Annie is like a joyful, carefree youngster with a very independent spirit. You go one way, she wants to go the other. Today, we met our trainer in the park again – but we changed the day to Sunday, the busiest day in the park. Lots of people, people walking dogs, and cars – and also a flock of ducks in the pond. Our objectives were twofold: to work on her fear of meeting up with strange dogs and to train her to walk by our side on a loose lead.
Through the repetition of meeting up with several dogs and their owners along the way, she is making headway on being less fearful. A giant step, indeed. But, as far as walking by our side on a loose lead goes… it was simply a tug-of-war the entire way around the park. Our training tactic is to stop in place and stand like a tree when Annie pulls on the lead. When she loosens up on the lead, we start walking again. This is a common training technique. After a while, supposedly, the dog starts to realize that she can keep walking ahead as long as the lead remains loose… so she starts to respond appropriately. Not Annie, however. We began to see that Annie was enjoying the stops… she’d look around, checking things out; her nose working the entire time. (Annie, being an English Setter, is a Sporting Dog that hunts with her nose – and Annie has a very strong nose). So, indeed, it appeared to us that she was simply enjoying the go-stop, go-stop, go-stop walk all around the park.
When we had finished and were back to our cars, our trainer suggested that next lesson we drop back on the distractions. The loose lead walking needs to be isolated – to be worked on all on its own. Working on this inside our house, Annie is spot-on… there are absolutely no distractions – and she loves the work of training. So, our plan is to move out of the house, onto the road, walking just a short distance in front of the house. In addition, we will try a martingale collar, thus adding a bit more control, as opposed to the regular snap collar.
I must admit, I felt quite discouraged during the lesson – but after analyzing what we had been doing, then breaking it down and coming up with a plan of action, I felt more positive. Annie is a tough little cookie… It’s definitely not easy… but we will get there… baby steps all the way!
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