Extra Info Page
This page has some extra info to help adapt what you'll learn in the challenge to your dog and your situation. Click the buttons below to jump to the sections you want to read 👇 (note, if your dog doesn't fit any of these categories, you can definitely still do the challenge, this is just extra info for the people with these specific situations)
Excitement/reactivity/aggression/fear on walks
If your dog can be “reactive” (i.e. they overreact to things by being either over-excited, or aggressive/worried on walks), this is relevant for you.
The challenge doesn’t cover reactivity directly, but many people with reactive dogs who took part previously found their dog's reactivity did improve just as a result of taking charge of the walk and being able to guide their dog's behaviour more.
If your dog is in the mindset of doing pretty much whatever they want on a walk, then they’re much more likely to over-react to things you encounter on the walk, because they’re not really thinking and just acting on impulse.
By taking charge of their behaviour on a walk (not in a draconian way, just putting you in the driver’s seat and getting them to look to you for guidance more), many dogs react less by default, because they’re not as excited, amped up, or distracted and more in the habit of looking to you for guidance/reassurance.
So, some dogs will show a significant improvement just from what we cover in the challenge, but even if it doesn’t fully go away, there are things we can do to address it properly.
It’s common to still need extra help to fully deal with it, as reactivity can be quite an ingrained habit and is definitely something that responds well to addressing the whole picture of life with your dog, and having a solid training foundation to build off.
If you want help after the challenge to fully deal with reactivity on walks, including over-excitement, aggression, or worry/fear, we cover it completely in our online course, Canine Chaos to Calm.
This is because the course has way more time to work on this stuff, as well as teach you our food-free training system to teach them to listen and behave, even when they’re distracted/worked up.
It allows us to build the necessary training foundation, including things like building their self-control so they learn to hold themselves back even when they’re REALLY excited, teaching them to listen to you reliably, as well as teaching you how to communicate with them in a way they actually understand and listen to reliably, which allows you to deal with it properly. This foundation is crucial for all dogs, and allows us to deal with a huge range of issues.
Two (or more!) Dogs
If you have two dogs, you can definitely take part in the challenge with both – there are just some things to be aware of to help fast track your progress with both. Even if you have one dog who’s pretty good, and another who’s your “problem child”, these points will still be relevant to you.
You'll find it easier initially to walk them separately so you can train one at a time, because it's a new skill for them and you and it's easier for both of you to concentrate without the other there to add excitement/distraction.
It’s hard for you to get your timing right when you’re trying to work with two dogs at once, so the combination of that, plus two dogs who are learning a new skill too, PLUS the fact that most dogs are more excited/distracted when walking with another dog, means that your progress will be much slower in the long run.
If your dogs have separation anxiety from each other, and you really can’t take them separately, then your best options are to practice around home, working on one dog at a time, or to have two people take a dog each on the walk, so at least each person can have their full attention on one dog.
It’s also a good idea long term to work on your dogs being ok being separated, because otherwise if one becomes sick, injured, or passes away, it makes life WAY more stressful for your other dog, and you.
Walking them separately is more hassle at the start but it usually means you get to the end result much faster!
Once they can both walk nicely separately and you feel pretty confident, you can bring them together. Keep in mind that the quality of their walking will usually go downhill with the other one there, which is why you want to get them good on their own first, so that the small backwards step isn’t as noticeable because they’re still “good” even when they’ve gone backwards slightly.
When walking them together, I find it easiest to have a dog on each side, and a lead on each hand. This makes it easiest to communicate to one dog using the lead, without being affected by the other one (and can reduce the “competition” factor slightly than if they were side by side).
The more you can build their self-control and ability to listen even with distracting stuff going on a round them, the easier it is for them to listen reliably even with the other dog there, which we can cover in our online course Canine Chaos to Calm if you want more help with it after the challenge.
Puppies Younger than Five Months
If you have a puppy younger than 5 months, you can definitely still take part in the challenge. It’s a great idea to get it right from the start, so you can start as you mean to continue and prevent problems from occurring later on.
Young puppies tire quickly (and often getting tired can mean they behave a bit like a cranky toddler!), so you want to keep your training sessions super short, sweet, and positive!
