Successful Field Trips with your Dogolescent

Taking your dogolescent (adolescent dog) on field trips is important if you want your dog to be able to go places with you in the future. The goal of these outings is for them to settle enough to process the environment relatively calmly. Adolescence is when a great deal of behavior patterns have the opportunity to get 'wired' into the brain. So building the skills to be calm out in new environments while they are still in that critical period will make it much easier for both of you later on. After all, practice makes progress!

Here are some tips to help your field trips be successful.

Tip #1 - Choose Locations Wisely

This is not the time to be completely spontaneous! Think about the skills and practice your dogolescent currently has, and choose a location where they will be able to process without being overwhelmed. Or overwhelming you or members of the public. For example, if you have a super enthusiastic greeter who still lunges at everyone to say hello, don't take them to the street fair. The general public will not appreciate your dog's forceful hellos, and both you and your dogolescent will likely be very frustrated before you head home. Instead, you might try heading to the local dog-friendly ice cream shop and sit outside while your pup enjoys a treat of their own. Less movement, fewer people, hopefully a bit more personal space - and ice cream - make for a greater likelihood that you both will enjoy this outing!

Create a list of options for field trips ahead of time to help with your planning.

Tip #2 - Have an Escape Plan

If your dogolescent starts to get overwhelmed, or too excited, or it just doesn't seem fun for either of you, you want to have already thought about how you can bail on the experience. This might be as simple as turning around and walking away. It might be more involved. Maybe you have to get a friend to pay for your meal order and ask them to pack it up and bring it to you later. Thinking about why and how you can bail ahead of time will make it easier to actually do it if you need to.

Think about what your dog might do that will show you this isn't a good experience for them so you can respond quickly if you see it.

Tip #3 - Give Them Time to Sniff

Allow plenty of time for your dogolescent to process the environment. If you are heading indoors, make sure that you find an area outside where they can have an opportunity to relieve themselves first. (This is especially important for males. You want them to have lots of chances to mark outside before you head into an area they shouldn't be peeing in.) Whether indoors or outdoors, allow for time to sniff, to examine and to observe. This will help your dogolescent feel more comfortable in a new place, and give them a greater sense of control.

"Letting our dogs explore their environment as much as they need to (within reason), is one way of granting control. It also gives them the opportunity to interact with a wide range of environmental stimuli and learn that those things are not dangerous." – Dr. Katrina Spaulding

Tip #4 - Start Small

If you want to be able to take your dog to a cafe and have them hang out at your feet while you enjoy lunch with friends, start with trips that are shorter and easier. Maybe order ahead from the local coffee shop and sit together on the patio for 10 minutes while your dogolescent enjoys a chew. If that goes well, next time go with someone else who can go in and get your order while you and your pup wait outside. Then you can sit and enjoy your brews before heading out. These build up to sitting and waiting for a meal order.

It's better to have many short, successful outings than longer "iffy" ones.

Tip #5 - Practice your Skills at Home

Set up yourself and your dogolescent for success by making sure you have practiced helpful skills at home and in environments your pup knows well first. It isn't fair to either of you to expect your dogolescent to settle on a mat at the brewpub if you haven't been practicing that while you eat meals at home. If you haven't practiced attention skills outside your home, your dogolescent will struggle even more to give you attention at the neighbor kid's soccer game.

Practice is what helps the brain "wire together" behaviors, making them much easier to perform without having to think so much.

There's No Better Time Than Now

Remember, adolescence is a temporary phase, even though it might not feel like it when your pup is pulling toward every distraction! By investing time in thoughtful field trips now, you're building a foundation for a lifetime of adventures together. Some outings will go perfectly, others might require a quick exit—and that's completely normal. Celebrate the small wins, learn from the challenging moments, and keep building those skills one trip at a time. Your future self (and your dog) will thank you for the patience and effort you're putting in today.

Your Turn: Where do you want to go with your dog?

Does your dogolescent struggle to settle? Does the thought of taking them out in public feel overwhelming? I can help with "socialization studies" and get your teen on the path to graduate "good dog cum laude."

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