Last night Ryan and I had Week 2 of Puppy Kindergarten -- it was all about learning how to walk on a leash.
Oh boy!
I was so very excited because Phinley loves walking and walking and walking and I love the exercise! Sure, he sniffs & sniffs & sniffs every little thing, but I don't mind! I like him to stretch his legs and get some fresh air!
He also gets to see all of his neighbor friends (not to brag, but he's popular). There's...Molly, Russert, Joker, Tucker, Cocoa Chanel, Butterscotch, Gia, and Mr. Big German Shephard (we don't know his name). He loves giving them kisses and sniffing there, well, privates (it's a dog thing).
So this week when intense dog trainer Mary told us that walks shouldn't be more than 10mins or so and definitely not over a mile, or a mile, I shot a quick glance at Ryan and knew immediately I must have skipped that chapter in the doggie training books.
Ryan just smiled at me and it was probably because for the last 4 weeks I tell him everyday how Phinley and I go for really really long walks and we get plenty of exercise and my legs are now always tired and I'm always hungry and Phinley is tired and he can thank me anytime he wants!
When Mary shared this tid-bit of information my response was, "are you kidding me?"
I'm know I'm new at this, but I thought my little Amish puppy needed long walks to get used to noisey cars, other dogs, kids, strangers, other dogs poop smell, sidewalks, grass, garbage trucks, mailmen, motorcycles, tan bark, trash, lawn ornaments....you name it!!!
So now when we walk it's suppose to be for only short jaunts and consist of Phinley walking specifically on my left side and following my pointer finger, occassionally responding to the command "target" by touching his nose gently on that finger and receiving a yummy chicken and brown rice soft treat.
Well that's not fun!
I feel like he's just eating treats the whole time!
I suppose in several days (he's a fast learner) he'll be able to easily walk with me and it won't be such a treat frenzy, but until then good grief.
No marathons for us in the near future.
Sorry, Phinley.
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2 comments:
It's frustrating, but it is unfortunately the way they learn best. We actually use different types of leashes and collars for different types of walks.
When we walk in the neighborhood where there is a sidewalk I use a regular short leash (4 ft) with harnesses. Our dogs associate that with 'heeling' and knowing they need to walk on the left, not pull, etc. If I am by myself I usually use a coupler too since there are two dogs and only one of me.
When we are walking more in the country, or aren't really walking (like at my in-laws where there is a lot of land) I use flexi-leashes and regular collars. When we use the flexi-leash they know they are free to poke around, explore, sniff, etc. and don't need to follow the usual rules.
Believe it or not they really do associate the different leashes and behave differently on them. You can always work on the heeling in short spurts and give him more leeway on longer walks until he is good and associates the behavior all the time.
Oh my gosh, I feel like I just wrote a book and I don't even know if any of it makes sense!!!
That's so helpful! Thanks! I'm always up for tips and tricks when it comes to training! I know it will help in the long run(it was hard putting him in his crate at first, but that seems to be working!). In a year or two I'll be so thankful for this training! We won't be that "crazy dog" coming down the sidewalk.
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