Wednesday, January 8, 2014

First loose leash walking lesson in months

So tonight we did 20 minutes off leash walking. And then I put Lucy on the leash while buddy was off leash. At first she only wanted to run after buddy. The leash was super taut and I remained motionless for probably a couple minutes. Then she finally focused back on me came and sat by side. Click and treat. Step forward she would try to dart forward again. And then awhile later she would relax. Sit and come back to my side. Click and treat.

Then we got into a rhythm of 5-7 steps of her walking slow like I was, click and treat while walking. 

Then she got distracted and bored. Patience. A few minutes later, back into the same rhythm.

Lucy is definitely a puppy that needs to learn impulse control. But it's gonna take patience and persistence on my part!! January we will be working on lots of recall while on lead and loose leash walking!

The exercise, while painstakingly slow it seemed, took probably only 20-25 minutes out of the hour long walk.

I've been very consistent recently walking the dogs everyday as well. I think regular walks are a huge part of building trust with the dogs. It makes them happy and balanced. 

I'm really excited to work on this stuff. And I've gotten super excited about introducing the dog whistle as a training tool to teach recall as well.

All in good time!

And as for day 3 of introducing gentle leader... Lucy still isn't a huge fan. Lol.... Haven't even attached the leash yet. We'll see on that one.

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