Managing three dogs on a walk..for the first time!

Well today was the day, at 6.30am, feeling very apprehensive, I took all three dogs out on my own in a public place. I am so, so proud of them! It was a beautiful walk, through some woodland, then out into a really pretty wild flower meadow.

I have no problem managing Benson and Bramble, or Casper and one other. But three? Oh boy!
I have been considering this for a while now. Both of us working very hard on LAT with Casper. He is reactive, and although we have seen a huge reduction in reactive responses to triggers, I am naturally going to be anxious out walking, even with Casper on his own. So today was a biggie.

My main strategy has been working on both Benson and Bramble choosing to stay close on a walk. No retrieving whatsoever on these walks, however, they are heavily rewarded for staying close, responding to their name (I say their name, and when they look up, they get a treat thrown.) or "hunt the treat" games. These were designed to keep them engaged, close and watching me, so if needed I could focus on Casper and trust both Benson and Bramble to stay close and ignore other dogs or distractions whilst my attention has shifted to Casper.

The "stop" cue on a walk is different as well, sometimes I also add a wait reinforcer, which means hang on until I release. I employ a raised hand which adds the "wait" to the "stop" cue. This is a very strong cue for Casper, it has to be, as I need him to hold on so I can check the coast is clear. You can see in the first clip, I have released Casper from a "stop" but he chooses to stay until I add a recall cue. With Benson and Bramble I tend to rely more on "check ins".

The dynamics were interesting, for them they have never had just me walking them, unless in our fields or paddock. So their behaviour was subtlety different. Much more aware of where I was, and a fascinating interplay when we were ambushed late in our walk with a bolshy dog. Wish I had videoed that scene. I had to body block to protect Casper, the owner had absolutely zilch recall. Then to my surprise, both Benson and Bramble seemed to understand what was going on and quietly worked together and ignored the dog, or placed themselves in between me and the dog a huge staffy/lab cross. Not one bark or growl was exchanged. Casper was clearly bothered, but did not react to the other dogs' evident rudeness. Both Bramble and Benson were calm, and choose not to respond to the dog, or the owner.

Absolutely thrilled with the Beanwood pack! Was starting to wonder if this day would ever come!

Video 1: including stop/stay plus some lovely checking in, and close work.




Video 2: Much of the same, plus lets check the coast is clear where the paths cross..

 

Fantastic!!! What great dogs - and what great training.

 

Well done, that's fab!!

 

Yeah you must be so proud

 

Wonderful post, loved the videos.

 

Well done , reaping the rewards of all the training you put in.

 

Now that is seriously impressive Kate. I still can't walk my two together I love Casper's constant checking in, reminds me of Hattie xx

Lovely video's xx

 

Kate you have three gorgeous doggies!

But Casper.. ohhhh Casper

 

Wonderful, Kate. All very attentive, with great focus.

Luna recognised your voice and came to see where you were

 

Well done Kate.

Sometimes just one dog can be a serious challenge - three sounds like a challenge of Olympic proportions.

 

It's funny how having multiple dogs changes your perceptions. Walking dogs individually is just so easy! Not that we're perfect one-on-one, by any means, but once you've spent enough time wrangling three young Labs, you feel invincible when you just have the one

 

And it feel so boring with only one

 

I felt nervous watching the video as I can't imagine trying to walk three dogs at once! I find one dog an a toddler quite challenging at times! They (and you of course) were great though

It was interesting to watch how Bramble seemed happy to wander a little further where as Casper seemed to stay a lot closer. (I loved how on one occasion he checked in, took two steps forward and turned around to check in again!) I wonder how much of that is their personality vs how you've trained them?

 

I am happy with boring...really I am!

Took Bramble to a group class today, all about games and focus on/ off lead. She is a great trainer, really enjoy her classes. One tip was to teach a sort of "short" recall, but the objective is a sit directly in front of you. This is useful in a couple of ways, one you are not exactly recalling your dog, which in itself can be a double edged sword, and prone to overuse. This cue is way of engaging at close quarters, a sort of mini recall.
So I lured Bramble first to sit really close but in front of me. The next stage is to add the cue "front" Then to increase the criteria by standing slightly off centre, then with your back, so Bramble had to come around...etc..

It is a challenge working with three dogs, each has a very different character, but today was just lovely, when all three work together is it just bliss....

 

We do something similar in rally. There's a station where you halt (dog sitting at heel) then, without you moving, you call the dog to the front position (close sit in front) and then you will send them back to heel with either a left or right finish (depending on the station).

We had a lot of fun building up the 'closeness' of the sits by lifting the excitement levels. I'd say "ready, ready, ready" then send her to a different position. Great fun

I love the idea of having more than one dog but I know that, at this stage in my life, I don't have the time to put into another one. Maybe one day...

 

Looked like a very pleasant walk, which I am sure it was after most probably the initial jitters of having 3dogs. Very impressed on how they all interact with you and your control...we are still working on our first one, with potentially a second one next year...

 

Bring it on, I say

 

Ah! That might work..had a bit of a problem with Bramble as her default is a heel position. What I could do is lure her into the front position from the heel, this will help her differentiate before I add the "front" cue

 

Also, in case it helps, at the beginning I'd take a step backwards as I lured her into the front position as this helped her to get nice and straight in front. Otherwise she'd bring her front legs around but leave her bum hanging out to the side. Once she got the hang of it I didn't need to step back any more.

 

I have always been taught the 'front' position and if I just want them to come toward me/with me, I just say "this way" and thus it doesn't poison the recall.