Can you believe it? We’re halfway through the week already! How are your daily walks going?! Yesterday we talked about ways to interrupt your dog’s pulling while actually on the walk, did you try it? How did it go? Remember, we likely won’t see immediate results, but with repetition through this week and beyond, you’ll be amazed at what a thoughtful and structured walk can do!
That being said, if you’re still struggling, let’s take it a step back. Part of what excites your dog is his new surroundings. All the smells, sounds and sights to take in can make it hard to focus. If you’re finding that you’re frustrated and making no progress outside, let’s bring it back inside.
Practice your basic obedience and the new ‘wait’ and ‘look’ command inside, or in your own backyard. Pair this with the frequent direction changes and rewarding your dog for loose leash walking and you’re more likely to get the same behaviors outside of their comfort zone.
Again, this isn’t an overnight fix, it’s helpful to work on this a little bit every day before your walk, or in the morning and in the evenings for 10 minutes or so. The nice thing about dogs is that they don’t want to be drilled for 2 hours every day. They get bored, lose their focus, and just plain tune you out. So when you break the training sessions into bite sized pieces throughout your day, you’ll see improvements in no time.
Don’t forget to check in with yourself and make sure you are staying calm and breathing. Don’t stop taking your walks to work on these things. Remember we are going for progress over perfection and your dog loves you for showing up every day!
