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Better Behavior

A Dog Walker’s Checklist

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Professional dog walking has grown rapidly over the last ten years, and the collapse of the economy has sent a new flood of dog lovers into the field. Because walking is a young business, there is currently no regulating body to dictate the standards of care or qualifications for the work.

But walking dogs, particularly in groups, takes more than the passion we all share for them. There are specialized knowledge and skill sets, as well as ethical business practices, necessary to ensure the safety of the dogs in your charge, as well as yourself and the other dogs and humans who share the beaches, trails, parks, and sidewalks.

Here are ten questions to ask of yourself, whether new to walking or already enjoying your career with the dogs.

1. Are you trained in canine learning theory, body language, and pack management?
You want to know how to: a) use scientifically sound, humane training methods; b) read body language and take appropriate steps to prevent fights (and properly break them upwhen need be); c) judge which dogs to place together for maximum compatibility; and 4) handle issues like quarrels over toys, space, or play styles. In short, you want a professional knowledge and the skill set to keep the group together and under control while everyone has a great time. Of course, a love of dogs is imperative — but not enough on its own.

2. How many dogs do you walk at once?
Some cities, counties, and park districts now regulate the number of dogs a walker can take out together. But most do not. This means that some walkers are escorting six or eight dogs, while others are walking as many as 15 and even 20 together in public spaces. Whether on or off leash, each dog added to a group increases the potential for conflict, injury, lost dogs, and distraction – not to mention making individual attention neigh impossible.

3. Do you walk alone?
A walker’s job is to keep the dogs in your care safe and show them a good time. This means keeping vigilant focus. Teaming up with a friend can be fun, but it inevitably reduces attention. If that friend is also a dog walker, going out together combines two sets of dogs, making the pack too large for maximum safety. For best results, hit the trail with dogs, not other people. For similar reasons, cell phones and other potentially distracting devices should be turned off during dog walks.

4. Do you do the walking?
Most dog walking companies are very small — the sole proprietor is the sole walker. Some have multiple employees, however. If that’s you, insist your walkers follow the same ethical practices you do, and either hire well-trained walkers, or provide thorough training before sending employees out on their own.

5. What size dogs do you walk together?
Walk small dogs with other smalls, and the same for big ones. It’s too easy for small dogs to be injured during the course of play with and among their larger peers. And the risk of predatory drift, in which one dog attacks and even kills another, is much higher than is generally realized. This tragedy can — and most commonly does — happen between dogs who know each other and generally get along well, even for years. It’s safest to stick to the 50% rule. For example, if you walk a dog who weighs 30 pounds, his playmates should weigh no more than 60 pounds.

6. How much time do you guarantee on the walk?
If your service includes transporting dogs, make sure that the time you quote is time out of the vehicle, roaming and having fun. The car ride shouldn’t be included. And always give Fido her full due unless weather makes renders conditions unsafe.

7. What kind of training methods and equipment do you use?
The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommend only positive-reinforcement based training. Learn how to keep a group of dogs under control and safe without the use of choke, prong, and shock collars; citronella or water spray; hitting, shoving, or yelling. The dogs in your care are supposed to have a good time out there. We don’t allow teachers or camp counselors to spank children. A professional walker shouldn’t need to resort to such measures, either.

8. Are you licensed, insured, and bonded?
Any walker using the word “professional” should carry dog-walking insurance and have a business license. And if you have employees bond them as added protection for you and your company.

9. Do you have a professional service contract and references?
Ask all clients to sign a contract to help avoid later conflicts and to protect your liability should something happen to the dogs in your care, or should they inflict damage on a third party while in your care.

10. Are you certified to provide canine first aid, and what are your emergency protocols?
What will you do if a dog is injured in your care? If you walk groups, what will you do with the rest of the dogs if one member of the group is hurt and requires your full attention? What about if your vehicle breaks down, if a dog is lost, or if a natural disaster occurs? Always carry emergency information and know the fastest route to the emergency veterinary clinic. In short, be prepared.

We are currently seeing an explosion of dog walkers and dog-walking companies. It is, after all, a wonderful way to make a living. If it’s the path you choose, set yourself up to enjoy the most worry-free experience, knowing that you are taking the best care possible of the four-leggeds in your care.

