One of Tommy's first homework assignments was to learn to walk on a leash without pulling. Tommy had to learn to walk beside us and not out in front pulling as hard as he could. This was a difficult assignment as Tommy's punishment for pulling was an "about face" during which we would suddenly turn and start walking in the opposite direction and Tommy would get yanked around. Now, Tommy is a very small dog. Currently he is 7 1/2 Ibs. so whenever he came to the end of the leash running at full speed he would often go spinning through the air or get pulled on his back or even do a cartwheel. You should have seen us outside a little while ago. We were out in the park practicing his walking and he was just going everywhere. It ran like a bad comedy movie where instead of seeing the bad stuff happening you watch people's faces as they cringe and then cringe again.
We finally discovered that Tommy doesn't give a flying flip (pun intended) about the "about face" maneuver but he hates getting a shot of water to the face. So, instead of doing the "about face" we say, "NO!" and spray his face with water from a water bottle. Tommy got that almost immediately. For the whole trip around the park Tommy walked beside us and NOT in front of us! He would even catch himself getting ahead and would do a stutter step in order to slow down. He's such a good puppy!
I'm quite relieved as the next obedience class is tomorrow and I didn't want Tommy to fail his first homework assignment! Unfortunately, he'll probably only get a B- for the second part of his assignment which was the "puppy push-ups" He'll go down into the "lay down" position but he still won't go into the "sit" position from the "lay down" position. C'est la vie. We can't always get everything right despite being over-achievers, ay?
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tommy learns to walk with a leash
One of Tommy's first homework assignments was to learn to walk on a leash without pulling. Tommy had to learn to walk beside us and not out in front pulling as hard as he could. This was a difficult assignment as Tommy's punishment for pulling was an "about face" during which we would suddenly turn and start walking in the opposite direction and Tommy would get yanked around. Now, Tommy is a very small dog. Currently he is 7 1/2 Ibs. so whenever he came to the end of the leash running at full speed he would often go spinning through the air or get pulled on his back or even do a cartwheel. You should have seen us outside a little while ago. We were out in the park practicing his walking and he was just going everywhere. It ran like a bad comedy movie where instead of seeing the bad stuff happening you watch people's faces as they cringe and then cringe again.
We finally discovered that Tommy doesn't give a flying flip (pun intended) about the "about face" maneuver but he hates getting a shot of water to the face. So, instead of doing the "about face" we say, "NO!" and spray his face with water from a water bottle. Tommy got that almost immediately. For the whole trip around the park Tommy walked beside us and NOT in front of us! He would even catch himself getting ahead and would do a stutter step in order to slow down. He's such a good puppy!
I'm quite relieved as the next obedience class is tomorrow and I didn't want Tommy to fail his first homework assignment! Unfortunately, he'll probably only get a B- for the second part of his assignment which was the "puppy push-ups" He'll go down into the "lay down" position but he still won't go into the "sit" position from the "lay down" position. C'est la vie. We can't always get everything right despite being over-achievers, ay?
We finally discovered that Tommy doesn't give a flying flip (pun intended) about the "about face" maneuver but he hates getting a shot of water to the face. So, instead of doing the "about face" we say, "NO!" and spray his face with water from a water bottle. Tommy got that almost immediately. For the whole trip around the park Tommy walked beside us and NOT in front of us! He would even catch himself getting ahead and would do a stutter step in order to slow down. He's such a good puppy!
I'm quite relieved as the next obedience class is tomorrow and I didn't want Tommy to fail his first homework assignment! Unfortunately, he'll probably only get a B- for the second part of his assignment which was the "puppy push-ups" He'll go down into the "lay down" position but he still won't go into the "sit" position from the "lay down" position. C'est la vie. We can't always get everything right despite being over-achievers, ay?
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