Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Gentle Leader - loose leash walking continued

EDIT: I just want to make it clear I am only using this as a training tool and will not become 100% reliant on gentle leader! I want to combine this with clicker training. 
 
So after one of my posts last week - pup pup had tons of energy and couldn't focus on loose leash walking! It was a very frustrating training session. Until I realized DUH - she's a puppy! She has tons of energy right now! She needs exercise before she can focus!

So I went out and got the gentle leader. I got it for my dog I had as a puppy about ten years ago. It worked like a miracle.

I decided to get it because there are some nights when my puppy just needs to get out and exercise. This allows her to get plenty of exercise and practice loose leash walking. There are times when puppy is relaxed and will loose leash no problem. And then there are times when she has a ton of energy.

Last week, when puppy had all that energy - our training session wasn't a complete loss. Oh no, not at all. Lucy realized that if she pulled on the leash we wouldn't going anywhere. She realized that as soon as she calmed down, sat, and looked at me I would click and we would begin walking again. So she was learning to refocus on me. But she had so much energy it was truly hard for her to calm down and focus. And it was frustrating for the both of us because it was a beautiful evening and all that either of us wanted to do was go on a walk.

So this is why I have purchased the gentle leader. As a temporary training tool. It gets the message across beautifully to the dog without the process of stopping every two feet when pup pup starts getting crazy excited. I've used it before and it just worked so well and was only a temporary training tool.

I really like the clicker because it makes the dog think about what the desired behavior is. And I will continue to use it for loose leash walking and other stuff. Really my puppy is really good most of the time. It's just that as her legs get longer, her energy crazier and never ending - I feel like the Gentle Leader is my best tool because it allows us to go on a walk with fewer interruptions. Thoughts/suggestions anyone?

And to finish it off, here are some pictures of Lucy at 18 weeks:





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