Weekly Wednesday #9 Loose-leash walking - no pulling

Loose-leash walking - no pulling

Exercise, exercise, exercise cannot be stressed enough. Exercise is vital to a dog's mental and physical fitness. What if walks are unpleasant because your canine is a puller or a wanderer? You are in luck, Pet Charmer can help you with that. I will share with you the method I used for Jingle, keep in mind there are several methods. Jingle was a horrible puller, as we walked people would say: "she's taking you for a walk again, I see" - at first, I had no idea what they were speaking of. Jingle was most definitely IN CHARGE during our past walks. Animal Behavior College ( ABC ) corrected many of my misunderstandings about dogs and training. I was taught, it is my dog's responsibility to keep slack in the leash. So, I implemented one method that stood out to me " go back to kindergarten ". It really is as simple as it sounds... stop, go back, start over. In the beginning, Jingle and I did A LOT of starting and stopping. Here are the steps we took: 1. Put the leash on your dog. Your hand should be through the loop of the leash. Your arm should not be overly extended from your side. Walk as normal. 2. Once you see there is no slack in the leash and your arm is extended beyond your side STOP THE WALK IMMEDIATELY. Two things may happen: (A) your dog should look back at you and wonder what the heck just happened. (B) your dog may ignore you and continue trying to pull. 3. If "A" happens, treat your dog for acknowledging you, ask your dog to come back to your side, treat for coming back to you, and the restart your walk. If "B" happens, give the "eh-eh" sound (this indicates to your dog that he is giving the wrong behavior and it needs to end), walk the opposite direction in which he is pulling, end your walk completely. What message does this send? 1. You are in charge. 2. Pay attention to You because your walk route and speed can change at any moment. 3. No pulling. Be patient with yourself and your canine. This is probably new to you both! Practice daily, at least 20 minutes. This can even be practiced in the house. Don't over practice because then you remove the FUN from your walks. The more consistent you are, the better your relationship will be with your dog because they will know what is expected. I tried to capture Jingle going back to kindergarten in the attached video, I hope it helps. Happy training!!! #DOGS #trainandplay #rescue #adopt #foster #getactive #volunteer #dogtrainer #supportanimalrescue #petchat #PETCHARMER #DOGTRAINER #supportyourlocalshelter