raechiemay
Well-Known Member
A small vent & a big brag...
So yesterday I decided to take Duchess for a walk with my parents lab mix. Walk started out ok but they were competing & pulling me hard. I had just got them under control when a jogger & another dog came up behind us. Duchess in a fit of rage jumped over bailey, charged the other dog & in the process pulled me down to the ground giving me a nice little road rash on my forearm & jacked up my knee. I had bailey on a harness & Duch on a nylon collar.
I was pissed at her even though it was mostly my fault for not doing a better job training her. So as soon as Petsmart opened this morning I went & got a pinch collar. Surprisingly I had to take out 3 links to get it to fit properly. I swear it was like a switch went off in her head. She knew exactly what she needed to do. I walked her alone this time & she had the most beautiful heel I've ever seen. No pulling whatsoever. We had 2 hiccups, one with an African American man, she turned into a bucking bronco, choked herself & took less than a second to realize she wasn't able to break away from me. The 2nd incident was when a lab broke away from it's owner. Duchess went to lunge towards the dog, I blocked it, put her in a sit & used the leave it command. The other owner came & got their dog, apologizing & I just said it was ok. No harm done that time. The rest of the walk went well. I'd put her in a sit as people approached & used the leave it command when she would start to growl. It worked very well. Now for questions, does it sound like I'm going about this the right way? Also which side should I walk her on? I have been walking her on the side furthest away from other people out on the trails. I had a lot of people comment on how beautiful she was, how well trained she was & I just had to giggle. I've been slacking in getting her stubborn toddler stage under control & I thought with the weather being as gorgeous as it's been, why not today. Other than that we walked & jogged a little for approx 5 miles. It was about 2 hours. Maybe a little more. She seemed to handle the exercise fine so I'm not particularly worried about her having any issues there. Oh & I must say I am very proud of the parents of the 3 small children who didn't allow their kids to just run up to duchess & jam their hands in her face. Not very often I see people with well behaved kids when it comes to large dogs.
So yesterday I decided to take Duchess for a walk with my parents lab mix. Walk started out ok but they were competing & pulling me hard. I had just got them under control when a jogger & another dog came up behind us. Duchess in a fit of rage jumped over bailey, charged the other dog & in the process pulled me down to the ground giving me a nice little road rash on my forearm & jacked up my knee. I had bailey on a harness & Duch on a nylon collar.
I was pissed at her even though it was mostly my fault for not doing a better job training her. So as soon as Petsmart opened this morning I went & got a pinch collar. Surprisingly I had to take out 3 links to get it to fit properly. I swear it was like a switch went off in her head. She knew exactly what she needed to do. I walked her alone this time & she had the most beautiful heel I've ever seen. No pulling whatsoever. We had 2 hiccups, one with an African American man, she turned into a bucking bronco, choked herself & took less than a second to realize she wasn't able to break away from me. The 2nd incident was when a lab broke away from it's owner. Duchess went to lunge towards the dog, I blocked it, put her in a sit & used the leave it command. The other owner came & got their dog, apologizing & I just said it was ok. No harm done that time. The rest of the walk went well. I'd put her in a sit as people approached & used the leave it command when she would start to growl. It worked very well. Now for questions, does it sound like I'm going about this the right way? Also which side should I walk her on? I have been walking her on the side furthest away from other people out on the trails. I had a lot of people comment on how beautiful she was, how well trained she was & I just had to giggle. I've been slacking in getting her stubborn toddler stage under control & I thought with the weather being as gorgeous as it's been, why not today. Other than that we walked & jogged a little for approx 5 miles. It was about 2 hours. Maybe a little more. She seemed to handle the exercise fine so I'm not particularly worried about her having any issues there. Oh & I must say I am very proud of the parents of the 3 small children who didn't allow their kids to just run up to duchess & jam their hands in her face. Not very often I see people with well behaved kids when it comes to large dogs.