Dog Walking - out front or behind?

stardog85

For those of you who walk dogs out front like I do, why?

Same reasons - I like being able to see what Rascal's doing, we make him paying attention to me a "game" so he's not just sort of following me but instead is listening to my instructions, and it's much easier to keep the leash from getting tangled in his legs (or ears, which for him is more problematic than you might think!). 

Ditto.  On lead I like them to be either beside me or ahead of me, and off lead they are always up front.  They know their distance....this comes I'm sure from being trained off lead on a 50' drag line....and never exceed it. They usually stop short of that and turn around to check on where I am, and either trot back to me or wait for me to catch up.

stardog85

So, those of you who walk dogs behind you in the CM "way",

I've never seen him walk a dog behind him on a leash. Always beside him. If my dog is on a leash, he's beside me in a heel. If he's not on a leash, I don't care where he is.  

When my dog was in training, young and a pain the neck.  I always insisted on walking by my side and never in front.  If he were in front, he was pulling.....  it took him quite a while to learn how to walk nicely on lead.  The prong collar was a godsend for us during that time.

 Now at 3 years old, trained and mature he can walk anywhere he wants, where a flat collar and has for a long time.  He is just an angel no matter where and what he does.   It isn't often we even use a leash anymore except for those visiting outing or vet appointments.  On my country roads we walk side by side, sometimes he is out front and sometimes not.  Sometimes he is down in the gully checking out whatever he can.  But he is off lead and just stolling with me. If a car comes down the street he sits and waits (on my command) and then we proceed along.

The early stages of training are the hardest and the most important.  Once that is done and maturity sets in dogs change in so many ways and I don't see any reason to push the alpha story on him anymore, he already knows his place in our family.

My pups rarely walk behind me.  Typically they are in front of me, especially when they are off leash.  The only time I keep them next to me is when Selli and I are at training or a trial (although sometimes in the obedience ring unfortunately she lags quite a bit while we are healing).   I have found that when I walk with a group of people the dogs know well and we are single file on a path, the dogs tend to walk behind the first person. 

I like to be able to keep an eye on the pups.  Plus if I have no compelling reason to pick the path, I let the dogs (usually Selli) chose where we are going.

I vary things up.  Most of the walk I let them be dogs.  Part of the walk I might practice sits, downs, leave it (I go out ahead of time and "bait" the path with milk bones), and some days, I run or skip part of the way.  When cars come by, they might be asked to sit or down/stay.  When joggers pass, I might ask them to "watch" me.  I do not think that you need to have your dogs walk in any particular location relative to where you are walking to have them know who the heck is in charge.

 Where my dog walks is pretty irrelevant to me. Sometimes ahead, sometimes next to me, sometimes behind. It varies throughout the walk.

On the rare occasion we are off leash, Sasha seems to have an invisible leash on. She'll wander up ahead, or linger behind on some smell, but she always manages to stay within a certain range, even if she has to stop and run like the wind to catch up. It isn't something I taught her.  

Shadow walks in front, as befits his ancestry to pull hard in front and run like the wind. However, he doesn't pull as hard as he used to and I can have him walk in heel, now and then. After the first time I jackpotted heel in Petsmart, he always assumes heel or LLW position when we enter. I prefer him to heel in close quarters but on a wide open walk, front is okay and it does allow me to see what he is up to.

 The dogs walk in front of me, I too don't like having them behind me.  I like to see what they are doing.

My dogs walk wherever I ask them to walk. 

If we are hiking on trails with long straightaways, then the dogs are allowed to walk ahead of me.  If the trails are narrow, & winding, the dogs walk behind me.  Normal walks around town are done at my side.  Their walking locations decide what position the dogs will walk in.

Well, from my understanding of the CM way is that dogs don't walk behind you but beside you.  At least that's my interpretation of what he's teaching.  I've never gotten the understanding he wants your dog behind you, but I do know he doesn't want them in front of you and not just in front, but way in front.  I prefer Misty to walk beside me, otherwise, I have no control of her if she is walking too far in front of me.  She's obviously long, so a little in front is fine, but not the whole leash length in front.  I tried that once, and because I live in a suburban neighborhood and have local traffic up and down the streets, her being in front, became dangerous to her.  I had too much leash to reel in to keep her close and that was the end of that.  I agree w/ you, that I too, do not like it when she's out of sight behind me.  You just can't see what your dogs doing and that to me defeats the whole purpose of the walk.  I want us to walk together, not her walking me, and not me walking her, but rather in a comfortable inbetween.

Depends on what we mean by "walk".  Kenya has 4 levels of walking:

1. A strict heel (queue "Fuss" or "Heel";) is like what you see in Schutzhund - the dog is basically touching the handler, head turn toward the handler with constant eye contact.

2. A "normal" heel (queue "Hup" or "Come Along";) is her walking in heel on my left, but she doesn't have to be touching me or have constant eye contact, though I encourage as much eye contact as possible. This is the type of heel we would use in the obedience or rally ring.

3. If I give no command at all, that means she walks in front on a loose lead and is alert, not stopping or zig-zagging all over. 

4. Finally, if I say "OK!" and release her from one of the heel exercises, that means she can pretty much do whatever she wants without pulling - sniff, zig-zag, fall behind, whatever.  This type of walking is what I use as a reward for extended periods of the first two.

She does whichever one I call for, leash or no leash. 

I like them out in front so I can see them. I can't imagine what benefit, physical or mental, a dog would get out of walks if the dog is expected to walk at a slow human pace in heel position ALL of the time. Dogs get very little exercise benefit from just walking at a human pace, and unless they are allowed to sniff as they please they don't get much mental stimulation either. My dogs favorite kind of leash walk is to slowly walk out, sniffing everything (mental stimulation), then jog back briskly without stopping (physical exercise).