Welcome to Wild Walks Bay Area

     Wild Walks hikes and trains dogs with a relationship based approach. I don’t subscribe to any one technique or school of learning, though I am educated in the four quadrants of learning, including positive reinforcement and clicker training (classical and operant conditioning). What makes those common modes of training successful is timing. With or without snacks, you can create a language between you and your dog based on timing. Timing refers to the balance between halting and continuing momentum. 

     We do not use or advise the use of prong collars, shock collars, vibrating collars or any variation on collars that are capable of function independent of a direct, physical connection to the handler. We do use snacks to encourage certain behaviors but do not solely rely on treats for behavior shaping. Wild Walks’ goal is to encourage dogs towards a balanced mind and to increase their independence and freedom allowance; this is where I see dogs being their happiest and making the best choices for themselves which enables them to also be on their best behavior for their people. 

     Wild Walks emphasizes relationships, because based on empirical evidence; it is the strongest, most reliable way to hike a dog off leash. Relationships take time and effort to forge and are based on trust. Trust between dog and person increases with personal confidence and relational confidence.

     Personal confidence refers to the dog’s sense of safety within themselves. Can they trust themselves to set boundaries with other dogs without inciting a fight? Can they trust themselves to diffuse a fight, calm an aggressor? Can they self sooth? Overall, are they capable of making decisions for themselves that make them feel safe and happy? Do they know how to create doggy friendships? Do they know how to incite play? 

     How do I build my dog’s personal confidence? Incrementally, you introduce them to novel situations, teetering on the edge of their threshold of experience, and allow them to make decisions for themselves and face the consequences of those decisions. 

     Relational confidence refers to your dog’s confidence in me, or you. Can they trust me to make choices (pathways, playmates, direction changes, new people, reassurance) that makes them feel safe and their concerns recognized? 

     Think about when it seems like your dog is questioning your decision about something; think about when you dropped something and it scared them and they gave you a wide eyed look, or when you’re doing something novel and they are side eyeing you. Your dog is questioning and evaluating their level of relational trust between the two of you. 

     For example in the previous explanation of personal confidence, if your dog is in a situation which exceeds their threshold, can they rely on you, and ask you for help out of an uncomfortable situation? Dogs naturally look to their people for help and guidance. If you catch their curious eye just in time, you can answer their question and guide them towards a better decision. This would lead to an increase in relational confidence and therefore trust. If you made a good suggestion out of an uncomfortable situation, it could also lead to an increase in personal confidence if they now recognize how to get out of that situation on their own the next time it occurs. Sometimes when a dog seeking help is more intense than eye contact, like bumping into you hard or jumping into you, it can be misread, resulting in a decrease of relational confidence. 

     Your dog is learning and evaluating all the time. I strive to create spaces where that learning will be beneficial to a dog living in a human world as well as be intrinsically rewarding and satiating.