Keep in mind that walking on a loose lead is a totally new skill for your puppy (and one that goes against their natural instincts, which we’ll cover later in the week), so it’s going to take a lot of mental effort for them initially.
Even adult dogs benefit from short training sessions when learning a new skill. So, in some cases your “training” might be five minutes or less, until your puppy starts getting the hang of things.
Keeping things short and sweet also makes it easier to finish the session on a positive note, rather than giving up once things have gone down hill and you’re both in a bad mood!
Puppies also need LOTS of repetition and practice at a behaviour before they get it ingrained, so lots of short, sweet practice sessions help with this, too.
The equipment I’ll be talking about on day one is recommended is for puppies five months and older – if your pup is younger than that, just use a normal, flat collar for now and you can always change it later if you need to (which you may not) 🙂
Teenage or Young Adult Dogs (5 months to 3 years)
“Teenagers” – Dogs 5-18 months old
“Teenagers” tend to be between 5-18 months old, depending on your dog (small breeds tend to mature faster than older dogs). Just like humans, dogs can vary in how fast they mature.
“Teenage” dogs act very similar to teenage humans. They’re basically the doggy equivalent of a 16 year old human who’s decided that they know better and they don’t need to listen to their parents any more, who’s experimenting with behaviours that they’ve never tried before, and sneaking out the window to go to parties!
The teenage stage can make habits they already had as a puppy even worse, or new ones can pop up that were never there before.
Training is really important to get on top of these, as contrary to popular belief, they usually don’t just “grow out of them”, and it left unchecked, these behaviours can actually get worse and more intense as they become more of a habit and your dog becomes more intense about doing them as they mature.
If you have a teenager (or a puppy who’s about to become one), being super consistent, clear, and kind but firm is the best approach. Get really clear on your rules and exactly what you will and won’t accept, because you can pretty much guarantee that a teenage dog will push the rules to the limits when they want something, just to check what they can and can’t do.
As you can imagine, we have lots of teenage dogs in Canine Chaos to Calm for all the reasons explained above! With the right training though, a teenage dog can be better behaved and more reliable than the average adult pet dog, so there’s definitely hope!
“Young adults” - Dogs 1-3 years old
Dogs between 1-3 years old are kind of the equivalent of humans in their 20’s. They’re kind of/almost adults, but not always fully mature.
There tends to be less crazy/reckless behaviour in dogs of this age, but it is an age where other issues can start to pop up, too.
Aggression issues in particular can appear in dogs in this age range, even when they had zero issues as a pup.
This is because they’re maturing, and have less of a puppy mindset/attitude to life, and are more likely to react with more confidence, assertion and aggression where previously they were just a goofy puppy.
All of these things can be navigated with training, so don’t stress about it, but at the same time, don’t rely on them “growing out of” the things you see at these ages, because chances are they won’t.
Dog obsessed with the beach/park
If your dog loves going to a certain place, like the beach or park, then going to that place is a big “reward” for them. Make sure that you’re aware of the behaviour that happens leading up to getting there, since going there is a reward for whatever behaviour happened immediately before.
If your dog barks, pulls, leaps, and generally gets worked up and crazy in the build up to going to the park/beach/dog park, and then you let them go there, it REWARDS that behaviour and encourages them to do it more.
You want to make sure that the behaviour that happens right before they go to that place is something worth rewarding. If it’s not, keep practicing until they show an improvement, and then let them off to reward their effort in the right direction.
If it's impossible in the short term to get them to walk nicely to the beach, you can drive them there so they can let off steam, and then build up to being able to walk all the way there. We'll cover this stuff more in the challenge, it’s just something to be aware of for now.
Other issues (jumping up, selective hearing, excitement around guests, barking, digging, stealing things etc)
Many of the dogs taking part in the challenge have issues with things other than pulling on the lead, too.
Things like selective hearing, jumping up, barking, over-reacting to things on walks (with excitement, nervousness, or aggression), digging, stealing things around home, over-reacting around guests, chasing cats/birds/cars etc.
To properly deal with these issues (and any others) you need to create a solid training foundation of:
We cover all of these using our unique, food-free training system inside our online course, Canine Chaos to Calm, so if you want extra help after the challenge, I can help you deal with everything else in there!