 

Become a dog walker or advance your existing experience and business at the dogbiz Dog Walking Academy.

Walking Reactive Dogs: Distraction To The Rescue

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By Beck Rothke, former Dog Walking Academy Instructor

When I think about working with reactive dogs, I often think about the use of comic relief for intense moments. Essentially, I know that a door out or away from an intense or possibly intense moment is to find a distraction powerful enough to turn the dog’s attention to something else. It’s the same concept as a moment of comic relief and it serves the same purpose.

As a child of the 80’s, I grew up watching sitcoms. What I loved about sitcoms as a kid was seeing people going through hard and emotional experiences, but at the most critical moments, there would be a bit of humor to offset the drama of the hard stuff. By no means did it minimize the impact of the emotional moment, but it did make the moment a bit easier to digest. Incorporating comic relief in to my everyday interactions with other humans–making jokes when the tension is too high or finding humor in less than humorous situations –lessens the tension of the moment and serves to help us throughout our personal and professional lives. While we still experience the intense emotion of the moment, we do so in a more regulated way, allowing us to keep our true focus where it needs to be. It doesn’t ruin our day. The comedy distracts us and we move on. As dog walkers, we all know how well distractions can work and are familiar with the idea of using them to our advantage!

Let’s take a look at using distraction techniques to avoid or get out of hot moments.

Knowing Your Dogs
Making use of distractions to relieve a reactive dog from an intense situation relies on a full understanding of two important concepts for the dog: (1) what he is bothered by (or is reactive to) and (2) what he loves or is interested in (if the former isn’t too intense). For instance, when we work with dogs who are reactive towards other dogs, we can work to avoid running into other dogs to a certain extent, but not fully. Knowing a dog’s triggers (both the ones to be worried about and the ones that we can use to our advantage) can help immensely when negative interactions cannot be avoided.

Distraction Tools
One reliable “go-to” as a distraction for dogs is treats. Most dogs like them and they are easy to have on hand. But what if the dog isn’t interested in the treats you have or is generally unmotivated by them? Indeed, sometimes the dog’s emotional state may render treats completely uninteresting. Well, it’s not as easy, but knowing the dog’s favorite motivators can help provide the right and appropriate level of distraction. One item I always carry with me is a squeaker from an old toy. I put mine in the side pocket of my treat pouch. It’s easy to access this way by just hitting the side of my pouch to squeak the squeaker. Some dogs are very tuned into the sound of crinkling. For this you can use an empty bag of chips in your pocket. Another good distraction might be simply the sound of your voice. Experiment with different pitches and volumes to see what the dog you are walking is most easily attracted to. Use of verbal praise or cues is quite effective in distracting a dog from tempting stimuli as well.

It’s All About Timing
As is true with comic relief, one very important factor in implementing distractions is timing. If you are too early, the dog might be attracted to the distraction, but it might not understand why, and worse, it may become bored with the distraction before you have a chance to make use of it. If you are too late, you may unintentionally reinforce behavior (if it’s operant/ learned) or miss the chance to make a difference (if it’s classical/ emotional). So how do we determine the appropriate timing? Take note of each dog’s trigger zone (i.e. where the scary or concerning stimuli is okay as opposed to not okay) and implement the distraction right before the point that is not ok. Practice makes perfect. Use your eyes and ears to determine the dog’s body language or any vocalizations that tell you the interaction (or stimuli) is not okay. Implement your distraction before the dog shows any signs of distress and you’re sure to be on time!

Walking dogs is exciting and rewarding. You can make it even more rewarding for all involved through purposeful, well-timed distractions to set everyone up for success.

What Every Dog Walker Should Know About Growth Plates

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By Kimberly Burgan, former Dog Walking Academy director

Who doesn’t love the sweet smell of puppy breath? Most of us jump at any chance to work with puppies and teenagers, and their owners are all too glad to have us wear out their whirling dervishes. But there’s a downside to too much exercise for dogs who haven’t yet reached sexual maturity: high-impact play and exercise can damage a growing dog’s growth plates, causing ongoing damage.

