Civilpooch : A walk with Juno | Stories | Writing : Dog Training Made Simple : John Buginas, CTC, CPDT

Here’s a typical walk with Juno. This routine has evolved over time, and changes daily. Betty and I do it a bit differently.

I head to the kitchen, grab my fanny pack out of the refrigerator, check to make sure there are at least two string cheese sticks available and ready to use. Fill bottom of bag with a mixture of dog food, a few pieces of cat food and whatever scraps of chicken or other treats are around.

Head to the closet, grab some poop bags, sensation harness and leash.
I ask for a sit, then slip anti-pull harness over her head. I then ask Juno to stand then buckle the harness under her barrel chest, a bit easier on my back that way. We head for the door. I ask for a sit and a wait in front of the door. Open the door a crack, take a peek for cats. Seeing none, ask for a wait, slowly opening the door the rest of the way. Say “OK, Let’s Go!” and we are off.

We head down the driveway, eyes on alert for squirrels, cats and other dogs. Not too much risk of dogs on this street, but there are a few houses with cats in windows, trees and languishing on porches near the end of the block.

We walk down middle of street to keep distance from cats, bits of cheese in hand to feed Juno when she looks at me as we pass the cats. Hundreds of times passing the cats at that location gets Juno to look up to me as we walk by.
Reaching the corner, I make a wide right turn, looking for dogs and parked cars. A block ahead, I see a Daschund we know on a flexie lead, across the street. I ask Juno for a sit. Juno turns to watch the Daschund and wags, but looks back at me ever few seconds for a bit of cheese.

After the Daschund passes, we head to the corner, sit, wait for traffic, then walk across the street. A dog we don’t know approaches on a leash, I pause behind a parked car, ask Juno for a sit and watch. I feed her several pieces of cheese as the dog passes. She stands on her hind legs to take a peek, using her body as a periscope.

We continue down the street, passing a house with a large German Shepherd behind a low fence in a tree-filled yards with lots of squirrels. We’ve passed this yard a hundred times, so there is no reaction from Juno. The German Shepherd The Scarlet P barks, growls and lunges. Juno gets cheese after we walk past. Across the street is a man walking a Jack Russell Terrier, we know each other well, so we walk across the street for a block or so, no reaction from Juno. Since the Jack Russell has some issues, we don’t push things any closer.

We continue to the corner -- across the street are three Yorkshire terriers on flexi leads. I ask Juno to sit, she does and gets several pieces of cheese. We wait for the Yorkies to pass, Juno does some wake sniffing as they move further down the street. Juno frequency tugs to smell the air behind other dogs after they pass. I still can only wonder at what it’s like to live in a dog’s head with such a strong sense of smell. I guess they don’t have the ability to dress and groom themselves in a way to announce their availability or intentions, so must rely on posture and scent interpretation to fill in that part of their social interaction.
Then, we go around the corner towards an elementary school. Juno loves ivy, so walks through the ivy, peeing a couple of times. Then it’s on past school’s front lawn. There are dozens of children running and screaming. Juno pulls a bit in their direction. We bump into a parent with a child walking into the school. They ask if they can visit Juno. Juno sits, gets some cheese and the child approaches. Juno breaks her sit and gives the kid a big lick and a coffee table clearing wag. Everyone laughs and we continue down the street.

Juno notices a squirrel on a phone line a block and a half a way, starts barking and leaping. I say stop, turn around and give her cheese. We then walk forward as I say ‘Watch Me.” She jumps again, I turn again. Say stop, give cheese. She stays with me this time, watching me as we walk away. A man standing near by looks alarmed. Juno in squirrel mode is scary, especially with the Scarlet “P” stigma always looming over her head.

Speaking of this stigma, a man and a small child are walking towards us on the sidewalk, about a block a way. The man yells, terrified, “Here comes a pit bull, run!” and tells his kid to run away and she does, shrieking and waving arms in the air. I ask Juno to sit, she does. I know after studying and watching dogs for many years, the best way to get a dog to chase you is to scream, run and wave your arms.

The walk continues. As we pass familiar barking fences and cat filled-yards, Juno will usually Watch Me and do a prancy walk, wagging and grinning.
If we encounter familiar dogs, she ignores them. Coming around a hedge, we are both surprised by another dog. Juno explodes momentarily, I give some happy talk, take a few steps back; she turns and looks to me for a treat. She gets a handful and calms down within a few houses. We head home, passing the cadre of cats near the top of our street.

This has been slowly but steadily improving over time. At the start, we were Imagine a Heads-Up display in ypour dog's head getting blowup at every cat, squirrel, barking fence or dog at any distance. Today, we can manage to get by nearly every dog as long as we don’t get pinned in.
Encountering off leash dogs are a bit of a problem. I’ve tried various strategies, including throwing handfuls of food towards the other dog or happy talk. Mostly just turning and walking away, creating distance, is enough. Sometimes I have to yell ‘SIT!’ and the other dog will comply. I have carried a canister of citronella spray from time to time, but always discard them expired and unused.

While Juno has blustered and been in several tense, close encounters, she has never or drawn blood, on or off leash. She has growled, snarled and snapped towards a dog’s shoulder or back of their neck a few times, making contact -- but has never left more than spit. This is the kind of routine encounter you see at the dog park between many dogs, it’s just the Scarlet P that makes any noisy encounter all the more disturbing to me and anyone else nearby.