Real Example of Off-Leash/Long-Line Hike with Denver and Skills We Practice on Hike

Hey Ya'll!

I had a couple requests for videos of what my walks/hikes with Denver look like. It's pretty challenging to film your own walks alone, but I did my best here and I think there's some good takeaways.

Note that I did more here than I would typically do in any 6 minutes on the trail, but I do practice all of these things on almost every hike, just spaced out a bit more (but honestly not that much more. I'm pretty engaged with my dogs when we hike).

Yes there are small training/mechanic errors. No, it does not matter. Dogs are generally pretty darn good at learning despite our shortcomings. (like at least one time I didn't "good boy" him when he complied with my cue, which I really do try to do most of the time but filming and trying not to trip and also training got my brain all fuzzy lol. And I did step on his leash by accident at the beginning because I couldn't watch the camera and my feet at the same time).

I will note that this is at about 6am. I purposefully go out and hike at places and times where I am unlikely to see any other people. I will get up early and drive long distances to do so. Off-leash hikes are for me and Denver and I'd prefer to see no one else in the woods if possible. Training walks where I'm working on passing people are generally done on the bike trail and significantly less often (I hike every day - I do distraction training walking maybe once a week).

Engagement in the more wooded areas, especially off-leash, is really important to me. In a field where I can see everything, I do much less training/checking in. But when I can't see around the corner, I need to make sure my dog is responsive at all times, which means more engagement and check-ins.

In this video there are examples of of me doing several things with Denver:

• Marking and rewarding for offered attention

• a couple different types of recalls

• a couple different "obedience" skills like sit at a distance, hand touch, wait

• Off-leash walking with me to practice passing potentially dangerous areas.

Practicing “with me” on trail is really important so the woods isn’t always a free for all. In this video, his “with me” cue was by a really difficult distraction - this big waterfall and entrance into the reservoir. For his safety I have him walk with me, release back into the environment when we pass it is the reward. If it were a person, I would have picked up the leash. This makes the person passing feel safe. I don't need to flex my off-leash skills or risk my dog making a mistake.

One more thing about SDs - practicing walking with you in the woods is a skill I also maintain for National Park use. As I get closer to a National Park trip, I will also do walks in the woods where my dog is at a service dog heel (on leash) for the majority of the walk, and sometimes vested, to ensure he's prepared to be in service dog mode in the woods.

A note about reinforcers: I use treats, toys, and praise as reinforcers in the woods, and vary their use depending on environment and the skill I'm training.

Happy Training!