The Short Walk

He needs more exercise.  

Yes.

However, if you are trying for leash-manners, that may not include a long walk.  If your walk looks like a wrestling match, or your pup is attempting to run the Iditarod with you in tow, then perhaps that is not the right kind of exercise.   There is not a lot of mental strain for a dog who isn't focusing on any behaviors that you ask of him.  He is in a reactionary state--he is simply Doing, instead of Thinking.  So how do we create a Thinker?

Begin by removing the "OH MY GAWD SHE HAS MY LEASH IN HER HAND!!!!" insanity that most dogs show you.  

They do this because every time you pick that leash up, you take him somewhere.  Pick the leash up, ignore him losing his mind, carry the leash around 'til he calms down, put the leash back on the peg...Now repeat until the dog looks at you with "Liar, we're not doing anything fun" written on his face.

Graduate to clipping the leash to  him and just letting him drag it around until he stops freaking out.  By breaking the process down in the manner, you will eventually get a dog who can Sit quietly for you to take out the leash, put it on, and now we go outside.

But before we try to go for an actual walk, maybe he needs to figure out how to follow you in the house.  Your house is boring to your dog.  I mean, we do the best we can.  We provide them with stuff to do; things to chew, treats to gain for tricks, etc, but they know every little corner.  Every smell is familiar, and there are no squirrels (wait...you have squirrels???) so it's easier to keep his focus on you. 

If you have an exceptionally wired pup, and you've gotten him to the boring stage, but every time you pick up the leash to try the next step, he loses it....that's ok.  You can either just stand there not making eye contact, and not talking to him until he relaxes, or you can drop the leash and walk away from him when he loses his mind.  I'm not at all kidding when I say that sometimes you have to break things down in to micro-bites of success for a hyper-pup.

Furniture makes great obstacles for you to walk around.  If your dog tries to get in front of you, simply go a different direction.  When you catch him in the right place--either just next to your leg with his head (not shoulders--you should be able to make both left and right turns without bumping in to him; meaning he is actually following you) reward him for being in the right place.  Treat him.  Feeding him while he is in the right position, and going the other way when he tries to lead you, starts to teach him what you want.  

"But Rose, I don't use treats.  My dog should listen to me because I am his Master.  And besides, he doesn't really like food rewards."  OK, then use LOTS of praise, and pet him on the ribcage (head can be over-stimulating) and be patient.  

Doing this leash practice in a non-stimulating environment makes this process go so quickly.  Even on a "crazy dog."  

Ok, are you ready to try this outside?  Boom! Everything you just taught him flew away and he thinks yanking you around is the thing to do. 

I watched a great video years ago (can't find it...i'm sorry) where this British trainer was teaching two insane labs to walk like polite pups on the leash.  When he reached the point of taking them outdoors, it took the yellow one more than 30 re-tries before she walked out the door at less than Mach-9.  My point is, be patient.  Very patient.  You may need to pull that pup back indoors a thousand times before they figure out the only way they are going through that door is nicely.

She got a piece of bratwurst for finally doing it right.  Tail wagging, they tried it again, and she was happily looking up at him...knowing that the reward was coming, and what was expected of her.

Shew, you made it outside.  Here's the short walk:  Do the exact same thing you taught him in your house, with the furniture.  Go up and down your driveway.  If you are doing well, maybe try two houses down, two houses back.  Use the trees.  Use the parked cars.  If you live in an apartment on the third floor, use the hallway and the stairs (be careful; stairs can be hell on canine knees) to illustrate that you are willing to do this a million times.

Ten minutes of quality walking practice in the driveway is more value for his mental stimulation, than a couple miles of reactionary out-of-control pulling you through the neighborhood.

You are going for quality over mileage.  Cuz' guess what?  You have a yard, or a long-line, that you can burn off some of that physical energy with, prior to your training session.  I suggest beginning and ending a training session with play.

Dogs live for play.  If they don't get to do fun things, they will choose what fun things they will do.  That means ignoring you.  Incorporate play into your training sessions too.  For those of you who give me the "we don't use food" I say Play More!!!  If you are using food, add Play as a supplemental reward. 

