What Is a Decompression Walk for Dogs?
Decompression walks are one of the most amazing things you can do for your dog. The term was coined by Sarah Stremming, who defines them as, “a walk where the dog is allowed freedom of movement in nature.” Ideally this is done off leash, but it can also be done on a long line* clipped to a y-shaped harness*. You can get quite creative about where you go (to the woods, fields, beaches, creeks, etc.). Keep scrolling through our guide that breaks down the benefits to decompression walks and how I’ve applied those learnings to my normal walks with my dogs.
What Are the Benefits of Decompression Walks?
Living in a human world can be really hard on dogs -- especially for those who live in cities. Imagine walking your dog on a city sidewalk using a six foot leash. They experience all sorts of sights, sounds, and smells, and quite often, aren’t able to go investigate them (they are also often working hard to stay near you instead of exploring). This type of walk often provides little opportunity for your dog to “just be a dog” and can be incredibly taxing on them. Enter the answer you may be seeking: decompression walks.
Here’s How a Decompression Walk Can Benefit Your Dog:
Decompression walks are a way for you to let your dog unwind and just be a dog. They involve so much freedom and choice and allow your dog to engage in natural dog behaviors like sniffing, digging, shredding, and climbing in a calming way.
These walks can have profound physical, emotional, and behavioral effects. They can actually set your dog up to handle their normal human world a lot better because they help dogs reset to a more neutral state.
Dogs sniff way more when they are free to move, and sniffing comes with LOTS of benefits. Sniffing lowers dogs’ pulse and has a pretty immediate calming effect on them. If you’re trying to wear your dog out, lots of sniffing can actually be the most efficient way. The part of the brain devoted to processing smells is about 40 times larger in dogs than humans, so letting your dog sniff is actually a lot of “mental exercise” that will leave them feeling tired and fulfilled.
It’s not just the dog who benefits: These walks also happen to be deeply calming for many people!
Why Decompression Walks Are the Best Thing I Did For My Dog and They’re Not Actually Training
The role of dogs in our lives has changed a TON in the past few decades. Dogs are now part of our families, and with that, comes new living conditions. At the same time, nature has selected behaviors for dogs for a LONG time, and humans have artificially selected behavior (breeding) for hundreds (and even thousands) of years. When we remove dogs from the environment those behaviors were selected for, it doesn’t mean the hardwiring for those behaviors goes away. That’s why decompression walks are so important. Kim Brophey is doing incredible work and driving important convos in this area (we are BIG fans of her L.E.G.S.® model).
Let me tell you about my dog Sully (who is in the video above). She’s a street dog from Indonesia and is fiercely independent. If you spend any time with her, it’s clear how at home she is in nature. A city walk with her used to look like this: Nose to the ground, chased every squirrel, and barked at every person and dog. It took me a little time to realize that I needed to find safe (!) ways to get her off leash access to nature (even if her “obedience wasn’t perfect,” which is often the pre-req). She came to LIFE in nature, and that matters to me.
Those behaviors that were tough on a city sidewalk suddenly made sense. Sully actively hunts. She has her nose to the ground and follows scent trails through bushes and over logs with incredible agility. I haven’t done a DNA test, but it’s so clear that this is natural behavior for her. Imagine if the only outlet she got for all those instincts was a city walk on a six foot leash. Her natural behavior could easily show up as problematic there. The more opportunities I gave Sully to express her natural behavior, the easier it became to get all those other “pet behaviors” we tend to want. Some desired behaviors came without any behavior modification work, and the training I did became a lot more effective once her needs were already met.
There are no doubt ethical considerations around why we need to remember they are dogs with species and individual needs. In addition, when we look at the whole dog (rather than thinking of them as the “pet” that the “pet industry” sells us), it goes a long way towards setting us and our dogs up for success.
What You Can Learn From Walking Your Dog
When you think about a good on-leash walk with your dog, what do you picture? For all the time we spend working to fit out dogs into our human-centric world, what would happen if we tried to fit a bit more into theirs?
If you picture people walking without dogs, what do you see? Perhaps you imagine humans walking briskly wearing headphones and their faces buried in their phones. They usually have a destination in mind (or goal for distance), and the stuff between the start and end is just the process. Now think about how dogs walk. Their ears catch every sound, their noses cover every square inch of plants ... they experience each moment. Humans label dogs who stop to watch birds or sniff every blade of grass as distracted, but maybe it’s the other way around.
What would happen if we tried to walk more like our dogs? What would it be like to feel the earth below us? What would we hear? What would cause us to stop in our tracks to simply watch with wonder? If we actively look for things that delight us, how many of them will we find?! We humans have a funny little habit of relating everything back to ourselves and using human “measuring sticks” for non-human animals. But in a lot of ways, we think dogs might actually be on a pretty cool path with the way they want to walk.
So keep training walking (and whatever else you want)! Training is FUN, helps build connection, and is important for the wellbeing of our dogs who are asked to live in this world. But what does it feel like if we open up space for our human way to not be the only way? What does a compromise look like to you?
Poet Mary Oliver famously wrote, “What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” This quote often gets used as a motivator to “DO ALL THE WORK!” But if you read her poem “The Summer Day,” her answer is basically to wander through fields and notice things. Our dogs might be able to help! Have you tried shifting your attention more to the environment around you (including your dog) on walks? Where is your attention? Do you slow down easily or find it tough?
The Surprising Thing I’d Rather My Dog Do on a Leash
When it comes to leash walking in general, my views have changed quite a bit over time. Both of my dogs are labeled “reactive” (Otis, the one in the video, will bark and lunge at bikes, scooters, and skateboards under the right conditions and will somewhat inconsistently bark and lunge at novel stimuli if startled). I’ve taught him that those stimuli are actually cues for him to orient to me. And by and large, that is what he will do. We can walk around the city where we live without reactions, but I generally need to support him a little bit (which I’m happy to do).
Not long ago, we were on a walk and Otis was particularly sniffy. I saw a scooter ahead and watched his body language to see if I would need to help. But he noticed it in such a soft way and was back down to sniffing again right after. I opted not to do my usual post-scooter treat because I liked his choice so much (and treats often cue Otis to really focus on me). He coped so well with all the various city things he noticed on this walk and didn’t actually need my help. He noticed changes but wasn’t scanning in search of changes. He offered me less attention than he does on other walks, but the only reason I wanted the attention in these conditions was because it’s incompatible with barking and lunging.
Over time, I may have inadvertently reinforced some of this alert, scanning behavior thinking that I was simply reinforcing his choice to orient back to me without barking (reinforced the chain). I’ve had to really think about the precise behavior I want (down to body language -- “what does calm look like?”). I now actually prefer walks where Otis sees changes in the environment and they cue him to sniff rather than to always orient to me for a treat. I think our reality will be a balance of the two, but I’m trying to be more intentional about building the soft noticing and then sniffing behavior. That may mean I need to change conditions to get the soft body language I want and build back up with that as a part of my criteria.
What works best for one dog is not necessarily what will work best for another (or even the same dog in different conditions) -- YAY NUANCE! I am having fun learning and thinking about this. Would LOVE your thoughts in the comments!
