Red Light – Green Light

This is an engagement building game that mimics the old children’s game -> Green means Go, Red means Stop.  The goal is to teach your dog to pay attention to your movement and mimic your actions. 

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

There are 3 variants to this game:

Variant 1 – The verbal version:

• Walk with your dog on a loose leash

• Randomly stop walking and give the “Stop” cue

• Wait for your dog to stop moving

• Mark and reward the instant they stop

• Say “Okay” and start walking again

• Repeat until the dog quickly stops moving after hearing the stop cue

  • Gradually build up duration while stopped to support normal activities like picking up poop or waiting for a car before crossing the road.

Variant 2 – The mimic version:

• Walk with your dog on a loose leash and near the heel position (close to your legs)

• Randomly stop walking

• Wait for your dog to stop moving

• Mark and reward the instant they stop.

  • Deliver the reward at your side (the dog may have to move to get it, that’s okay).

  • We want the dog’s default decision when you stop moving to be to come to your side.

• Start walking again

• Repeat until the dog stops moving after seeing you stop moving

  • You can generalize this however you want but I typically stop once I get the default repositioning next to me when I stop moving.

Variant 3 – The leash tension version:

• This variant only works for light/low arousal pullers

• When the dog pulls (hits the end of the leash), immediately stop moving. 

• Wait for the dog to create slack in the leash

• Start walking again

• Reminders:

  • Success here should look like the dog feeling tension and then creating slack without you having to stop

  • If you find you are doing this often (more than once every 10 steps) it’s unlikely that it’s working and it’s time to implement alternate loose leash walking training