Etch-A-Sketch Walking

Straight lines and predictable routes can be the enemy of a loose leash walking training program.  Dogs are excellent at pattern recognition and when we become predictable, they know where we are going before we do.  It can be difficult to be valuable, interesting, or exciting to our dogs when we head out for a walk.  One of the ways to do that is to be consistent in our expectation but unpredictable in our movements.  Think about the old Etch-A-Sketch boards where you had to balance two different knobs to help draw a picture.  You could turn left, turn right, double back, make a loop, or even make artwork – your imagination was your only limitation.  In any case, you were likely rarely moving in a straight line as you made your artwork.  A similar approach can be used when we walk our dogs.  This game/pattern helps to teach your dog to pay attention to your movements.

Prerequisite Skills	Gear
Leash and Harness Desensitization Engagement Marker Word	Leash and/or harness Treat Pouch with Treats Or Toy

We utilize the Etch-A-Sketch by:

• Identifying an area where we have the ability to move in a variety of direction and reward your dog

  • Keep the difficulty of the environment to a level your dog can handle

• Take 2-3 steps in a random direction and stand still

• Reward your dog when they follow

  • If your dog struggles to focus use a lure to guide them early on in this process.  Once they are consistently following the lure follow the “Fading a Lure” process so that your movement is the cue for them to move.

• Immediately after the reward move in a different direction

• Repeat until your dog is reliably following you around

  • Stays relatively near your side, stops when you stop, start when you start

  • Practice delivering the reward both while moving and while standing still.

• Incrementally increase the number of steps and incorporate random patterns and changes in direction

  • Walking routes can include walking in a straight line, small curves, large curves, sharp turns, soft turns, loops, squiggly lines, abrupt changes, changes in pace or any other random pattern you can think of

• Once your dog can’t wait to follow you around start to increase the number of steps in between rewards

• Reminder: Take breaks during training

  • Training should be fun and just marching around can get tedious, especially early on

  • Use sniffing, toy play, food play, or anything else your dog can do to release some tension and reset before going back to training

• Generalize this Behavior:

  • Build small short bursts of this activity into your daily walks

  • Practice this activity in new environments.  Increase the difficulty of the environment at a level that your dog can handle

  • Use the various movements and cues to guide your dog through normal decision points on your walks (turn left, turn right, this way, etc.)

  • Reduce the frequency of this game

    • Your goal is to reduce the magnitude and quantity of direction changes down slowly until you can just use them to guide your dog on a normal walk.