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
Lessons #1
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Walmart!! A great place to shop online. Enter the item you want to search for and click find.
