When we first introduced the leash to River, she dug her heels in and refused to move. No matter how much coaxing you did or how long you waited, she was prepared to out wait you.
I turned to Mr. Outside Lead for help. When we were outside taking care of the other animals or playing with the other dogs, River was put on the outside lead. It's no fun when you're sitting on the deck refusing to move and no one else is paying attention to you, so it didn't take long for her to realize she could move, even with a very negligible weight hanging from her neck. This led to the second thing she learned that day: Running full tilt is not always a good idea, since that tiny weight can also cause you to do a complete backwards flip when you hit the end of it. Once we realized she hadn't broken her neck, Tim and I laughed and laughed over that one.
We've worked her a little on her leash, but this was the first time she's been out in public and I have to say she did really well. I sent Tim and Dixie on ahead and every time River tried to pull me, we stopped dead. It didn't take her very long at all to realize she had to stay within a certain range to keep moving forward. After she managed more than three feet without pulling me, I gave in and did a light jog with her, so we could catch up to the others. She loved it and performed really well, staying right by my side while we ran. Of course, she continued to misbehave off and on for the rest of the walk, but I'm confident that she'll grasp the loose-leash walking in no time.
Unfortunately, Dixie can only handle two laps of the track with her stubby little legs before she's done. She made it perfectly clear we were headed back to the car. It actually worked out fairly well though, since I didn't want to overdo the training with River.
It was nice to be walking the dogs around in November. I guess we had better enjoy it now, before the freezing cold gets here.
-Kristen
She is growing up so quickly and such a beautiful color too! I really really really love to use a head halter on a dog that pulls. Brandon's dog is the worst about pulling, no matter how much training we do. Put a halter on her and she stays right with you. With the GSD I had, I only used a halter on him for maybe 3 weeks and he was perfectly trained after that. Just a friendly suggestion. :D
ReplyDeleteI've never really cared for head halters. The problem isn't as much that she pulls, she doesn't really "get" the whole walking on a leash thing yet. By the end of the walk, as soon as the collar pulled on her neck she knew to stop and turn back towards me or we were gonna have to stand there lol.
ReplyDeleteI actually had a friend use a head halter and her dog learned to walk with it's head sideways so it could keep pulling LOL!