Some people have revelations about themselves. Some people have revelations about their jobs. Some people have revelations
about neuroscience. I always knew I was
different …
I just had a revelation about dogs.
Follow me here:
Dogs pulling on their leashes during walks is a ridiculously annoying and common problem that almost all dog owners have. It’s frustrating, embarrassing and causes stress during what should be a fun, calm daily routine. In fact, even the best owners have trouble with this:
“No matter how many times I give a correction, no matter what leash, collar or harness combination I use, he still pulls. I’ve begun to think that he likes being choked! It’s no fun to walk him, and I hate to admit it, but our daily walks have turned into bi-weekly walks and his behavior has taken a turn for the worse. I have used everything from gentle leaders to prong collars and I just don’t know what to do. He’s stronger than me and he knows it. Help, please.”
I have even fallen prey to the leash woes. I would do the corrections when the dog would pass my knee, enforcing that there was an invisible line there that the dog was not allowed to cross. I had done the stop walking and turn in the other direction when the dog walks in front of you, thereby increasing the amount of time the dog follows you as opposed to the other way around. I had walked backwards when the dog pulled, then rewarded for eye contact and walking back towards me. They all worked or didn't work to their own degree. But today, I had an epiphany.
I was driving home from work and thinking about a dog that I had seen posted on FaceBook that is living chained to a doghouse in Gastonia, NC. This dog is not spayed, has already had puppies and the owner is giving it away, first-come-first-served style. (Fingers crossed that no backyard breeder or pitbull fighter sees her picture!) I thought to myself, “I bet she doesn’t put her head down and drive her shoulders forward, trying to pull the doghouse like she would a person if she were on a leash”. And the so-called light bulb went off.
What if, during walks, the leash was tied to an immovable object (or the dog thought was immovable)? What if, during walks, the leash was tied to me, as opposed to in my hand? What if, during walks, we walked together, as opposed to me walking them?
LET’S DO IT!
Using my regular 5 foot leash and one carabineer hook, I created a loop to go around my waist, then clipped the dog’s regular collar to the end of the leash. No harness, no special collar here, folks. I wanted to see how this works from square 1.
Now, Tucker is not a super-duper handful from the start, but he does pull when he wants to go greet or smell something. However, it was so much easier for him to understand what I wanted by having him attached to me. I also absolutely loved having both hands free to give commands, get the mail, treat for good behavior, etc., as well as not have to constantly be fixing, looping and stepping over the leash. I could feel the difference in the connection between us almost instantaneously.
So my new rules for walks are this:
You, canine, are now a part of me. We go together, we do together. Our walks will now be an adventure where nothing will slow us down or cause us to veer off course. If I stop to tie my shoe, you stop as well. If I get a sip from the water fountain, you stand next to me waiting your turn. You mimic me in all ways possible. We are a team. Where you used to get a few steps out of pulling before, all movement now ceases to exist and you will receive silent patience until you are back in position. We will conquer the streets together, turn every head we see with the confidence we exude, and then I will bring you to super fun places and let you off-leash to run free. K? Ready, set, BREAK.
 |
| My teammate is ready to go conquer the world with me!! |
I no longer walk my dogs, my dogs and I walk together!
We walk together to find new adventures, new friends and most of all,
to show the world that pitbulls ROCK!
