[nagdu] Sidewalk-less walking?

[Julie J.]

Daryl,

I do quite a bit of sidewalkless travel, nearly daily.  I've not had a dog 
who was skittish about it.  If it's possible, it's easier to walk with the 
curb/shoulder on your left, so the dog is nearest the edge.  If you're not 
sure about your distance from the edge, you can cue a left turn and work the 
dog to the edge, or if you use a folding cane you can use that.  I do this a 
lot in the beginning, but haven't done either for some time.

When approaching a parked car, I teach the dog to move around the car on the 
street side, but to stop before entering the actual lane of traffic.  This 
puts us at the corner of the car.  I listen for traffic and cue my dog to 
proceed around when I don't hear any traffic.  When doing this I wait until 
traffic is clear both ways, even the far lane which we shouldn't be near.  I 
do this because if I miss hearing a car I want there to be room for the 
drivers to move.  They won't be able to do that if there are two cars 
passing plus the parked car.  After passing the car, the dog will pick up 
the line of travel at the curb again.  With a new dog I offer a couple of 
reminders and double check when I think we should be back at the curb.

If traffic is really heavy or I can't hear well because of wind or 
construction or whatever, I will go around parked cars on the yard side.  I 
cue the dog left, work to the curb, cue a right turn, go a bit and then turn 
right to the curb again.  For me this is a more difficult procedure because 
of mailboxes, trees and several cars parked in a row or trucks connected to 
trailers.  My guess when we've passed the vehicle isn't always accurate. 
It's not so bad  with Monty because he's had enough experience he can figure 
out what to do easily.  Jetta is more likely to follow my direction more 
closely or refusing, but not knowing what to do instead.  It sometimes means 
we employ trial and error to figure out what to do.

There have been a couple of times when the road has been too narrow for my 
comfort with a lot of traffic.  I have walked on the yard/grass side of the 
curb/shoulder of the road instead of the street side.  My dogs catch on to 
this really quickly, but that could be because they have a lot of experience 
with sidewalkless travel.   It's a bit slower going because of the uneven 
footing and the need to weave around trees and bushes and whatnot.  I listen 
to the traffic to keep me oriented in the correct direction.  I haven't had 
a problem with either Jetta or Monty wandering off into random directions 
though.

I do remember that Belle would move to the absolute edge of the road or even 
up into a driveway and stop when she thought a vehicle was approaching too 
closely.   After the vehicle passed she'd continue on.  Monty and Jetta 
don't do this, but generally if a dog suggests something that is reasonable 
I encourage it.   So they all develop their unique style of working 
particular situations.

Anyway, I hope there's something useful in there somewhere.  If you have 
other questions, please ask away.   I'm happy to bounce ideas around until 
something clicks!

Julie