How to Walk the Dog

The walk the dog is a very basic freestyle footwork trick. It helps you link tricks together and work on your flow.

Before you start

You don’t need any other tricks for this one. You just need to be comfortable rolling fakie.

Foot position

• Back foot: in the center of the board, facing forward.
• Front foot: on the tail.

You’re rolling fakie, but your body faces the direction you’re going.

How to walk the dog

1. Roll fakie with your body facing forward.
2. Start to pivot the board. Keep your center foot facing forward the whole time, so it slides along the board as the board pivots under it.
3. Set the board down and take a step forward.
4. Keep doing it over and over.

Two ways to get started

• From forward: roll forward and drag the tail. Do a half step, then another half step, and now you’re going fakie.
• From fakie: start off rolling fakie, then turn your body forward and start going.

Troubleshooting

There’s really not much else to it. If your shoe is sticking to the grip as it pivots, you can cut a circle out of the grip tape where your foot turns. That cuts down on the friction. It’s a good idea if you’ll be doing a lot of these, but it doesn’t matter too much. I don’t do it.

What’s next

Walk the dogs are the glue between freestyle tricks. Try linking them with a railstand, a truckstand or a fingerflip.