Indoor Winter Training, Part II
February in Minnesota, Part II,Now that you are walking your dog - If they are still thinking that they are charge of the walk, now is the time to get that under control, and take over the role as the pack leader. One way to do this is when walking slow down, and before I go on I want to talk about what a true slow down is...
...the softer the dog the faster they slow down for us, but not all dogs will want to play follow the leader. Some still want to be the leader, for these dogs it can take a bit more time, but is it very rewarding when they get it right.
When we slow down this often means come to a complete STOP! With a softer dog that may be enough, but not all dogs are soft in that manner. For the others that are stronger willed we MUST stop and wait until they connect with us, listen to us, make eye contact and RELAX! That is the big word, relax... then and only then can we move on. The softer the dog, the faster we can move on and the stronger willed the dog the longer our stop may be .. and that's OK .. remember it's still cold outside and we have the time to be patient.
Until next month, enjoy training!
