Taking your puppy out for the first time is a big moment which is exciting for everyone involved! However there are some simple steps you can take which support socialisation, calmness and engagement with you for now and for the long term.
For months to come, a dog walk for your young dog will be about learning, exploring, sniffing, observing – using enriching activities from the environment.
Its best to have short walks, especially when your puppy is first out on walks – there is no set time (although 5 mins per month of life is still often used to guide) as it depends on how tired the puppy gets, the speed of walking, what they are doing etc. However, aim for 2-3 short walks a day.
Make 1 short walk a day an exploring and sniffing walk
Take your puppy on a long line and let them explore – dogs have evolved to spend a lot of their day exploring, walking, sniffing and having short periods of social interaction, followed by more time walking and exploring. Think about how quickly your puppy has to walk to keep up with you – walking should be slow enough for them to explore and then catch up without lots of sprinting.
Leave the house/car and let the puppy chose which direction to turn in. Stop when they stop and let them sniff as much as they want. Slow, steady sniffing is perfect! Frantic sniffing and dragging you around show you that the puppy is overwhelmed. Sniffing walks can be short (5-10 mins) as the puppy will be really tired afterwards! Great to get them ready to sleep, before you do a Zoom call if you work from home, before family come to visit etc.
Make 1 short walk a day a watching walk
Let your puppy stop and watch, sniff, roll and listen … Its common that people drop this walk out as it doesn’t feel important, but its actually a really important way of meeting what is a basic need for your puppy.
Put aside 5 minutes a day to practice being outside the house
To avoid your puppy learning that leaving the house ALWAYS leads to getting in the car or going for a walk (which can lead to the puppy being overexcitable or fearful), you should start off each of the walks above with this method – and put aside an additional 5 minutes, for a standing around practice session.
- Stand outside the front door/back gate/by the car with the puppy on a loose lead
- Just stand and let the puppy look around -reinforce calmness (watching, listening or being around you)
- Once you are ready, move away on the exploring/watching walk, or go back indoors
Neutral walks
Another really important thing to practice in early dog walks is that of ‘neutral’ walks. These are about teaching the puppy that you can go out in the environment and just be calm, walk, sniff, watch and listen without needing to play with other dogs or be spoken to and petted by people. This helps build calm and works to avoid overexcitement about other people and dogs. Its important that the puppy still gets to meet people and other familiar dogs but not on every walk.
To practice – simply walk along and allow a good size gap between you and someone walking in front of you. If your puppy keeps pulling towards them, increase the size of the gap until they can walk more calmly. Its ok if they stop to sniff.
Some pups find having someone behind them unsettling, so you can also practice this in a park or field and walk in parallel to another person (with or without their dog). Again, allow enough distance so your puppy just walks and explores with you.
