New Brunswick dog trainer hopes to provide more socialization for pups

The return of snowy, wet conditions didn’t stop dog owners in the Greater Moncton Area from getting out this weekend for a dog social training session.

Peter Woodworth, a dog trainer in Riverview N.B., started a brand-new social interaction group for owners and their pups who need a little extra training around other dogs.

“A lot of people, especially in trails now, when they’re walking and going into public trails and they have their dogs off leash and they don’t have 100 per cent recall, they can get hurt and something can happen in an instance,” he said.

“You are liable for that dog even if you’re walking down the street and walking your dog and another dog comes along, you know, you’ve got to be responsible and have your dog under control 100 per cent of the time.”

Sunday morning, a small but eager group met at Point Park to work on training, including keeping their dog’s focus, while also interacting in a respectful and safe manner with other canines for the first time.

“We use our hands a lot, we use our body motions and sometimes what we’re saying to them, our body is sending a different message, and so I’m trying to teach other people and their dogs in group settings like this, and private settings, how to communicate with their dogs.”

“I can’t read what a dog is going through, or what is going through their mind, and so when I’m working with private groups or big groups, I’m just watching all behaviour and making the owner the leader instead of a dominance kind of thing.”

Woodworth had the group work on leading away from other dogs, greeting in a respectful manner, and even walking over unfamiliar objects like a raised dog bed.

The main idea was for the owners to keep their dog’s attention even with other dogs and distractions around them.

“If I can reach out to one dog or two dogs, it doesn’t matter, it’s just helping get it started,” said Woodworth.

He says he also plans to introduce Tuesday night walkabouts, more dog social Sundays and information sessions for owners at the Moncton MEC.

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