Polite dog walk manners doesn't mean that the dog always has to follow behind!

Davie, Will and I on a dog walk. My pooches are visibly not behind me, and they are not leashed. As herding dogs, their natural state is to circle-walk with me, keeping an eye on me, but politely respecting my personal space.

I allow them to choose their space; they don't have to wait for permission to be ahead of me, regardless if they are on, or off the leash. They hardly ever pull when leashed, and stay close to me when not - voluntarily and attentively - and without food rewards.

The answer is No. Following a leader has everything to do with attention and very little with space.

It is NOT natural, as some trainers claim, for a dog to always be spatially following behind. The proof is that most dogs, given a choice, don’t do it, but have to be forced to with a choker and short leash. That doesn’t mean that they never do. But it’s a choice, voluntary, and has nothing to do with dominance.

The statement that dogs and wolves always follow the alpha in space is erroneous. What is natural is to stay in close proximity and in mental connection to the social group they are bonded to. Dogs that feel a social belonging do exactly that, dogs that don't have to be leash forced. They might learn to walk behind, but can't be made to feel a social belonging by a leash-pop-correction.


Your dog follows behind when you jog, run or rollerblade, because he has to keep up or he'll be left behind. This has nothing to do with natural behavior; it is simple survival instinct. That is especially true if the pooch is off-leash. The leash is a safety tool for person and dog. Once detached, the dog is very aware that it is up to him now to keep up. He follows out of fear, not submission.

When we go for a dog walk on the beach, and my pooches are off leash, and they stay within a 6-8 foot range despite other dogs, people, gulls and sandpipers, kids running and playing, then I have the closest to submission I can get, provided I want to use the terms submission and dominance in relation to being out together, which I don't, because one has nothing to do with the other.


The statement that dogs are instinctively in a migrating mode and walking behind a human several hours per day is fulfilling their natural need is false. True, some dogs, and some breeds, historically migrated with humans – some still do in some parts of the world. Dogs' domestication likely began as livestock guardians that traveled with nomads over great distances as they changed pastures. But, migrating is a seasonal event and does not happen all the time. Travel alternated with time spent at one place. During migration, dogs followed and stayed close to the group of other dogs, livestock and humans. Close does not mean behind. I'm sure that early human shepherds, nomadic tribes, and hunting groups had more important business to tend to than to put a bunch of dogs on a rope and making sure they’d follow behind in the name of dominance. Some dogs, as a loose group, probably stayed behind to forage on human garbage nomads left, and then caught up with them again. That has nothing do to with submissively following the alpha – it is just survival instinct.

And not all livestock guardians follow(ed) the human shepherd – some, as it is still common today, stay(ed) with the flock, protecting it.

Nomadic migrations as the proof that dogs are inherently programmed to follow is nonsense. It is not natural for dogs to migrate each day, certainly not in a structured, follow behind dog walk where every sniff or pee is by permission only.

Let's also keep in mind that when domestication began, some 12.000 years ago, was the dawn of the mesolithic era, with early human settlements. As humans became more stationary, dogs did also.

The human controlled, migrating dog walk for days or hours on end is NOT natural for dogs, because evolutionary speaking that is not what happened. Some dogs migrated; some stayed with the flock; some joined hunting parties; some didn't follow but foraged on the humans waste left behind; some were culled and became food for humans; some died because they couldn't keep up.


That does not mean that dogs shouldn't be walked. They should! Walking and exploring the environment together strengthens the human/dog bond. Mental stimulation happens when owner and dog discover new areas and check out familiar places together. Physical activity during a dog walk burns excess energy and keeps both fit.

According to a German study, published in the book Stress in Dogs, dogs that are walked/trained/exercised between 1-2 hours each day exhibited the least amount of stress (and stress related behavior problems, obviously).

Dogs that are forced to run behind a human for up to six hours are exhausted! Exhaustion is not the same as submission, although to the untrained eye a tired and correction subdued dog can appear submissive and well-behaved.


Pulling on the dog walk does not mean that the dog is the alpha. There are only two reasons why a dog pulls. He wants to get somewhere faster, or wants to get away from something faster, than you do. Chances are that you, and other people in your dog's life past or present, followed him, thereby reinforcing the behavior. Pulling worked, was repeated and became a learned behavior. It is simple cause and effect and has nothing to do with status.

That doesn't mean that pulling is okay. Constant pulling indicates that your dog doesn't give a rats tail about you - at least not on the dog walk. It could be because she is already stressed, fearful and reactive. Or maybe that she is not bonded because you are inconsistent or boring on the dog walk. Or your dog is left alone a lot, and, especially if left in the yard, has learned to get her mental stimulation from the environment, not you. And that's what she does on the walk also.


If you have an always pulling dog, your relationship with your dog needs work. Clarify to your dog that the walk is a resource and that you control it, like any other one. Continue the dog walk only if your pooch is polite and attentive.

Don't ignore your dog when you are out together. Connection within a group is mutual. Attention reciprocal. Practice to stay connected to your dog while you walk. Changing directions often teaches your dog that he has to stay attentive if he wants to know where you are going.

Be fun and reward offered attention and voluntary spatial closeness. Not by shoving a food treat in your dog's mouth, but by playing a game, for example a short chase in which the dog chases you, or throw the ball once, or have her target a stick, or jump a creek. If you use food, throw the treat out for your dog to find. Make your dog walk together an experience and you don't need a rope, or choker.

Don't force your dog behind you, but reinforce her attention to you. Then you have polite manners, with or without a leash.