Mollie is always on the move but that doesn't mean she shouldn't move in a nice polite and controlled manner. It's uncomfortable walking a dog who is pulling at the leash and it can sometimes cause physical damage to the dog and the owner. In order to teach a dog how to walk politely on the leash we have to reward them when the are in the correct position (right next the seam of your pants) and not reward them when they are in the incorrect position (ahead of you, off to the side or behind you). This can be tricky because it's important to reward precisely when they are in the correct position. It is easy to inadvertently reward her for incorrect positioning.
Walking ahead of you is rewarding to the dog. If it's allowed, it's like giving them a cookie for pulling on the leash. We definitely don't want to reward that behavior. So a good rule to follow is, you only move forward when she is walking nicely beside you. As soon as she moves ahead, stop.
Encourage her to return to you and, when she is walking nicely with you for a few steps, begin rewarding her again.
When she is in the learning phase, make sure her practice sessions are in a low distraction environment. She won't get much learning done if she can't focus. Exercise ahead of time well help quite a bit too.
One of the nice things about exercise is that it's a great time to teach as well. When Mollie is playing with other puppies, I make sure that I am right there to intervene right away if needed. If one of the dogs is playing too rough, I need to step in and tell them to settle. If one dog is pinning the other for more than a few seconds, I need to intervene. Sometimes the dog on the bottom can get frustrated by being pinned. Sometimes they are ok with it. But you don't want the dog on top to get too full of herself. In our relationships with dogs, we want to be good leaders. They should look to us to step in when needed and teach them appropriate behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment