel when it pleases just because it gets tired? Just because a dog walks well
on a lead, not pulling, and for most of the walk walks beside the human does not mean the
human is being a pack leader; it really is about who is making the decisions. Was your dog
calm and in a submissive state of mind when you snapped on their lead? When you left your
home, who went out the doorway and/or gate first, you or the dog? Does the dog decide to
heel when it wishes, but pull to the side to sniff or walk out in front when it pleases? Or is the
human consciously making the dog heel? If the human allows the dog to decide, because
after all he walks "pretty good," then the dog is making the calls and you are allowing your
dog to be your leader. If it is all about who is making the decisions, can you decide to let your
dog walk in front? No, since instinct tells a dog the leader leads the way, your decision to
allow your dog to walk in front will be communicating to your dog that you are allowing him






















to be your leader.

A pack walk is also the best way to introduce new dogs to one another or to get dogs who
already do not like one another to accept each other. Any unwanted reactions from one dog
to another should be immediately corrected. By the end of your walk they will feel like they
are one pack. It is important that the dogs who are out on the walk are all heeling beside the
person holding the leash. Any dog that is walking out in front of their humans will begin to
regard himself as the alpha of the group. By making the dogs heel beside or behind the
person holding the lead, you are communicating to the dogs that the humans are above them
in the pecking order and that all the dogs are on the same follower level. Remember, it only
takes one alpha dog to set off any other dogs around. If you are walking multiple dogs that
usually fight you may need more than one human to walk the dogs. Make sure all human
walkers are making the dog they are walking heel and that they are correcting any signs of
aggression towards the other dogs. You may allow the dogs to smell one another's back end,
but make sure you keep walking in the process. The key is to keep moving forward. Keep the
dogs walking and remain confident. The dogs will feel your authority or your weakness. Stay
strong.

"The Boxer on the right used to get into awful bloody fights with the two white Great 
Pyrenees that were very difficult to break up. We began to correct the dogs using Cesar's 
Way. The results were amazing. After 6 years of fighting it only took a day to communicate 
this was not acceptable and they never fought again. We still had to watch for signs and 
correct them at the right moments. However, as soon as we started walking the Boxer with 
the Great Pys all signs of the desire to fight between any of the dogs vanished. Here she is 
walking right next to them."

All dogs, regardless of size or breed, need to be taken on daily walks, jogs, runs, bike rides,

 rollerblading, or any other means you have to get your dog moving. Taking your dog for a 

walk is an important ritual in keeping your dog mentally stable. A dog, as an animal, is a 

walker/traveler by instinct. Packs of dogs get up in the morning and walk. Simply having a 

large backyard or taking your dog to the dog park is not going to satisfy this instinct in your 

dog. As Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer says, "To your dog, your backyard is like a large 

fish bowl in which they are trapped. Fish swim, birds fly and dogs walk. Having a dog should 

not be about only fulfilling our human needs, we owe it to our dogs, to give them what THEY 

instinctually need." While this might seem like a daunting daily task, the good news is walking is mentally good 
for humans, too.
For a dog to be mentally stable, you as an 
owner must take your dog for daily walks to 
release mental and physical energy. 
The proper way to walk a dog is the dog 
walking either beside you, or behind you, 
and never in front of you. This may 
seem petty in a human's mind, however it 
means a lot in a dog’s mind. When a human 
allows a dog to walk
in front, they aresending signals to the 
dog that he is leading the human. Instinct 
tells a dog that the leader

goes first. A lack of exercise allows the buildup of the mental energy which would otherwise
be released in a proper walk, and permitting a dog to be pack leader can cause many
behavioral problems in a dog—such as, but not limited to, hyper-activity, neurotic and/or
obsessive-compulsive behaviors—all of which are signs of a dog that is not mentally stable.
An unstable dog is not a happy dog. Excitement in a dog is NOT a sign of happiness.
Dogs that act very excitedly when their humans come home are showing signs of a lack of
exercise and/or leadership. For a dog, excitement does not indicate happiness. In most cases
it is a sign of a dog that is not mentally stable. When you come home after being gone, avoid
 speaking to your dog in an
 excited manner for a few minutes. Go and do something else first. When we see dogs as
human, it is difficult to accept a dog's excitement as not being a sign of happiness, however,
we must remember dogs are canines, not humans.

I have heard many people say that making a dog walk beside or behind them is mean. Those
who believe this are seeing the dog as having human traits. It is actually crueler to assume
your dog is just like you in his feelings and instincts and not see him as the canine animal that
 he is. Think outside the box and accept that your dog is an animal with different needs than a
 human.

Many people take their dogs out for a daily walk, however, the dog is walking in front of them.
Getting a dog to walk properly on a lead is not as hard as it may seem—yes, even your dog(s).
(You can walk more than one dog properly on a lead.)

 When getting ready to walk your dog, call the dog to you, do not go to the dog to put the 

lead on. After the dog comes to you make him sit calmly before snapping on the lead or 

slipping on the collar. Retractable leashes are not recommended, as they give the handler 

less control. The way you leave your house and property is also important. Your dog must go 

out the door after you. If you put the leash on the dog and/or leave the house while the dog is

excited and leading you, then you are setting the mood for the rest of the walk to be in an 

excited state.