New Equipment & Practices

In the front of this photo is our new snazzy red 26' Flexi leash, made for dogs twice Cabana's size. Our old retractable leash was not a Flexi, and the mechanism was not nearly as smooth or fast. In my opinion, the Flexi is worth every penny (only $26 on eBay). The tangled red tape/lead is the tape from the old retractable leash that broke. I still get use out of it by attaching it to Cabana's collar and letting it just drag along behind her. It gives us extra yardage, plus since it's old anyway, I don't mind if it gets all wet and muddy.

And my new mucker boots! After months of slogging through wet dog park grass in my sneakers and coming home with squishy brown socks, I finally bought these rain boots. The pink circles may be slightly garish, but they just make me so happy. C'mon, rain, I'm ready for you!

After reading this article about leash walking on Dog Star Daily, I realized how important it is to allow Cabana to "check out the world at her own pace". When Cabana was a puppy-in-training, I didn't have the confidence to just "let her be a dog". Like someone trying a new recipe, painstakingly measuring each ingredient, or a young painter with a new paint-by-number set, I compulsively tried to follow the GDB guidelines. My #1 goal was for Cabana to walk next to me in the perfect position, without sniffing or veering, ignoring all distractions.

But don't get me wrong, I love the GDB structure and guidelines! I believe those guidelines helped us raise a balanced, healthy, polite dog--one that doesn't bark excessively, isn't possessive of toys or food, doesn't lick or sniff inappropriately, and potties on command. Cabana gets an A+ in all those areas.

Well, we never did get the walking on leash exactly right, for a guide dog in training anyway. So I've had a hard time letting those rules go. I was still clinging to that old goal. And I didn't want what progress we had achieved deteriorate--but still, I wanted to give her more freedom and fun on our walks.

I think we've finally come to a good compromise. Using the Flexi leash, we start the first half of our walk with Cabana in a heel position, keeping the leash braked short. I still use kibble to help Cabana walk without pulling and as a reward for ignoring passersby. Then, when we reach grassy open areas, I let go of the brake and let her sniff like crazy, walk through grass and puddles, meander about, get way ahead of me or way behind. She LOVES it. It's a great time to practice recall, too--which Cabana is doing MUCH better at (thanks, Ro, for the Iams Biscuit info; it's been HIGHLY motivating to Cabana).

When other people/dogs are approaching, though, I tell Cabana to "stay with me" as I bring her back into a heel position. I only too clearly remember how difficult and detrimental it was to pass other dogs that weren't being properly controlled by their owners. After the people have passed, I tell Cabana, "go sniff" or "go play", and she happily goes back to her explorations.

I'd love to know what others of you with career change dogs do regarding leash walking. How much of their previous training do you hang onto?