06/19/2026
That’s exactly what we’re working on here with Lulu.
A real neighbourhood walk, handling the distractions as they come up.
Her big one is cats. The second she spots one, she’s hyped up and ready to go.
The instinct is to steer clear of cats altogether, but avoiding them never teaches her anything. So instead, we walk right where the cats are and build focus in the middle of real life.
In this video I’m marking her good walking with the word “yes,” then following up with a treat. Even when she’s moving fast, she’s giving me so much more focus than when we started, and that lets me gently break into her thought process. When she’s pulling ahead and locked in, I use the word “here.” The moment she turns back to me, she gets rewarded.
Little by little, this builds a pattern she can count on. She’s still allowed to see the cats. She just learns that checking in with me is the thing that pays off, so she can notice a cat and choose to come back to me as we pass by.
That’s how a walk starts to feel calm and connected instead of a tug of war.
None of this works without good loose leash walking underneath it. Once your dog knows their spot is right by your side, adding something tricky like a cat gets so much easier to handle.
Want to try it? Pick your dog’s one big distraction, and instead of avoiding it, reward every little check in they give you near it.
That’s how “must chase that” slowly turns into “let me look at my person first.”
More real life walks coming soon, distractions and all.