Here’s what you should know about growth plates and how to balance their protection with much-needed exercise for young dogs.

What You Should Know About Growth Plates
Growth plates are regions of cartilage that sit at the ends of the long bones of the legs. They are ultimately responsible for healthy bone growth. As a puppy grows and develops, moving and working their muscles, hormonal changes trigger this cartilage to calcify and develop into a denser matter. This calcification ultimately fuses and becomes a stable part of the bone. Until fusing completes at sexual maturity, these soft areas are much more prone to injury from hard impacts, repetitive impacts, and even too much exercise. And a fracture during this time can present problems for proper healing, prevent the growth plate from fully forming, and create uneven pressure on the other legs that produces secondary physical health challenges over a dog’s a lifetime.

Walking Puppies
A good rule of thumb to keep you on the safe side of preventing injury is to assume sexual maturity and growth plate fusing by 9 months for small dogs, 12 months for mid-sized pooches, 18 months for big dogs, and 24 months for the giants. A fully mature canine client may now safely enjoy things like jogging or running on hard surfaces, doing stairs regularly, jumping, and high-impact activities like catching a Frisbee in the air that might also involve any leg twisting.

Spay/Neuter Timing & Growth Plates
Recent studies and findings indicate that altering a dog prior to reaching sexual maturity removes the sex hormones needed for physical maturity to fully occur.

With nationwide early spay/neuter campaigns still on the rise (for all of the right reasons including overcrowded shelters), veterinarians are seeing a greater number of adult dogs experiencing problems such as early-onset of arthritis, shortened leg length, functional gate abnormalities, twisted limb or paw, and non-healing fracture sites—all of which mean unnecessary and possibly avoidable pain and discomfort for the aging dog (as well as secondary health problems often attached). Veterinarians are now choosing to wait for sexual maturity or are now choosing alternate options. Responsible breeders will regularly promote delaying alteration until sexual maturity and inhibit early spay and neuter options within their contract.

The increase in these practices among vets and breeders means an increase in unaltered young dogs needing your services.

How does this impact my work as a professional dog walker?
Carefully planning increasing exercise for puppies and adolescents is a must. Doing so provides a potential niche for dog walkers who can factor in screening parameters such as: Are you in a position to lift the puppy or teenager in and out of your vehicle to avoid injury? Are you comfortable including an unaltered dog on your route and is it safe to do so? If you’re walking off leash, can you control the environment to keep the puppy from jumping over logs, for example, or running too hard with her group mates? It’s also best to keep very young puppy walks a bit shorter to avoid stressing growth plates, and, where possible, choose routes with soft substrates like grass and dirt rather than concrete.

For intact dogs, can you keep un-neutered males safe from targeting by other males, and intact females safe from unwanted attention and impregnation? Do you walk on leash so you can avoid an intact male running off to investigate a female scent? Many professional walkers choose not to include the menagerie of additional responsibilities that come with walking intact dogs. Given that more prospective clients will be holding out for longer durations of time before altering, it might be a good place to put some thought into your screening policies: What works for you? If you decide the risks involved in walking intact dogs remain too high for you, stick to your policies.

If the additional challenges that come with walking puppies and teenagers aren’t for you, consider networking to find walkers willing to work with puppies or adolescents that don’t fit your walking model so you can provide quality referrals when your answer is no. Pet parents will appreciate your professional knowledge, ethical integrity, and insight even if you ultimately have to decline their business. Healthy walking is happy walking, after all.

Rules of Engagement for Great Dog Walks

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By Pat Blocker, Denver, CO Dog Walking Academy Instructor and Owner of Peaceful Paws Dog Training

Imagine a parallel universe where dogs are as compelled to respond to their person as humans are to instantly answer our cell phones­—anytime, anywhere. A decidedly essential skill for dog walkers is the ability to overcome canine distraction. This can be a tall order. For instance, hailing a dog away from a fascinating pee-mail would be like having me notice your eye color while Johnny Depp walked through the room.

Two vital skills needed for successful and safe walks are the capacity to engage dogs while walking and getting a reliable recall. Whether you walk dogs on or off leash, whether you walk dogs singly or multiple dogs together, you’ll want to master the rules of engagement.