When my pup does something right, and he gets both a snack, and a chance to play with his friend (me) and we are jumping around and acting like fools together, he knows he has done the right thing for sure.  Be happy for them!  Show them they are great!  

There are exceptions to every rule.  You may try all these things and still feel like it's not working.  Contact a good Teacher and schedule a session to evaluate your unique situation.  Maybe your pup is not wearing the right piece of equipment for his individual personality.  

You may have a dog who does get over-stimulated when you incorporate excited play...that is a different conversation.

Your rescue pup may not be emotionally capable of what you are asking yet. 

Or maybe you are not physically able to jump around with him, that's OK.  There are levels of excitement that can work for everyone...you just have to be patient and figure out what works best for you and your pup.

So take those Short Walks.  

The "S" Word....

...No, not that one.

I'd like to talk about shock collars.

Now,  before y'all get righteous on me,  we aren't going to dissect how you may feel about their use in "training."  We are not going to get into whether or not you may feel they are abusive. Or if you think they're wonderful.

We are briefly going to talk about the automatic bark- control variety of these electronic collars.

We are going to simply share two things:

One;  those things pack a punch.  Most run of the mill,  bought-it-online or the-guy-at-petschmo said it was their bestseller collars are WAY too strong for your dog.

Two; very few people who strap these things to their animals read anything about what this can do to them behaviorally, or physically.

They don't follow the instructions past how to charge it, or how long you "should" leave this on your animal.

How does a long-haired coat, or a double-coat effect this tool?

Should your pet be unsupervised in this collar?

The collar itself (not the shock-box) is usually made of weather-proof, strong, plastic material, and Does Not Have a Quick Release,  or Safety Breakaway.... how many dogs are wearing these alone to chase squirrels in the backyard?

Or to wrestle with other dog friends? Have you ever witnessed a dog with its jaw hung up in another dogs collar?

Ok,  I lied... we are going to talk about a third thing.  If you aren't comfortable with gross pictures,  I suggest you read this, but do not look at the photos at the end.

The pictures are of two different dogs, from two different families.  They were the second and third victims to come to the same hospital facility in the same week. They came in on the same day,  not even hours apart. The first dog (not pictured) was in even worse shape.

The dogs have infected wounds on their throats from bark collars.  The collars were cinched tight (cannot get good connection with the electrode points unless it is snug)  and were not checked, or removed daily.  The collars obviously did not silence these dogs, as these wounds are from electric burns.  The infection is due to the electrode points sitting on those burns for a long time.

Most likely these humans did not know the collars weren't keeping them quiet, because these dogs were most likely left alone wearing them.

In the first photo,  you will notice the dog has four burn points.  One set looks a little less gooey than the other.  This tells me the collar burn was noticed, and the box was moved and re-cinched, or the dog managed to scratch the collar hard enough to change the contact point's position at one time.

The dog not pictured? The technicians who witnessed the removal of the collar described it as an open hole with "stringy puss" as they peeled the box out of the dog's neck.

The dog pictured :  The infected area expands almost two inches in any direction around those green goo filled contact point holes.

I know life is busy.  It's Christmas for goodness sake.  You've got family in town.  Babies to put down for a nap. People and places to be at and entertain with, but seriously???

If you choose to strap a heavy electric shock to your pet,  I would hope you have shocked yourself at least once at whatever level you have set it at for your dog (not kidding,  bark collars are the worst! Ow).  

I also hope you have decided after reading this, to check that thing.  Take it off your friend for at least 12 hours a day (close the dog door if it's a barking at night problem).

Move it around every few hours,  and change the collar type to breakaway for safety (you're not supposed to clip a leash to them anyway).

Or even better, figure out why your dog is barking and start working on that.  What kind of personality does your dog have?  Is he bored?  Does he spend all day in the backyard, with nothing but barking to do?

There are so many alternatives to this method of attempting to silence your pup's annoying mouth.  Maybe reaching out to a good Professional Teacher (of the dog-specializing variety) would be a good place to start.....

*pictures are below, keep scrolling....