Training your dogs for running
Practice, discipline, consistency and partnership.
I swear I’ve written a post on how to run with your dog before. I can’t find it. Either my mind is filling in blanks where it needs to or it got lost in one of those internet black holes.
20+ years into my running journey, 15+ years into writing about it and 12+ years talking about it on the podcast have created so much miscellany that it’s hard to find the stuff you’re looking for sometimes.
A bit like looking for that thing, you know you have, that you just saw someplace really obvious in your house, and when you saw it you thought to yourself, “Huh, that’s where that is…” but now for the life of you, you can’t put your hands on…
I have a new puppy that I’m training. I’ve been thinking about this topic quite a bit. Then this week someone asked me about it. I said to myself, “Myself, just go dust off that blog you wrote about this 10 years ago…”
And, here we are. Apparently, there is no blog to dust off, so we start fresh. Which is probably for the better anyhow.
Let’s start with your approach to training or parenting or leadership. How do you want to set up this relationship? Do you want the dog to do things because they’re afraid of punishment? Sort of like the North Korean management model? OR, do you want the dog to do things because they want to?
Just like parenting, or relationships or any other leadership situation you want the behaviors to be intrinsically motivated – i.e. they want to do it. At the same time, in the same vein, you need to lead, have boundaries, and not put up with unacceptable behavior.
They are pack animals so if you let them think that they can be the alpha you are in for a rough trip. You need to lead. You are the alpha. They will be much happier if they know their place in the pecking order. Watch your tonality, your body language and your actions. Make sure you’re sending the right signals.
The good news is that dogs are way easier to get along with then humans in my experience!
The next thing you need to understand and commit to is patience. This whole process of training a dog, like raising a child is fraught with frustration. Have that expectation ahead of time and work with it. The path is never a straight line. You will have successes and failures you just need to keep a positive attitude and laugh at yourself a lot.
It doesn’t happen overnight. Especially with a puppy. They need time to learn. It can be frustratingly slow. Just like children they are always testing the limits to see what they can get away with. Consistency and patience are the name of the game here.
All training is based on reward and punishment. Most modern trainers will avoid punishment and weight the training towards rewards. Is very easy theoretically. B.F. Skinner taught pigeons how to play ping pong. Do a desirable behavior and get a reward. Operant conditioning.
As runners we want to be able to run with our dogs. Most dogs love to run. Most dogs are great runners. My border collies are incredible athletes. I’ve seen ultra-runners training with dachshunds and Jack Russells. I’ve seen mountain bikers who have their dogs along with them for rides. There is nothing that gives me more joy than sharing a long run in the woods with a dog.
Just use some common sense here. Understand that just like us they need water and fuel. It’s typically not a great idea to run them hard on the roads for long distances. They don’t have shoes. They are susceptible to heat more than we are. Once you’re in tune with your 4-legged running buddy you should be able to tell when they’re uncomfortable.
What are the most important things when running with the dog?
If you are running off leash the most important thing to have is a recall. You need the dog to come when called. This can be a matter of life and death to the dog. You can’t have it running into traffic or attacking other people or engaging with wild animals.
If you are running on-leash then the most important thing is to control the pulling. Again this can be potentially dangerous for both you and the dog.
The basic thing here is to reward for the proper behavior. But, you have to break it down into shades of the proper behavior. Let’s say you want the dog to come when called, sit and stay until released. That’s not all one thing. You need to deconstruct that and reward for the component behaviors.
Reward the dog for looking at you when you call or stopping or just checking in once in a while. Whatever the behavior is on the path to the entire set of behaviors. And you have to be fast with the reward. The reward has to align tightly in time with the behavior. If you miss it, let it go and look for the next opportunity to reward.
What’s a reward? A reward is a treat. Something tasty that the dog likes. The tastier the better. Yes, you need to have a pocket full of treats at all times. I have a fanny pack I fill with treats for our walks to practice recalls. I put a handful of treats in my running vest pocket for running practice. Have them with you at all times so you can practice.
You need to be consistent in your rewards, your commands and your equipment. Every time you want the dog to do something use the same verbal command, like “Ollie, Come here”. Use the same hand gestures and try to use the same pocket every time. Be consistent. Once they get it you can throw in more generic commands.
