One of our signature skills is teaching our dogs how to participate in polite ordering! We want our dogs to be able to approach the bar with us and automatically sit, waiting for us to place our order and then smoothly walk back to our table with drink in hand.
First teach a stopping by your side behavior. You can do this by taking a few steps, then stopping and rewarding your dog right next to your pant leg before they wander out in front of you. Remember not to make this an abrupt stop. One tip for preparing your dog to know when you are approaching a stop is to take three slower steps first. This will tell your dog you are about to stop walking so they should prepare by slowing down!
Next, we want to add a wall as a cue to your dog to sit. When your dog approaches the bar with you, all they see is a tall wall, so we can use this to our advantage by turning it into a cue! Practice walking towards any wall, then taking your three slow steps coming to a stop. Reward your dog for stopping by your side and cue a sit. Keep practicing this until they automatically sit when you stop at the wall!
Image Description: White dog sits beside a person next to a wall; the person is handing a treat to the dog for awesome!
See you next week for our next blog in this series of essential brewery manners skills!
