Great Advice: "Don't Follow Your Dog Around"

[Heather]

I thought I'd post a little "how to" detail here that really made a big difference me:

Awhile back Sang asked me on Kevin's forum if I followed my dog, Happy, around while he sniffed out interesting things, etc. When he mentioned that I was thinking more of our off-leash explorations, but when I met Kevin one of the first things he said was "don't follow the dog around, that is treating him like a person." As in, when he reaches the end of the leash, and spies or smells something else interesting a few inches or feet away, don't move along to let him investigate. To me, that seemed pretty harmless, after all, I wasn't letting him pull me around during "walking time," but when we stopped and he pulled a little this way or that, I would not stand my ground, it was easier to just move a bit to let him sniff what he wanted to sniff, find a good bathroom spot, etc. I am not sure I totally understand how that is treating him like a person (although I believe that's the same as assuming that a dog has "likes and dislikes" as a self-contained entity).

For the past few weeks I have given him the leash length but no more, I haven't moved when he reaches the end (the waterskiing stance helps if I anticipate a big lunge), and it has made an ENORMOUS difference in Happy remaining focused on me. If I were to put it in "person" terms, Happy seems quite amenable to the new rules, in fact I'd say he feels relieved not to be able to reach whatever he might have wanted to reach, and quickly refocuses as he reaches the end of the leash.

Changing that seemingly small behavior really made a big difference, and it certainly relaxed me a lot not having to evaluate whether to move or call him back or whatever choice I might have otherwise made in that moment-- maybe it will help someone else too!

[Chris]

Wow thanks for that little gem Heather, that is so helpful.

I've guilt of the same thing, thinking whats the fuss he only wants to sniff that tree. The times I don't want to go where Ty does he'll get to the end of the lead and sit, stare at the sniff area then look at me, you guessed it, I'd fall for it and let he go

As I have a 12 ft lead for our walks in the forest which is plenty of room for sniff I'll give it a go.

One question, if he's on a sniff or having a pee within the length of the lead I'm guessing you do wait for him to finish before carrying on?

Thanks again, all these little gems help so much

[Heather]

That's funny, it is what I would do too, seems like natural "communication". But now that there is no negotiation to be had, Happy has stopped "asking". He also seems to get right down to business if he has to now, vs inching me this way and that looking for the perfect place while on the leash. My husband has always done it this way, I thought he was too "strict," I guess he was right about some things

[Sang]

Yep, it's a hard habit to break. I don't know how many times Kevin told me "You're doing it again. Stop following her around". LOL.

But it does make a big difference when you stop doing it.

[Drea]

I follow Tucker around. I'm going to stop and see where that takes us. Thanks for the thread!

[Chris]

I've had a couple of walks now where I've stopped following Ty and it's going well. It was great the other night as it was pouring with rain and I wanted the walk to keep moving, he got the message pretty quick we're NOT diverting left and right for any sniff.

[Heather]

Right at the entrace to my favorite walking area there is a pile of fertilizer that spilled out of the back of a tractor. For awhile Happy would strain to get to it, I would tell him "leave it" and also pull him back, and a couple of times just to keep things moving I let him get close enough to sniff it. All of this just increased his desire to get to the fertilizer and stressed me out. It took just a few times of patiently standing still doing nothing (and some pushing when he put his attention back on me), and now he totally ignores the fertilizer, I let him off leash right near the pile to start our walk. It's really interesting, he taught himself to leave the fertilizer alone and he leaves it alone all on his own, even when he has access.

[BrownieNJoyce]

Hi. Brownie doesn't pee in our yard. He will even go through our entire 20 minutes of training first thing in the morning and doesn't pee until I take him down the block a bit. I don't make a practice of doing it that way since my concept is that he should relieve himself first. But I did it to experiment. What do you guys think? When I walk him I try to keep him near the edge of the street so he can pee on weeds as we pass them. Sometimes he'll stop and pee without pulling me but often he pulls and sniffs several times before he actually pees. Ideas? I'd love to be able to let him out in the yard in the winter at night right before bed so he can relieve his bladder rather than having to walk him around the block like we do now.

p.s. I read some mixed reviews about the "Potty Rock" stone. Mostly people say it doesn't work so I'm looking for information not product recommendations unless sanctioned by Neil, Kevin, Lee or Sang.

[Heather]

I would love to hear an NDT explanation about why Brownie won't pee in the yard. Kevin has a "Stump the Chump" section on his website where that would be a very interesting scenario. Also hopefully Sang, Neil, and/or Lee will weigh in.

[BrownieNJoyce]

Originally Posted by Chris

One question, if he's on a sniff or having a pee within the length of the lead I'm guessing you do wait for him to finish before carrying on?

I just reread Neil's article Does Your Dog Always Have to Walk Next to You? - Natural Dog Blog – Training and More and it seems his answer to Chris' question above would be "yes". It's a great article and was worth reviewing for me since it had been a while since I originally read it.