Leash Walk-Your Dog Properly
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 | Dog Obedience & Behavior, Dog Training Camp San Diego, Dog Training Collars & Leads, Dog Training Video
Accept K9 Coach’s 21 day challenge to walk your dog on a leash properly.
Betty was bred to be a working police or personal protection type dog. She was the runt of the litter & didn’t have the drive to make it as a military dog, so she ended up with a dog trainer, who took her to raise as a family pet & working companion. The trainer returned her to the breeder as “un-trainable” at 9 months old, a quivering, quaking, hair raised, barking terror. And I mean loud barking. She was totally untrained, including potty training! The children were afraid of her. Ouch.
That’s when the breeder sent Betty, the 9 month old F Belgian Malinois to me. She has been with us ever since and has come a long ways in the years we’ve had her. She recently turned 4 years old and if you met her you’d probably question that she ever had a scary side. She is so well-behaved. She is part of my pack and helps me train other dogs. She is a loving part of our family, and keeping up with her high energy requirements and nervous energy is a big part of my daily schedule, though I’ll readily admit, I’ve extended her work on the treadmill as opposed to struggling with her on the leash with my other dog Spencer. She is great, when we leash-walk just the two of us or when I work her with a dog I’m training, off-leash and on-leash and she is reliable, well behaved.
It’s a whole other story when she has to share her walk with Spencer my other dog, on-leash, she has a tendency to bark excitedly. I am committing to http://dogtrainingofsandiego.com ‘s 21-day challenge. I am going to walk both of my dogs on leash 20 minutes per day, together with a goal of improving Betty’s behavior when walked with her pack mate. I am going to work on timing with use of the remote, and sitting her when she is over-excited or barking. I hope you will join me in walking your dog daily on leash for 21 days… follow our blogs and free weekly web casts for dog training help and advice.
Carla C Weed - K9 Coach
Day 1. Walked Betty & Spencer right at 20 minutes, too fast for me up the last hill, so I will remember to sit them more and take my time, even though Betty, is the main puller, they both will sit when I stop, this is working well. . Minimum barking and carrying on from Betty, only a few barks at levels that might pierce one’s skull.
Day 2. 21 minutes walk with Betty & Spencer. They did much better on their pace but Betty exclaimed loudly as we started out at each new intersection through the first half of the walk. Remember this is not a race, practice sit your dogs at intersections and wait to let other people pass. Have your dogs walk beside you, not in front. The wind was blowing today and leaves rustling, which always get Betty going. It was so funny, I looked down at her every time she took off at a perfect heel, tail wagging, big smile and thought, she’s so happy, maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on her about her jubilant, loud bark.