Dogs a way smarter than we are. They read your tonality, your body language and your emotions so try to be consistent. Don’t act pissed off and expect the dog to come to you. Make it a game. They love games.
When leash training have a designated leash for training. The dog will associate that leash with on-leash activity. I use a 6-foot flat leash. I tie three knots in the leash. One at the point where I hold the leash if I want the dog to heel, or run/walk right at my side. The second is right up by the end of the leash under the leash loop so you have something to grab if the dog bolts and the third is somewhere in the middle.
Flat leashes are hard to grip especially if you’re wearing gloves. You want to be able to get a grip. You might ask, “Why not use the leash loop or wrap the leash around your hand.” I do this but with the caution that if it’s a big dog and it bolts do you really want to be tied to it? The knots are a happy medium.
Your commands for running off leash are:
- Come – You say “Ollie come” and the dog comes to you and gets a treat. Practice this a lot.
- Note: if the dog won’t come to you don’t chase. Change directions or start walking backwards. Try not to repeat the command. Reward what you can until they get it.
- Sit and down – after the dog comes the next progression is to get them to sit or lay down for a treat.
- Stay or wait – After they sit or lay down they need to stay put until you release them.
- OKAY! – This is the release word – give the treat say “OK” and swing your arm out to the trail.
A final set of behavior you need to practice is crossing roads. The behavior you want is the dog to stop before the road, let you put the leash on and wait to be released to cross.
In practice this starts with a modified ‘come’ command. You say “Ollie, Come, Leash”. As they are learning do this well before you get to the road crossing. If you do it in the same place on the trail every time they will associate that place with a leashing spot and eventually will stop there and wait to be leashed without you even saying anything.
Note: I find that the dog understands the whole leash thing but doesn’t want to sit. If the dog is giving you a hard time on the sit walk them backwards into a sit.
Next, when you get to the road crossing you do a full ‘sit stay’, using the ‘stop’ signal with your hand. It’s very important not to flinch with your body language so that they only move on the verbal que. When the coast is clear you give the release “OK” and run across the road.
On the other side of the road you use the exact same sequence to unleash once you have enough distance between you and the road.
Now let’s talk about running or walking on leash. This takes a lot of time and training. Let’s face it walking or running on a slack leash runs counter to everything your puppy wants to do in life. They want to run! They want to chase! They want to frolic and sniff the horse poo! They want to get where they are going! As fast as possible!
And all you want is to walk? Boring!
Younger dogs just aren’t going to be good at walking on the leash so don’t’ try to force it. Let them burn off some energy first before you start this practice. Practice some patience for the first few minutes of a run. They’ll get better at this as they get older.
The goal is to for them to give you some slack in the leash and stay on one side. I’m not talking about strict heeling. I’m talking about just being a good citizen and not pulling you like and Iditarod sled dog on speed.
The commands are the same whether you are walking or running. You give the leash a ‘pop’ to get their attention and say “Easy”. They naturally go to the end of the leash and start pulling again and you repeat. Pop – “Easy”. You will have to do this 10,000 times so have patience. Try to reward any micro moments when they give you some slack with a “Good dog! Smart Dog!” The dog knows how long the leash is and will continue to test you. If it gets unbearable you can stop and do a sit stay. Or you can keep changing directions. Eventually the dog will understand that they are not getting there any faster by pulling.
Note: I use a flat collar and a flat leash with knots as described above for this. Retractable leashes are basically designed to teach the dog it’s ok to pull and be undisciplined. I don’t’ train with choke collars. I have never used the head leaders but I hear they are good for keeping a dog from pulling.
When passing by another dog, or human or dead animal your pull the dog close on the leash into the ‘heel’ position on the side away from the distraction. The command here is “Leave it”.
A variation of this training is to let go of the leash and let the dog drag it. This is a nice in-between because it allows the dog to relax a bit but still know that they are under control and you can practice your recalls, etc.
That’s it. “Easy” and “Leave it” 10,000 times. Eventually you will come to an agreement.
It’s really just consistency and patience. Try to catch them doing something right and reward it enough times until it becomes a habit.
Don’t be too hard on the dog or on yourself. We all know it takes time to burn in new habits.