Walk
the Dog
By Devene Godau, Certified Pet Dog Trainer
www.woofology.com
We all
envision peaceful walks with our dogs by our side, gazing at us lovingly.
But in reality most dogs get so excited on walks that they simply pull
us around.
Don’t
despair! With practice and patience, you can teach your dog to walk
politely on lead. Take time now to train your dog to walk with a loose
leash and both of you will reap the rewards of spending time together,
getting both mental and physical stimulation.
To successfully
train your dog to do anything, you need to understand the number-one
rule in doggy world: behaviors that are reinforced will be repeated.
If your dog pulls on walks, the behavior is working for him or he wouldn’t
waste his time doing it! So every time he is allowed to pull, the behavior
is reinforced, so why should the behavior change?
With that
said, the first step toward training controlled walking is to stop taking
walks with your dog. On walks there are a ton of distractions such as
cats, squirrels, people, etc. You need to teach your dog what you expect
in an environment where he can learn. Typically this is at home. To
put this in perspective, you would never take your child to a playground
to learn algebra. The same goes for your dogs. They need to learn the
behavior before you add distractions.
The behavior
also needs to be broken down into small segments. The number-one reason
I see training fail is because people expect too much too soon from
their dogs.
Choose
appropriate rewards in order to build the behavior you want with positive
reinforcement. When on walks, your dog will be faced with some of the
most distracting things in life, so his rewards need to match his job.
If your dog stays with you when the neighbor’s cat crosses your
path, you should reward with something equally as exciting.
For the
next few weeks, focus on teaching your dog to keep a loose leash.
To start
your practice sessions, put your dog’s lead on and go to the end
of the leash. Don’t say anything, just wait. When he moves toward
you, putting slack in the leash, praise and offer a treat in the area
you would like him to ultimately walk. Keep doing this exercise until
your dog is hanging out next to you, watching you.
Work on
this exercise in a variety of locations: your living room, your garage,
the front yard, etc. The goal is to get the dog to understand that a
loose leash is rewarding no matter where they are. We also want them
to learn that you are the only reinforcement that pays off in their
environment. Even though that squirrel looks fun, if we prevent them
from chasing it, and reward them for paying attention to us, they will
eventually stop wasting their time on those distractions that don’t
pay off.
Next
issue: taking those first steps.
Animal
Protection Organizations Urge Shelters, Rescue Groups with Katrina Pets
to Extend Holding Time
The American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Humane Society
of the United States, United Animal Nations (UAN), and Best Friends
Animal Society are asking all animal shelters, breed rescue groups,
and others who are sheltering animal victims of Hurricane Katrina to
extend the hold period of those animals to allow for more family reunions
to occur.
Since Hurricane
Katrina struck, more than 8,000 dogs, cats, horses, livestock, and other
animals have been rescued in Louisiana and
Mississippi. More than 200 animal shelters in the U.S. and assorted
rescue groups agreed to take Katrina survivors into their care while
rescue operations are ongoing.
Under a
previous agreement, shelters expected to hold animals until October
15. That date was established early in the disaster response before
there was a clear understanding of the magnitude and complexity of the
rescue, relief, and reunion operation. Now, shelters, fosters, and other
groups are asked to hold the animals not less than 30 days from the
date the agency posted or edited the
animal’s photo on Petfinder’s website: http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/.
The national animal protection organizations are appealing to shelters
to extend the hold period until December 15 when possible.
The ASPCA
has released a document on foster recommendations that encourages all
groups holding Katrina pets to post photographs and related information
of those animals on Petfinder’s site: http://disaster.petfinder.com/emergency/
which has been the central location for rescued pet information.
Animal
shelters are also encouraged to commit staff and volunteers to navigate
the Petfinder site regularly for lost reports from owners who may match
animals in their possession. For the full text of the Katrina Foster
Recommendations, go to www.aspca.org.
“As
the rescue and recovery efforts draw to a close we are faced with the
daunting task of reuniting as many Katrina pets with their owners as
possible,” says Julie Morris, senior vice president of ASPCA National
Outreach. “As these pet owners’ lives have been completely
turned upside down, we would like to extend as a long a window as possible
for them to locate their pets.”
“We
especially want to encourage the American public to support local animal
shelters in this difficult time, by assisting their efforts to reunite
animals with those who have lost them,” says John Snyder, senior
director of The HSUS’s companion animals section. “There's
no better moment to find out what needs your local shelters have as
they respond together to this unprecedented crisis.” |
