Dog walking

Hi JIlly

I have two large lurchers, one of whom is a terror for chasing anything that moves and is quite capable of pulling me over. I didn't lead walk my dogs by myself for several months after THR because of this, but now use a headcollar (a bit like a horse bridle) for him which stops him pulling so badly when he sees something interesting. It took  a few goes to get him used to wearing it, but he knows it means a walk now so is quite happy to have it put on. 

I can't mention tradenames on here, but any petshop or your vet should be able to point you in the right direction.

Hope this helps

sjhips

I'm still stuck in bed and barley walking but by all means get a leader collar to control the dog! Never use a retractable lead! I have seen people hurt very bad when the dog quickly bolts and then gets to the end of the line.

My dog is currently enjoying getting into my garbage and walking right by me knowing I cant do anything about it!

It probably depends on your dog. Mine is well trained and doesn't pull on the leash much. Even though she's around 60lbs. (27kg), she's easy to handle. I've been walking her since week 4. She's a great walking companion and she pushes me to get out and walk! The harness (lead) has a lot to do with it especially if you have a puller. It would be a good idea to invest in a good one if that is an issue.

Hi Cormacrobert (and Jillypops)

I have to say I think a harness is a very BAD idea in our situation if you have a dog that pulls. A harness allows the dog to put its full strength into pulling from the shoulder - that's why sled dogs and carthorses wear harnesses. A head collar is the only way to deal with a dog that pulls on the lead - apart from training of course. As the dog pulls to chase a target, the head collar turns its head away to the side which breaks the dog's pulling force and also its concentration on the target. You are lucky to have a well trained dog - my rescue lurchers are beyond all hope, they have been bred to hunt.

I am lucky i have a very obedient Jack Russel,  he walks to heel off the lead so was never a problem.  My biggest problem is hills!!  Everywhere we walk there are hills, it has been quite a challenge. 

Hope you find a solution

Chris

Dear Jilly

I have had a number of Border Collies and Welsh Sheepdogs for over thirty-five years and trained them all as working dogs so hopefully what I am going to suggest will have some credibility.

Border Collies are usually so easy to train and mine used to respond reliably to about thirty commands.   So as long as your b***h is not very old you should have no problem having her fully under control.  Consistency is the number one thing when dog training.   Have her on a strong lead and collar that you can let out to twenty feet but to start with let her get a few feet ahead of you and ask her firmly to stop or whatever command you have taught her to do this..   If she ignores you try again but this time as you give her the stop command give a very sharp and strong yank on the lead.   After a few times of this she will listen to your request to stop.   Once she is reliably stopping then steadily extend the distance.  Only extend the distance once she is reliably responding to you.   Praise her ONLY if she dos what you ask her to do.   You will in a day or two have a dog that you can rely on to behave on the lead.

Now you need to work on her being reliable off the lead.  My last Welsh Sheepdog was really had work to train off the lead and this is how I succeeded with her.      I had her on a normal short lead and I simply draped the lead over her shoulders and walked off with her beside me and kept giving her command to stop stay walk on etc and all the time she thought that she was still on the lead. It was not too long before she was working at a distance reliably and soon after this she was reliable without the lead attached.

 I was able to take a couple of dogs out with me within a few days when I had my first hip  replacement done but with my recent revision sadly I have not had dogs for a couple of years and miss them terribly.

BTW if you do not know this an easy way to train a dog such as Border Collie is to do this.  Prepare yourself with words for those new commands you want to teach her.   If you want for example to teach her to get up watch for the sign that she is about to get up and give the command as she does it.   A command comprising two words such as get up is more effective than up because the first word prepares her for the second part of the command. It's very easy to teach her to spend a penny on command or anything else for that matter.    A useful tip is to talk quietly to your dog when giving commands when they are close by so that they have to listen to you. This is not possible when doing the initial lead training when you need to let her know that you are in command.

Oh golly that's quite enough....it makes me feel I want to go and get another pup to train!

Cheers

Richard