Expert Dog Trainers in Del Mar Give These 5 Tips for Spring

"What should I work on with my dog this spring?" a Del Mar owner asked us in March. Five things: a recall that beats a seagull, a loose leash on Camino Del Mar, a down that lasts a patio lunch, a calm greeting for the first visitors of the year, and a leave it for whatever the tide brings in.

Spring in Del Mar is the window before the summer crowds. North Beach is still in its off-leash months, the Fairgrounds are quiet until the fair opens in June, and the village patios have room at the tables. It is the easiest time of year to train in public, and the skills below are the ones that will matter most when it gets busy.

Tip one: build a recall that works at the beach

Dog Beach at the north end of town is the best reason to live here with a dog, and the fastest place to learn that your recall does not work. A dog that comes in the backyard and ignores you with a wet Lab in view has a recall for quiet rooms only. The checklist:

• Pay the recall at home, fifty times a day, with the best food in the house, for two weeks before you ask for it outdoors.
• Use a long line on the sand the first several visits, so the dog cannot practice ignoring you.
• Call once. If the dog does not come, go get it calmly and try again from closer. Repeating the word teaches the dog that the first one is optional.
• Release the dog back to play after most recalls. A recall that always ends the fun is a recall the dog starts avoiding.

Tip two: fix the leash before the sidewalks fill up

Camino Del Mar in March is a wide, quiet sidewalk. In July it is strollers, patio chairs and other dogs. Teach the loose leash now:

• Start in your hallway, then your street in Del Mar Heights or the village, then the Coast to Crest Trail along the lagoon at a quiet hour.
• Change direction every time the leash goes tight. The dog learns that pulling makes the walk go the wrong way.
• Build an automatic sit at every curb. The dog sits when you stop, without being asked.
• Keep walks short while the skill is new. Ten good minutes beat forty minutes of being dragged to Powerhouse Park.

Tip three: teach a down that lasts a whole lunch

The patio tables on Camino Del Mar and at the Plaza are the reward for a trained dog. The skill is a down-stay of twenty to thirty minutes with food going past, and it is built in stages:

• A down on a mat at home during your own dinner, starting at two minutes and adding a few each night.
• The same mat on your own patio, then in the yard with a neighbor walking past.
• An outdoor table at an off hour, mat under the table, a chew to work on, a short stay at first.
• Only then, a busy Saturday. If the dog breaks, go back one stage. The stage is not failing; the step was too big.

Tip four: get the greeting ready for spring visitors

The first houseguests of the year arrive with the weather. A dog that jumps on everyone at the door makes every visit start badly. The checklist is short and the practice is daily:

• A bed within sight of the front door, and a place command that sends the dog there on one word.
• The doorbell rung by a family member several times a day for a week while the dog is paid on the bed.
• Guests told in advance that the dog will say hello after they sit down, on a release word, with four feet on the floor.
• Everyone in the house using the same word, so the dog has one rule and not four.

Tip five: a leave it for the shoreline

Spring tides leave things on the sand at Seagrove Park and along the bluffs that no dog should eat: dead fish, seaweed full of flies, a stranger's picnic. Leave it is the command that keeps a beach walk from ending at the vet:

• Teach it indoors with kibble under a shoe. The dog gives up and looks at you; that look gets paid with something better.
• Move it to food on the floor, then food dropped while walking, then the yard.
• Take it to the beach on a leash first, so the dog cannot win the dead fish while it is still learning.
• Pair it with drop it, taught as a trade, for the times leave it comes too late.

Why do all five start at home?

Because a dog learns a skill in a quiet place and then learns to use it in a loud one, in that order. Every one of these checklists begins in your kitchen or hallway and ends at the beach or the patio. That is also the order of our programs: private lessons in your Del Mar home for the first weeks, then real-world sessions where the skill has to hold.

Most families see the change by the second or third weekly lesson, and the obedience training page describes how the six or seven lessons are laid out. Owners who have been through it describe the results on our reviews page, and more than a few of them mention that the beach is the place they noticed it first.

Questions Del Mar owners ask in spring

When does the off-leash season at Dog Beach end?

The off-leash period at North Beach runs through the off-season and ends before summer, with leash rules in effect during the busy months. Check the city's posted rules before you go. Our advice is to use the spring weeks on a long line to build the recall, so the dog is reliable before the rules tighten.

Can I take my dog to Torrey Pines State Reserve?

No. Dogs are not allowed on the trails or the beach within the reserve, and that is enforced. The Coast to Crest Trail along the San Dieguito Lagoon and Crest Canyon are the nearby alternatives for a leashed hike, and both have enough joggers and cyclists to make them good training ground.

How long will these five skills take?

Working on them yourself with ten minutes a day, you will see progress in a few weeks and a reliable version by summer. With weekly in-home lessons, most dogs have all five working by the end of a six or seven lesson program. The deciding factor is daily practice between lessons, not the dog's breed or age.

My dog is great at home and ignores me at the beach. Why?

Because the beach pays better than you do, and the dog has never been taught otherwise. The recall was trained in a room with no competition and then tested against a flock of gulls. The fix is the long line, better rewards, and adding distractions one at a time rather than all at once on a Saturday.

Ready when you are: (619) 704-9178 for a free in-home consultation anywhere in North County. Or send the contact form with which of the five your dog needs most, and we will start there.