It’s heeeeeere! Michigan is glorious this time of year, and we’re all ready to get out and about with our dogs! Personally I love dining out at dog friendly patios, but I also know it’s a challenge for my dogs so I don’t want to jump in too soon and set my dogs up for failure.
For starters, what skills should your dog have before you go to a patio?
For me I want my dogs to confidently stay in a down, to ignore people and dogs and definitely no barking. In my opinion a patio is a great place to practice neutrality and NOT meet other dogs, in fact I even prefer people not come up to my dogs. Being in a busy neutral environment is a great way to socialize, and dog socialization doesn’t mean- go say hello to everyone.
I will NEVER not recommend working on this with a trainer first. I don’t believe anyone will ever regret working with a good trainer- and having the base of commands will make patio life so much easier, and your trainer will know when it’s the right time to try it for your dog specifically. My tips will be general but it’s always good to consider the dog in front of you. Not every pup will thrive or even like such a social experience.
For us, when the weather starts improving we start out by going to public places that we know will be low traffic. We like downtown farmington- we’ll start on a night or day that’s not going to be crowded (Farmers market day for instance, not a quiet foray back into the scene). A solid walk and exercise before we go is a must- bonus if you can get new smells or experience’s ahead of time. This will drain more of their energy and have them in a great headspace for practing the calm behavior we want in public.. Since I’m going to ask my dogs to be calm, I need to make sure that I fulfill their exercise needs before I ask them to be “on”
We love grabbing tacos from our local fave Masa, taking them to the quietest table in the pavilion and working on down. We have often even brought our fold up place cots so that our dogs really nail down what’s expected of them. Another trick that works well for our girls is having them in back packs- we see a remarkable change in their focus when they feel they have a job.
The goal is to build them up to busier and busier patios. By avoiding dogs or people coming up and greeting them, my dogs create a strong memory and association with patios being a restful place where they can safely watch the world go by!
Hope to see you on a patio this summer!
-Erin Schnute
