I work with many people to help them learn to make dog walking an enjoyable activity. One of the first things I always ask is, “What side do you walk your dog on?” so that when I work with the dog, I’m working on the correct side. So often, though, I get responses like, “Oh, he just goes back and forth,” or “Well, she just goes to whatever side she wants.” Let me rephrase the question: WHAT SIDE ARE YOU GOING TO WALK YOUR DOG ON FROM NOW ON? Ok, that was a little harsh…but as I’m sure you’re figuring out by now, I for sure advocate picking a side for your dog and sticking with it. This will yield several benefits for you.
A Little History
The traditional wisdom was to train your dog to walk and/or heel on the left side. Before, sidewalks and people walked against traffic, putting the dog inside. There’s also some historical evidence that using the left side had to do with keeping the right hand unimpeded for swords or pistols…because of bandits and highwaymen, I guess. Approximately 80% of the world has always been right-handed, and left-handedness used to be frowned upon and even forcibly retaught to the right side. So consequently, dogs were traditionally on the left, always leaving the right hand free.
Now, it’s the 21st century. You can pick whatever side you want. I usually recommend using your dominant hand, but some folks prefer their non-dominant side. Doesn’t really matter; your dog doesn’t care. Just PICK ONE. When you train your dog on one side, they come to know their position and will go there. This frees you up to do other things and enjoy the stroll. If you stop to answer your phone, or pick up a poop, or even just hang out on a park bench, getting back to the walking part becomes an effortless step because your dog’s on autopilot in that respect.
Putting good behaviors on autopilot without having to cue them every time is the end goal for most dog training. It allows you to recover from mixups a lot faster. Also, not having to manage their position frees you up to work on your situational awareness, as we discussed in our last video. Plus, as you train yourself to work on that side, it’s a much faster process than trying to be ambidextrous.
Generalization & Discrimination
If you’ve read or learned about how dogs learn, you’ve undoubtedly heard that dogs suck at generalization. If you train your dog in the kitchen, you have a great kitchen dog, but they’re anywhere between sloppy and terrible everywhere else. So we have to teach behaviors in many different situations and places, so they connect the dots and have their lightbulb moment: it means the same everywhere!
On the other side of the coin, dogs are AWESOME at discrimination, meaning that telling the difference between situations and environments, finding details they know and understand, and cataloguing those details is a skill they excel at. In other words, if you practice routines and patterns, your dog will be ALL OVER THAT. It makes sense to them, and they like it. Capitalize on that strength and be consistent in your walking configuration.
Naturally, heeling becomes a snap when you stick to one side. Can you imagine how much more difficult this would be if you had to communicate which side to heel on? Or worse, didn’t specify anything, and your dog had to guess? Forget that nonsense. Train a side, the same side always, and you remove a ton of guesswork and time. This sets you both up for success.
More Than One Dog
All of these benefits become even more evident when you have more than one dog. Here’s an example:
- My English Bulldog, Dexter, was trained on my left ever since he was a puppy. I’m left-handed, so it made sense to put the big guy on my strong side.
- My Boston Terrier, Bobo, I trained on my right side. This was done on purpose so that I could walk them together.
- Later, when I met my wife, and her dog became OUR dog, I had to figure out what to do. So my Jack Russell, Darwin, was trained on the right, since my wife is right-handed.
- In the whole group, that puts Darwin right next to Bobo and I put them on a splitter when I walk them by myself. The two of them have kind of figured out an equilibrium too: Darwin’s always on the inside, and Bobo always moves to the outside.
The benefit of this, as I’ve said, is that when the four of us move together, the dogs know their place and immediately go into “formation” without me having to say anything or prompt them. It’s just how we’ve always done it. When we go on solo adventures, the dogs still walk on their trained sides, no matter what. And they do it automatically. And when my wife and I take them out together, one person takes Dexter and one of the little guys, so there’s freedom but structure too. It makes everything smooth and effortless.
So how do we manage that? How do we teach it? (Easier than you think.)
First, remember that feedback is your #1 training tool. You should be talking to your dog, giving them that running commentary on their performance and behavior.
Remember also that walking is a reward to your dog. It’s one of their favorite hobbies. If they try to switch sides, we stop and give them feedback. Guide them back to where they’re supposed to be, and then praise and reward that by restarting the walk. You’re showing them that the walk only continues when it’s done the way it’s supposed to be. This is an enforceable statement, and I will discuss it in another post. Remember: you’re driving. They’re in the sidecar. Not the other way around. Really, that’s it.
Pro tip: learning some technical leash handling is always a super way to manage your dog more effectively and safely. I have a post about leash handling techniques that will help you there.
Now admittedly there’s more to teaching walking in general, but that’s beyond the scope of this particular post. If you’re struggling with walking, this is only one small piece of the puzzle. If you’re interested, I’ll link to some of my walking resources down below. But as far sticking to one side or the other, there’s really not much more to it than consistency, and good feedback.
So what do you think guys? Have you been walking all willy-nilly? Do you have stories or questions about choosing a side to walk on? Share in the comments. And if you’ve learned something useful, please subscribe to my YouTube channel so you never miss any videos. In the meantime, keep learning, keep practicing, and I’ll see you soon. CHEERS.
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