Beyond the Extra Walk: Real Connection with Your Dog This Holiday
- Sara Scott
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
It’s Thanksgiving week, a complicated holiday for many, and for some of us, a time with shifted routines and schedules. If you find yourself with extra time or mental space, here are three meaningful ways to connect with your dog that go beyond the usual “take an extra walk” advice.
Intentional Presence
We talk a lot about being present with our dogs, but what does that actually mean? It’s not just being in the same room while you scroll your phone or fold laundry with your dog lying nearby. Intentional presence means tuning into your own experience—how you feel in your body, what emotions are moving through you, the quality of attention you’re bringing—while also being aware of your dog beside you.
This week, try this: carve out 15-20 minutes for one-on-one time with your dog where the only goal is to notice how you feel. Maybe that’s a quiet walk somewhere peaceful in nature. Maybe it’s curling up together on the couch in silence. Maybe it’s sitting outside while they sniff around the yard. Whatever the setup, put your phone away and check in with yourself: What does it feel like to be here with them right now? Where do you notice tension or ease in your body? What shifts when you soften your attention? And as you tune into yourself, notice your dog too—not with an agenda to analyze or fix anything, but just to see them. How are they moving through this moment? What’s their energy like?
This kind of attention is a gift, both to them and to yourself. It builds awareness of the relationship itself—not just what your dog is doing, but what it feels like to be together. No agenda, no goals, no performance. Just presence.
Play Around with “Paws Up”
If you want something more hands-on this week, try teaching (or refining) a simple behavior called “paws up.” This is a targeting behavior. Targeting just means teaching your dog to touch a specific thing with a specific body part. In this case, you’re cueing your dog to place their two front paws on any surface you indicate.
It’s a simple trick to teach, but once your dog has it down, it transforms how they interact with the world. Suddenly, any environment becomes a game. That park bench, that tree stump, that low wall—all opportunities for your dog to engage and earn reinforcement. You’re teaching them that interacting with their environment produces positive consequences, which is incredibly useful in all kinds of situations.
Need an alternative to lunging at a passing dog? Ask for paws up on a nearby rock. Have a dog who’s nervous about new environments? Turning the scary thing into a training task (“touch this with your feet!”) makes it less threatening and more playful. If your dog has sensitivities around having their feet touched or stepping on different textures, this also builds confidence and body awareness over time.
How to teach it:
Start with an object you’d bet $100 your dog will easily step on, something they’re already comfortable with. That might be the bottom step of a staircase they use regularly, a piece of furniture they already climb on, or even a pillow tossed on the floor.
Hold a treat at your dog’s nose
Lure them toward the object, moving the treat so they naturally step onto it
The moment their paws touch the object, deliver the food
Keep practicing until your dog will readily step onto the object
If your dog won’t fully commit to stepping on it, either find an easier object (the curb outside might work perfectly) or reward approximations—one paw on the object, one paw hovering over it, anything that shows progress toward the full behavior.
I’ve included a video here showing how I use this out and about.
Peanut Butter Trees (or: Turn Your Space Into a Foraging Adventure)
This one comes from the San Francisco SPCA, and it’s brilliantly simple: smear peanut butter on objects throughout your environment and let your dog discover them. The SPCA would put peanut butter on trees around the block at dog-head height, then take shelter dogs on walks to find and lick the “peanut butter trees” clean. It was a creative way to give enrichment to dogs in an urban shelter environment, but you can absolutely adapt this for your own dog.
If you want to go the original route, take a walk around your block with a small container of peanut butter and smear a little on tree trunks, fence posts, or other vertical surfaces at your dog’s height. Then bring your dog out to discover your handiwork. Watching them use their nose to locate each smear and work to lick it clean turns an ordinary walk into a scavenger hunt.
Don’t have outdoor space or don’t want to decorate the neighborhood? Set this up in your backyard instead—smear peanut butter on fence posts, the side of a planter, a low retaining wall, anywhere vertical and safe for your dog to lick. Or try the bathroom version: smear peanut butter in various spots inside your bathtub (sides, corners, different heights), then release your dog to clean it up. This has the bonus benefit of pairing the bathtub with something delicious, which makes future baths easier. Plus, bathrooms are designed for easy cleanup if your dog doesn’t manage to lick everything spotless.
The beauty of this activity is that it requires minimal effort from you but creates genuine novelty and engagement for your dog. They’re using their nose, problem-solving how to reach different spots, and getting rewarded for exploring their environment.
These three activities aren’t complicated, and that’s the point. They don’t require special equipment or hours of your time. What they do require is intention—choosing to show up differently with your dog, even for just a few minutes. Whether you’re sitting quietly together noticing how you feel, teaching paws up on every surface you pass, or turning your backyard into a peanut butter treasure hunt, you’re building something that matters: presence, connection, and shared experience.
If you’re looking for more reflections on gratitude and our relationships with dogs, I posted a blog last week sharing my recent Bay Woof article on exactly that topic. You can check it out here. However you choose to spend this week, I hope you find moments worth savoring with your dog.
Looking for more ways to build your dog’s confidence?
Game of Bones is my 4-week online program designed to help anxious, reactive, or uncertain dogs build confidence, adaptability, and focus through playful mini-games. You’ll actively train with your dog in real-time with step-by-step guidance. Perfect for dogs of all ages and experience levels.
Want practical training insights delivered to your inbox? Join my monthly newsletter for stories, training tips, and real talk about life with dogs. No fluff—just useful content grounded in 25+ years of experience working with reactive, anxious, and challenging dogs. [Sign up here]