Walking your dog can be one of the most mentally and physically healthy activities a person can engage in on a regular basis. Walking around city streets and parks can be mutually enjoyable and enriching for the party on both ends of the leash, but only if our dog is comfortable in an urban environment, well trained, and appropriately socialized. If not, what should be a pleasant outing can become a stressful situation riddled with anxiety for both the dog and its person.

Unique Challenges of Dog Walking in New York City

New York City presents the dog walker and the dog with a host of unique and intense challenges such as:

• Crowded fast paced sidewalks with not just people but also bicycles, scooters, rolling luggage, shopping carts, and the dreaded skateboards.
• Streets busy with traffic from automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, and utility vehicles.
• A cacophony of loud noises and vibrations from cars, buses, trains, motorcycles, electric scooters, sirens, music, machinery, and people laughing or yelling
• Trash and assorted obstacles
• Hot concrete
• Sidewalks coated in salt and other chemicals to defrost ice

NYC can be a hard place for people to adapt. Just try to imagine being a dog.

Training Essentials for City Dog Walks

It is critical that we not only train our dogs to walk nicely on a leash, be calm around people, and be calm around dogs; but we also need to make sure that they have been appropriately desensitized and socialized to the world around them. Doing so helps to insure that they are not fearful, anxious, and even potentially aggressive while being walked in NYC neighborhoods.

Additionally, dogs that have not been raised in the city may find it unnatural to eliminate, especially to urinate, on a concrete surface. City dogs must be trained to potty on hard surfaces.

It is clear that a person sharing their city home with a dog has a lot to consider when raising and preparing that dog to thrive in an urban environment.

Top Tips for Dog Walking Success in NYC

The top dog walking tips for success in NYC include:

• Training loose leash walking skills
• Acclimating dogs to the sights and sounds of the city through positive socialization and desensitization techniques
• Making sure our dogs have had adequate and positive exposure to a variety of people so they can be comfortable around friendly strangers regardless of the individuals age, size, gender, race, or even the style of clothing that they wear
• Insuring that our dog is comfortable enough and not so overly excited (in a good or bad way) that they can’t calmly walk past another dog without a greeting or an argument
• Training our dogs to eliminate on concrete

Group Classes vs. Private Training: What’s Best for Your Dog?

Taking a basic manners group training class can help a person work with their dog on all of these fundamental skills. Group training classes enable a person to teach and work with their dog on skills in the presence of other dogs and people. It is wonderful to have a dog that listens to us and is well behaved in the home. It is essential that our dogs can listen to us and be well behaved out in public if we want to coexist happily and healthily in NYC. Group dog training classes that use positive reinforcement provide the education and controlled distractions needed to achieve safety while walking a dog through NYC.

For dogs that are extremely fearful in a group environment, reactive to other dogs and/or people, or have any aggression issues, enlisting the help of a trainer to do focused private instruction is necessary before the benefits of group class can be accessed. A professional trainer can provide concrete guidance to address the concerns dogs have that can become behavior problems, such as:

• Fear of loud noises
• Fear of strangers
• Reactivity (barking and lunging) at other dogs
• Reactivity (whether out of excitement, fear, or predatory drive) of fast moving objects like car tires, scooters, skaters, bikers, runners and joggers, and children.
• Basic manners training and walking skills.

Key Components for Successful Dog Walks

Achieving safe and pleasurable dog walks in NYC really comes down to two key components. 

Firstly, the dog needs to be comfortable and at ease in their surroundings. This is best achieved during a puppies early socialization period. With older dogs relocating to the city from a rural or suburban environment, or being newly adopted with uncertain backgrounds, time spent doing some remedial socialization work may be required and is a valuable investment to set the person and their dog up for success. In both cases, using a gentle systematic approach of exposing the dogs to city stimuli at an intensity they can handle while pairing the stimuli with tasty treats and projecting an upbeat assured attitude will help dogs of all ages form positive opinions about their intense urban environment. Only when the dog is comfortable in its surrounding can it truly focus on learning and performing the fundamental skills needed to walk nicely on the leash.

Which brings us to the second critical skill dogs need to walk safely and happily in NYC – loose leash walking skills. We need to teach our dogs to walk on a leash without pulling, refusing to move, weaving back and fourth and around us, or putting stuff from the ground into their mouths. 

We define loose leash walking as:

• Your dog walking on the side of your choosing
• The leash having some slack most of the time. Picture the leash having the shape of a “J” from your hand to the ring attached to the dogs collar or harness.
• Your dog adjusts to your pace, speeding up, slowing down, and stopping as you do.
• Your dog moves forward and along with you when you cue them to do so  by saying something like “let’s go”.

