Monster Re-Do

Okay, she's not really a monster, but Whimsy is about to hit the two year mark, and she still jumps on people, pulls when on-lead, and doesn't have even the beginning of a reliable stay. She is, in one little word, spoiled.  It's not that she doesn't know ANY commands.  She knows the things we need on our daily walks - "wrong way" (handy when she goes off the path to sniff something, and I don't want the leash to tangle around a tree), "not there" (no peeing on other people's front lawns), wait at corners, sit, "out of the street" (she is fascinated with storm drains).  It's the basics she doesn't know, but really, I have a very good reason.

Although Whimsy is about as happy as a dog can be these days, she arrived at my door a 4 month old puppy with a poor prognosis for survival.  Her first few months were hell, and I frequently wondered if by saving her I had really done her any favors or if the thought of putting her down was just too much for me to bear.  I'm glad we soldiered through, because it's only been the last few months that she's grown hair and been doing really well, Whimsy is now a friendly, confident girl who loves everyone and is probably the smartest, most willing dog I've ever shared my life with.  Ah, yes, the world is her oyster.

This week I finally followed my own advice and put Whimsy on a training program.  We're starting with the things that are the most annoying - pulling on lead and jumping on people.  We'll probably work a few sit-stays in, too.

I have a friend coming over, and more waiting in the wings, to help with the jumping. She's all prepped on what to do.  Cross her arms and turn her back, no eye contact, no talking, until Whimsy is standing politely, at which time my friend can say "Hello".  The minute she jumps, my friend will turn her back again.  Tomorrow we'll start over with a different friend.  Good thing I have lots of friends willing to help!  Eventually, Whimsy will learn to sit politely and offer a paw when asked to say hello. For right now, keeping all four on the floor is plenty good.

We're also working for 10 - 15 minutes at a time, three times a day, on leash walking, with a few sit-stays thrown in to mix things up a little. Eventually we'll work on "Heel".  Right now, I just want her to walk nicely without pulling.  That's a lot to ask, with squirrels, and birds, and interesting trash here and there.  Oh, and all the wonderful people to say hello to!  Right now, it's slow.  We walk, with lots of praise, until she starts to pull.  As soon as she does, I turn, tapping my leg and encouraging her to follow.  These aren't the kind of walks where you actually get anywhere.  We have yet to make it around the block.  But she is learning. I need to do far less turns, and she's starting to keep a bit of an eye on where I am.  Until she has this down, I'll be using my flexi-lead more often, since it has a very different feel to her than her regular lead.  I'll use this when I actually need to get somewhere and would like to take her along.  Since I rarely leave the house without at least one dog in tow, this will be happening a lot in the near future. The reason I do this is to lessen her confusion.  I don't have the time or the inclination to turn every walk into a manners lesson.  For now, when she's on the flexi I won't worry too much about what how she's walking.  Once she has a clearer grasp of what I expect of her, and walks nicely at least 80% of the time, the flexi-lead will once again be relegated to its former role of handling the walks in the park, for now, it's indispensable.

I chose this particular method of polite leash walking because Whimsy is a happy, willing dog who, unlike her "brother", Tug, really wants to do what you ask of her. I just want to channel the happy energy, not quash it, since it's not over the top. And really, it's hard to be firm when you're looking at a face like this:

Comments

[Debbies Dog Clothes]

I've used a chocker lease to help me when I walk my dogs.