Walking Progress

We’ve had Mr Deuce for over a year now and have worked through a lot of his many issues. One issue that we haven't mastered, much to my dismay, is his constant pulling when we go for our walks. I’ve tried different leash and harness combinations in an effort to try and get him to walk beside me with a loose lead. Nothing seemed to work. I also read much on the subject and listened to other dog owner’s suggestions to no avail.

When we are in the house, Mr Deuce listens to me and does what he’s told. Huge progress has been made with his anxiety and trust issues with few exceptions. As soon as we leave the house though, I become invisible to him and he’s on a mission to sniff out everything and anything he comes near. My voice is muted and my actions have little effect.

I know that consistency is the key to dog training, so I had to make a decision to not give up on a method. I did my research and went with what I thought would be best for Mr Deuce’s personality. The first thing I did was loose the harness and choke collar combination I’d been using on him. I also threw out the idea of buying a pinch collar or a muzzle leash, determined only to use a short leash on his regular collar.

The first thing I did was to make Mr Deuce sit as I attached the leash to his collar. This was never practical when using the harness as he had to stand for me to clip it on. Next step was for me to walk out the door as he sits watching me until I say “okay”, then he can follow me outside. The next rule is that if he walks faster than me and pulls the leash tight, we stop and he has to sit for a minute. The first day we barely made it out of our yard, but each day afterwards he seemed to get a little bit better -- although some days were better than others.

It’s been over a week since we started this training regiment and Mr Deuce has made great progress. Tonight was the best night of all. We made it all the way to the library and I advanced his training a bit, tying his leash to a bike rack and taking a walk around the parking lot, while he sat like a good boy. Never has his attention been so focused on me!

So many times over the past week I’ve been ready to just give up and let him pull, but I persevered and I’m glad I did. It’s just one more step towards his total rehabilitation, leaving the first two brutal years of his life behind him, trusting that he is loved and has a good home for the rest of his life.