Off on the right paw
It’s important to engage dogs before the walk as well as during. For example, ask dogs to sit and focus when you enter their home and again before exiting. This sets the tone for your outing. If you are transporting a dog to a trail or off-leash park, you’ll set the mood with a polite sit before loading, after unloading from your vehicle, and again before heading on to the trail.

On the walk
If a dog is engaged during the walk, he’s not completely absorbed in his own world where things can get risky. Talk to the dog. Have him check in. In the meantime, you’re practicing situational awareness to see potential distractions early. With dogs engaged, you can redirect if necessary and reinforce proper behavior. If you’re connecting with the dog, you’ll be proactive instead of reactive. When you’re proactive, would-be problems are more easily averted. Preventing a situation is always less complicated than dealing with its aftermath.

Circle up
Engage dogs by circling them up. This means having dogs gather close, sit, focus on you, and wait for treats. Whether walking on or off-leash, single or multiple dogs, you’ll want the ability to circle them up. It turns distracting situations and potential problems into a positive, safe experience.

When to circle up

  • Other dogs passing by at a distance
  • People passing by (especially joggers, skateboarders, cyclists, etc.)
  • Before loading into your vehicle
  • After unloading from your vehicle
  • Before crossing the street
  • Highly distracting situations (think squirrels)

Teaching circle up
It’s easiest to teach behaviors to individual dogs as opposed to group learning. If you walk multiple dogs, have each one reliable on the behavior before attempting a whole-group circle up.

To teach circle up, start with little or no distraction. With the dog on leash, call him to you. Then cue him to sit and treat him for doing so. Next, practice off leash. Even if you don’t walk dogs off lead, you’ll want the ability to circle up in the event of a dropped or broken leash.

For a group circle up, call all dogs to you and cue a sit. As each dog sits, say his name and treat him. Speaking each dog’s name teaches the dogs to wait their turn for treats.

Bonus: Passersby will marvel at your dogs’ polite behavior under distraction. You are a model for your business. Be sure to carry your business cards!

Reliable recalls
It’s been said that dogs come when called and cats come when they’re interested. In reality, dogs also need to be interested. We want to build a rapport with our charges that has them interested and knowing that compliance is worthwhile.

A reliable recall allows us to

  • Call dogs away from danger
  • Call dogs out of an escalating situation
  • Call dogs away from distractions

Rules of recall

  • Be ridiculously happy. Even if you’re feeling scared and frustrated, use a happy, high-pitched voice.
  • Resist the urge to chase. Running toward a dog will incite him to run away, either from fear or because it’s fun. Do the counterintuitive thing and run away from the dog while calling him.

Teaching recall

  • Enthusiastically call the dog’s name. Be very animated by slapping your knees or clapping your hands.
  • When you have the dog’s attention, move away from him and say, “Come.”
  • Upon the dog’s arrival, lavish on praise and treats.

To teach successful recalls, begin with little or no distraction. If a dog can’t come when it’s easy, he can’t do it when it’s difficult. Don’t begin training recall on the trail or at the park where dogs are susceptible to fun induced deafness. Start easy and work up to increasingly difficult situations.

Practice makes perfect
If you only call dogs to come or circle up when you’re ready to leave the trail or park, they’ll quickly learn that these cues mean the fun is over. To avoid this consequence, practice the cues randomly throughout the walk. Praise, treat, and let the dogs return to whatever fun they were having

With training, understanding, and fun, dogs will be happy to comply with the rules of engagement—anytime, anywhere.

How To Add a New Dog To Your Walking Group

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Woo hoo and congrats! You’ve got a new dog walking client!

If you’re walking singles, adding a new dog is usually a relatively simple procedure. If the new dog is particularly shy, you may wish to take extra steps, such as arranging a joint walk or two with your client, to help you ease into Fido’s inner circle. Following that with asking your client to be home once or twice when you arrive, but not walk with you, should do the trick in most cases.

But if you’re a group walker, introducing a new dog can make for a stressful day for all involved—you, the dogs you already walk, and especially the newcomer. Here are a few tips to help ease that stress and get Fido off on the right paw with his new walking buddies.

