05/28/2026
If your dog’s walks have started feeling harder again with the warmer weather, keep reading.
Spring can bring out a lot of unpleasant walking behaviour. You may notice more pulling, barking, lunging, or a harder time getting your dog to settle and focus. This can feel frustrating, especially if your dog seemed to be doing better before.
But this does not mean you did anything wrong or that your dog is stubborn. In many cases, the environment has simply changed. Compared to winter, spring brings a lot more people outside, dogs passing, bikes, kids playing and wildlife moving around.
For some dogs, all of that is exciting, for others it can feel stressful or overwhelming. The tricky part is that these distractions often happen close together. Your dog may see a dog across the street, then a cyclist passes, and then a loud vehicle goes past.
When there is very little time between each distraction, your dog may not have enough time to process and settle before the next thing happens. That means their internal fuse and coping can get shorter.
A dog who might normally handle one distraction fairly well may struggle when several things happen within a few moments. This is when you might start to see more what feels like unruly behaviour.
And your dog isn’t the only one who might be getting amped up internally. When walks have been difficult, it is normal for people to leave the house already expecting stress. We may tighten the leash, scan ahead for problems, or feel on edge before anything has even happened.
That does not mean we are doing something wrong either. It just means the walk has become stressful for both ends of the leash. So if walks feel harder right now, it may not be because your dog has forgotten everything. It may simply mean the walking environment has become harder, and your dog needs a little more support, structure, and practice to handle it well.
The goal is to help your dog feel calmer, and become more manageable before summer gets even busier. That’s why I’m opening up a small handful of free 15-minute Walking Reset Chats this week with me, Derek.
These are for dog owners in Moose Jaw, Regina, and surrounding areas who are considering getting some help and want to be proactive before summer walks become even more frustrating.
If you’d like to find out if one of these calls would be a good fit, comment “Reset” and we’ll reach out.
