Most dogs who pull, bolt, obsess and ignore you outside have the same problem: the walk is their only window to live their life, so they go at 110 percent the moment the lead comes off. Widen the window at home, with their breed's outlet, a job and proper sleep, and the walk calms down without a single training session.
By Max Randall · IMDT Qualified · OCN Accredited · 1,000+ dogs helped
By window, I mean their window of opportunity. The part of the day where your dog actually gets to do the things they were built for.
Two hours a day is the most common amount I see people walking their dogs, and that's great. Keep it up. But here's the catch. If nothing at home gives your dog their breed's outlets or any real work for their brain, you are training them to empty the tank in those two hours. Not on purpose. It just happens, because that's the only chance they get.
Imagine someone locked you indoors for 22 hours a day and let you out for two. You'd run. You'd grab everything. You'd ignore anyone calling you back in. That's not a badly trained person. That's a person with a two-hour window. Your dog is the same. The pulling, the bolting, the obsession with every dog and smell: that's a dog with a window.
This is the bit that surprises people. A dog can sleep the full 18 to 20 hours a day and still be obsessive, hyper and deaf to recall outside. Sleep isn't the problem. The timing is. If everything they need arrives in one short window, they learn to grab it fast, and the walk becomes a frenzy.
That frenzy is where the behaviour problems live. Pulling, because they're desperate to get to the good bit. No recall, because the word can't compete with the only fun they get. Obsessing over dogs and smells, because when else would they?
A walk doesn't have to be a walk. Farmers don't walk their dogs; the dogs have a day. The aim is a day where the good stuff is spread out, so the walk stops being the only chance. Employ your dog, or they'll go self-employed.
Snuffle mats and lick mats don't fulfil your dog. They occupy them. Occupying is useful for winding down, but it isn't the job. If your enrichment is all occupying and no working, the window is still shut.
Sighthounds, scenthounds and terriers were bred to explore and hunt, so a sniffy, roaming walk suits them. Most other breeds weren't. For a retriever, a collie or a shepherd, an hour of aimless wandering is the least interesting thing you could do with them. Fill some of their outdoor time with their actual job instead: a retrieve, a search, a bit of training. That time is for them, and the job is what makes it worth it.
Everything raises arousal, including the good stuff. On a day when your dog is already wired, a big session of their favourite outlet can tip them over rather than settle them. Part of this is learning when to do it and when to leave it. That's why MK9Plus teaches you to read your dog rather than hand you a list of activities.
Inside MK9Plus, the Window of Opportunity lesson, your breed's outlet and the How I Look at Each Day lesson come before any training, so the walk calms down because the day changed.
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The ones owners actually ask me, answered straight.
The Whole Dog Approach works on what's underneath the behaviour, so the pulling, the bolting and the obsession stop being created in the first place. No fight on the end of the lead, no recall drills for life.
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Written by Max Randall, IMDT-qualified and OCN-accredited dog trainer · More free dog training guides · The philosophy: Don't De-Dog Your Dog · FAQ