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Dec 6, 2007 8:00 am US/Eastern
Doggy Discipline: Walking Your Dog The Right Way
Puppies are cute, cuddly and untrained. If a puppy doesn't receive basic training then taking that leashed dog on a simple walk, isn't that simple. That's why it's important to train your pooch so it can become a well-behaved dog. The first step to training your dog is teaching it how to walk on a leash and that's where CBS4's Jade Alexander begins in her four part series "Doggy Discipline".
According to dog trainers, if you're the one who gets walked every day by your dog, then you're not doing yourself or the dog a favor.
The ritual of dogwalking is the beginning of a healthy bond between man and best friend. The problem is that the dog is usually the one in charge and that's a bad thing.
Rule #1 in training your four-legged companion to walk on a leash: Don't control the situation by pulling and tugging.
"The dog starts choking and gagging and they're going down the block being pulled all over the place and they don't realize how many things affect their relationship like that," says dog trainer Richard Heinz.
Often times, the dog ends up being a menace when it comes in contact with other dogs.
"From pulling back and trying to restrain the dog, from pulling forward to another dog, they start to cause dog aggression when the dog never had dog aggression before," according to Heinz.
If your dog pulls you all over the place and has no concept of staying with you, then the goal is to teach your dog that this is your walk and not theirs.
"No leading ahead of me, no dragging behind, no pulling off the sides, she needs to walk with me in a calm way, where I can hold the leash loose, have a nice walk and go on my way," said Heinz.
"I'm just going to walk, and she's going to go that way and I just turn and I start turning now all of a sudden she's starting to pay attention," said Heinz during a demonstration.
In other words, while walking, make unexpected left turns, right turns, zigzags then praise your dog when it follows.
By the second turn, Chloe the dog was alert and following Richard's lead. The key to this training exercise is to not jerk, yank, pull or right with your dog. The moment they drift, change the direction of your walk and your dog will eventually learn that they need to follow you and that you're in control.
"If I come up, she should stop even though she wants to go to you, but now I'm the focus and it's not about her lunging and jumping on someone else we come across and meet she knows she needs to be on me," said Richard.