Ease The New Dog In
Many dogs find it overwhelming to meet multiple fellow canines all at once. That’s understandable. For most of us humans, it can be stressful to be the only new person at a party full of people who already know each other.

So unless you’re adding an unflappably social dog to your group, you may want to walk your new charge with just one other friendly, socially savvy dog to start. Taking this extra time for even just a day or two can make a huge difference to a smooth introduction to the full group. Building on the human analogy, imagine how much more comfortable you’d be at that same party if you came with a friend.

Extra Tip: If time is tight, you can keep these extra intro walks shorter—for example, 30 minutes instead of your regular full hour.

Avoid Tension During Transport
The biggest contributors to canine conflict are proximity and duration—two factors at heavy play in your vehicle. If you transport dogs as part of your walking service, plan to pick up your new dog last for at least the first two or three days to minimize the duration factor.

Your other dogs are going to be very interested in the newbie, which can cause stress and lead to conflict when the new dog has no way to get away from the pressure. To minimize the proximity issue, keep the new dog separated from the rest of your group via a crate, gate, or by having him ride shotgun with you.

Extra Tips: Create visual as well as physical separation, and for safety endeavor to have all dogs ride securely in a crate or via a safety restraint.

Get—and Stay—Moving
You’ve helped your new dog make one friend to grease the social wheels with the whole group. You’ve kept him separated during transport to avoid escalating tensions that can easily erupt into conflict during or shortly after the ride to your walking location. Now it’s time for the first group walk. Before unloading the dogs, be sure you’re ready to go. Have all your gear on, your bait bag loaded, etc. You want to be ready to start walking as soon as the last dog jumps down from your vehicle.

Speaking of which, you’ll want to unload the new dog last. The other dogs have had some time to adjust to his smell during transport, and now they’re eager to meet him. Remembering the dangers of proximity and duration, we want to avoid a situation where the new dog has to stand while everyone else noses in to investigate. That’s like the entire party gathering around you in a circle to grill you about where you work, where you grew up, where you went to school, etc. Ack!

So get yourself ready, then unload all your regulars and ask them to sit politely before finally inviting the new dog to jump down. Once he does, give the “Let’s go!” cue and start moving briskly so the others don’t have time to circle around and overwhelm your new dog with all that unwanted attention. Keep moving, cheerfully chattering to your group, until you sense that the initial wave of intense interest has passed and given way to “Huh. I guess the new guy is coming with us now. He seems alright.” This will usually happen after 5 to 10 minutes, after which you can stop for a moment to see how the dogs interact. Keep this brief—just 10 seconds or so—and then get everyone moving again. If you do this a few times during your walk, the new dog should be pretty well incorporated by the time you’re back to your vehicle. Still, it’s a good idea to follow this protocol for another day to a week depending on the body language you observe.

Extra Tip: Following this protocol can be challenging when dogs need to stop in the first few minutes of the walk to poop. It can be helpful when introducing a new dog to start your day a bit earlier to make time to give each dog a chance to potty before loading up.

Reinforce, Reinforce, Reinforce
Keep an eagle eye on all dogs and body language signals throughout this process, and actively reinforce polite interactions. If you’re walking on leash, use your voice to cheer the dogs on and keep the tone light and happy. If you’re walking off leash, reinforce polite interactions with food treats if you carry them, and also offer special treats to the new dog whenever a group mate approaches him. This will help create a positive association with all the attention.

Extra Tip: It also helps to keep all interactions with the new dog brief, unless you can see very clearly that he’s super interested and having a great time. Do this with distraction. For example, when one of your regulars walks up to your newbie, cheer this on for a brief moment “Yay! How fun you two are making friends!” and then break it up. You can call the regular over for a treat, for example, or throw a ball. This keeps the double stressors of proximity and duration from stacking up and leading to tension.

Get a Great Start
A little extra care and time when introducing a new dog to an existing group will get your new dog off on the right paw with his new friends. It helps set you up for success, too, avoiding conflict and incident, the need to adjust group composition, or to have to lose and disappoint a new client.