Training Games for Dogs: Arriving in New Places
Jan 12, 2021
If you have a fearful or reactive dog, you might dread going to new places with your pup. You brace yourself for the inevitable barking, lunging, or maybe panicking and trying to flee. It makes the whole experience so stressful for everyone. But what can you do to train your reactive dog to behave differently when arriving in new places?
If your dog is one to make a dramatic entrance, this week’s training games for reactive or fearful dogs arriving in new places will be right up your ally. These are very simple, don’t (usually) require you to pre-train behaviors at home first, and can make your arrivals at new locations more fun for you and your dog. They will require repetition, and I do recommend doing practice training games in a number of locations first if you can, when there’s no pressure on you to be somewhere. Teach your dog that opening the car door means a fun game is now in progress.
You might notice that these training games for arrivals in new places, are very similar to last week’s Front Door Training Games. You can use this kind of simple pattern (when x happens, expect food or toys here) with your pup in many situations in which you’d rather they sniffed or played with a toy, than do whatever it is they currently do!
If you try this training, we’d love to hear what you think of it! Join our Facebook group and post your questions or videos. Reach out to us by email at [email protected]. If you're looking for more guidance with your fearful dog, check out our monthly training membership.
