One of the things I see a hundred times a day are dog owners being dragged around the streets by their dogs! The dogs are out in front pulling their humans to every lamppost and clump of grass and barking and pulling towards other dogs and people! If you stop for just a moment though and think of what you are saying to your dog you might change your mind!
When out in front the world is a scary place, the dog is deciding on direction and when, where and what it does, now if you have a calm and placid dog it will not be too much of a problem. But if your dog is either aggressive or timid then you could be storing up a lot of problems.
The aggressive dog. Walking ahead and on the lookout for trouble. Anything that comes near is going to get it! Everything is a threat and everyone needs watching. The dog will pull the owner along and ears up and body bristling this dog will cause trouble, probably bark and try to get at other dogs and will get attacked by other dogs because of its attitude. The timid dog surprisingly will do just the same but this time it will be in a desperate attempt to protect its weak owner and to make the threat go away or to bluff others to stay away. Either way your dog is not viewing you as in control and your leadership is undermined. The dog will be under stress and the walk will not be a calm and pleasant experience for either of you!
So what to do? Well first thing is to get your dog to walk at your side and be under your control. This can be achieved by either body language and energy which is my prefered way, or using tools such as
Halti or
Canny Collars or other
anti-pull devices which can even up your lack of control.
Second, be in control and don't allow your dog to dictate the walk. Don't allow it to sniff and drag you around, walk from A to B and then allow the dog some free time and then walk back again under control.
I will go into more depth on future blog entries but in the meantime please just get some control of your dog and you will reap the benefits in many other ways!
Happy training!
Steve
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