at Take Care of Your Dog.com

"Who Shall Lead and Who Shall Follow."

Teaching your puppy how to walk with a leash.

Even if you live where there are no leash laws, and you do not take your dog with you places away from your home, leash training is still an important part of teaching your dog obedience. An unexpected trip to the Veterinarian or any other place is much easier to manage if your dog is properly leash trained.

Start by finding a well-fitting collar for your puppy. It should be loose enough to slide your fingers under, but not loose enough to slide over the puppy's head. Measure your puppy's neck ahead of time and find a collar that is several inches bigger, so there is room for growth. I do not care much for choke chains or inside spiked collars, though some people do prefer them. Choking the oxygen off from a dog's brain, or damaging his throat structures and neck muscles does not appeal to me as being very effective positive reinforcement for training purposes. But, as I have stated before I am not an expert, and I feel safe in saying that these types of collars should only be used by someone that is experienced and knows how to use them properly. A good buckle collar will work fine for this exercise.

Let your puppy get used to his new collar for a bit. If this is the first time he has had on a collar, he may scratch at it or roll around and try to get it off. This is normal, so just talk softly to him and assure him everything is all right. You may want to give him a treat and play with him and a favorite toy for a few minutes. When you are ready to start with the leash, carry your puppy to a large open area or outside, where you have plenty of room to walk around. Attach the leash when you set the puppy down, and try walking a few steps. Your puppy may jump right in step with you and accept the leash right away. If he does, praise him greatly and give him a treat because you are very lucky. Chances are, when your puppy feels the pressure of the leash he is going to balk.... pull and struggle back, and he may even lay down and refuse to budge. Don't drag your puppy with the leash, just give him a small tug, then let up the tension, and call him to you. Keep up the tug and release until he takes a few steps toward you, then praise him and give him a treat. Take a few more steps and see if he follows. If not, continue the tug/release and calling him to you until he moves toward you again. Then, praise and treat. Work with your puppy for about fifteen to twenty minutes on this, and end it with a great deal of praise and treats, then go have some play time.

Be consistent, work with your puppy on the leash training everyday. I suggest only fifteen to twenty minutes each session. This is an amount of time that anyone can usually fit into even the busiest schedule, and adequate enough to keep your puppy's attention, and not become too boring for him. You should start seeing some major progress by the third day, and at the end of a week, your puppy should be accepting of the leash and following you without balking. If it is taking a little longer, don't be alarmed, just be patient and the puppy will catch on very soon. When he is accustomed to being on the leash, and doesn't perceive it as a threat any longer, it is time to begin the "Heeling" lesson, which we will start next week.

I would like to share a cute story this week from my days of obedience classes. I raised several breeds of larger dogs for a good many years and also taught simple home obedience classes during that time. My classes were one day a week, for ten weeks and the cost was ten dollars a week. I started with house training, went through leash training, heel, sit, lay and stay. The class time was for demonstration, and return demonstration with dog and owner, then I sent a written handout to help reinforce the practices. I used my Great Dane stud dog.. nicknamed Brutus as the demonstrator dog. I usually had between twenty to twenty-five dog and owner couples in each class. Normally, I had all adults, but occasionally did have a child or two in several of the classes.

In this particular class I had only one child, this sweet little six year old girl with the cutest basset hound puppy. She was an only child, quite spoiled, but polite and really big for six. Her Mom was divorced, having a real hard time financially and now had another responsibility and mouth to feed with the puppy. The little girl said she got $5 a week allowance from her dad, and could only keep the puppy if he was trained to behave, so we agreed to do the classes for half price, which ended up being a bargain for me. Also, the entertainment this little girl and her puppy gave the whole class was well worth the discount.

Everyone in the class fell in love with this chubby little girl... pig tails and berets all over her head, talking with a very southern drawl, and the basset hound pup.. rounder than he was tall on the shortest stubbiest legs, ears dragging the ground, and enough loose skin to fit several more dogs into. They certainly kept things lively for us each week.

She called me "Miss Rhonda" and called Brutus "Big Brutus." She and the basset hound puppy made the first four classes and aced them. "Walking on leash day" was when they ran into a few little problems though. I let her take Brutus around a few times to get the feel, while I worked with her puppy. I gave her a few pointers, told her to work with her puppy everyday on the leash, be very nice and gentle, but keep encouraging him.

Next week rolled around.... the basset hound pup was walking on leash really well.. but I noticed he had some patches of hair missing. I looked a little closer and his head and back were scuffed up, the bottoms of his ears had sores on them, and all the hide and hair was gone from the tops of his toes on all four feet. I ask the little girl what happened to her puppy. Her mother just rolled her eyes and said "Christina, tell Miss Rhonda what happened to Scooby Do.

The little girl was standing with one hand on her hip, and the other one holding the leash of a very attentive and watchful Scooby Do. She cocked her head to one side, and rolled her eyes back at her mother. Then with that adorable East Texas drawl said " Weelll, I was walkin' Scooby ever' day like you said to, and givin' him lots of "courage". I drunk me three glasses of green kool aide one day, cause it was hot outside, and then me and Scooby went walkin'. He did real good, and we walked a long way on the blacked top road. On the way back, I had to piss reeeeeaaal bad. My Moma says I "kaint" stop and piss in the grass anymore like Scooby does or she'll tan my little hide good. I told Scooby real nice we had to hurry up, but I guess I "couraged" him too fast."

We all nearly busted, trying not to laugh at her. Her mother, now embarrassed, said she was sitting on the porch watching for them to come back from their walk. When she saw them, the little girl was in a run, the puppy's little short legs were scrambling, he was tripping over his ears, and was pretty much rolling at the end of the leash behind her.

This little girl and her dog gave us many more laughs, and a few tears in the weeks to come. Scooby Do's ears healed nicely, all his hair grew back, and his leash edict was perfect. Christina swore off green kool aide before long walks, and said "I need to be excused" (in place of her previous words),and she learned the meaning of and how to pronounce the word encouragement.

On graduation night it was a unanimous vote that the congeniality trophy went to Scooby Do and Christina. They were also given the good safety award for walking on leash without further incident through the remainder of the training program. The class secretly took up a collection and we gave a special prize of $100 and two fifty pound sacks of dog food for the youngest graduate.

Well, gang, we are half way through our lessons. I hope that they have been a helpful tool for you in the training of your dog so far. Invite your friends to join us here at Take Care of Your Dog.com, and take a few minutes to click on contact at the home page and say hello to our web site host, Jeanette.

Feel free to contact me with any comments or concerns at _easttxnurse320@aol.com_ (mailto:easttxnurse320@aol.com). Have a glorious day, and remember to spend some time with your dog today. Thanks,

Rhonda Erickson