Retract that retractable:
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
People walk their dog’s everyday, this is a great because exercise is important for your dog both physically and mentally. But here are some questions to ask your self: Are the walks with your dog more frustrating and exhausting for you? Does your dog pull you at the end of the leash down the street? Are you being dragged as your dog sniffs or when they see another dogs, people, rabbits and squirrels?
Walking nicely on a leash is a big request for a dog trainer from many of our clients. People grumble about how terrible their dog is while out on walks. My question is usually: “what kind of a leash do you use on your walk?” Nine times out of ten it’s a retractable. The reply is normally something like; “I want them to get exercise and have some freedom”. So there you have it, freedom for them to do as they will and exercise for your bicep.
I’m not anti retractable, but I do believe that training a dog to first walk nicely would be the ideal situation and then add the retractable. Dogs are like kids; give an inch take a yard and expecting anything more, well then we learn the hard way. By putting your dog on the retractable and then allowing them to have the full extent of the leash, sends the wrong message. For you Caesar followers: The leader leads the pack that should be you. Victoria followers: carry peanut butter on a spoon. My philosophy: Train the dog to recall to your side, they should know how to walk nicely, then when it’s all clear, release them to explore, this way it can be fun for the both of you. An uncontrolled dog is a safety factor for you, your dog and the community around you.
The problem with an untrained dog on a retractable is that you can’t gain control because they’re to far out front of you. Then the big “no no” happens, the dog sees another dog, then pulls, while the owner is being dragged behind yelling to the other dog owner…” it’s ok he’s friendly”. Yikes! This can really be a very dangerous situation and this puts you, your dog, and the other party at risk.
To begin to train your dog, place your dog on an 8 foot lead, allow them to venture out and then call them back to you, “come” when they arrive, give them something of great value. Whenever introducing a dog to a new task, we must reinforce the new behavior to get a continued positive response. You will get more motivation from your dog by using this technique as oppose to dragging or choking them on the leash. Forcing something that is a non learned behavior really isn’t very fair to the dog.
Once your dog can recall back to you, then lead them out for 2-3 steps at your side and then release them with a word of your choice. As your dog begins to understand that they only need to return for a moment or so, then you can begin to extend the steps and build from there. If they try to zip ahead before the release, “ahh ah ah”, recall them back to your side “come” and after a few steps “walk nice”, “release” and off they go. If you practice this once or twice daily for 10 -15 minutes for two weeks, I’ll bet you, you’ll be happy with the results. Happy trails.
Dogs 4 Life Training and Wellness
Christine Johnson