Loose leash walking is not the same as heeling. Traditional heeling is a very precise behavior performed for brief periods of time during structured obedience competitions. This formal style of walking requires a dog to walk with their right ear lined up with the left seam of your pants. Heeling may be useful walking through city crowds for brief and select periods of time but it is not a realistic expectation for our companion dogs out for a leisurely walk with their human family. On the other hand, loose leash walking is a realistic expectation but it requires the devotion of time and consistency to help a pup learn how to walk in a mannerly fashion. Adult dogs who may already have some unwanted habits deeply ingrained will likely take even more diligence to train new improved walking skills.

Necessary Supplies for Urban Dog Walks

To prepare for success, the trainer, that’s you, will need some supplies. 

• Purchase a hands-free treat pouch. Having food rewards readily available is far better than fumbling around in your pocket or cumbersome baggie taking up space in your already full hands. Your dog food treat pouch can also be a place you can store poop bags and other items. Don’t leave your apartment without it. On all your dog walks you should bring your dog, your leash, your poop bags, and your treat pouch.

• Have a variety of tiny, tasty, healthy treats you know your dog loves so you are ready to reward them for being attentive, responding to their name, sitting when you ask them to, and walking nicely on leash. Always remember that you may encounter things on your walk that you want your dog to feel comfortable with and behave calm around. You will want to have yummy food available for training as well as conditioning and maintaining a positive emotional response to things that might otherwise be overwhelming to your canine companion.

• Select your walking equipment carefully with your dogs size, breed, and current behavior in mind. Ask advice from an experienced dog trainer who promotes a positive reinforcement methodology. The dog training team at Andrea Arden Dog Training in NYC is a great resource. We want our dogs to feel comfortable in their environment, so we want to use walking equipment that is comfortable and cruelty-free. If your dog is strong and pulls a lot, consider aversive free equipment like a front clip no-pull harness or head halter. There are many different brands with style variations to suit your individual needs. If pulling is not an issue you need assistance with, then a standard flat back collar or back clip harness will usually be a good choice. Be sure to use a 5 to 6 foot leash rather than a retractable style leash. Retractable leashes are not suitable for training walking skills and are extremely dangerous to use for dog walking in a city environment.

To further set you and your dog up for success, teach and practice walking skills indoors where your dog is more likely to be able to focus on you and learn the skills you are teaching. Imagine trying to learn complicated arithmetic at an amusement park. Your dog will be too distracted outdoors to learn new skills. Set the foundation for this challenging skill by choosing your home as your initial classroom.

When getting your training started, breaking down complicated training goals into smaller, more achievable steps is a brilliant way to achieve your goal. Start with some simple eye contact exercises. The moment your pup makes eye contact , say your marker word (“yes” or “good”), or use your clicker and reward. Begin to move and as your pup follows you and makes eye contact, mark and reward. Making eye contact and name recognition are foundation skills for reliably good walking behavior. You need to be able to get and maintain your dogs attention when needed to have a safe and pleasant walk through NYC streets and parks.

Siting by your side, rather than in front of you, is another seemingly simple foundation skill you will need to practice so it is available to you when you are out on a walk. Your dog can sit calmly at your side facing the same direction you are while waiting for an elevator, to cross a street, for you to make a purchase at a store, or have a brief conversation with someone. You can start by luring your dog into a sit lined up at your side. Mark and reward when the side sit position is achieved. Then take a tasty treat and lure your dog to remain at your side while you take a few steps forward, your dog following at your side. As you stop walking lure your dog back into a side sit, mark and reward. 

With your dog now better engaged with you, making eye contact, following you as you walk, sitting at your side when you stop, and moving along with you when you go, it’s time to add a cue like “let’s go” when you want your pooch to move along with you. You will also be able to cue behaviors you have already trained like Sit, Stay, hand-targeting, and name recognition to keep your dog interested and responsive. Once your dog is playing the follow me game well indoors in a non-distracting environment, you are ready to take your training out into the world. Look for good classroom settings to advance your dogs abilities. Hallways, lobby, and quiet side streets are the best choices. Busy avenues will present greater challenges because of the greater intensity of distractions. Keep your time on particularly busy, noisy streets limited to a block or two when you are getting started so your dog can do well before getting too overwhelmed. In time your dog will become more comfortable and confident weaving their way through all the hustle and bustle, especially if you give them some well deserved time in the many beautiful parks and lovely tree lined streets of our wonderful Big Apple.