So as you may, or may not know, Cliff and I often watch the Dog Whisperer to gain wisdom about our dog, Reggie, and how to help him be a happy, well-balanced dog. Basically, so he'll stop being a pain in our rears!
Cesar (that's the dog whisperer) always uses a "choke chain" when he is trying to rehabilitate dogs. Now, the choke chain has some negative connotation, but let me assure you it is not inhumane. All it does is get their attention when they're not focused on you. It tightens up around their neck quickly, and then releases quickly. No harm....just correction.
Okay, now that I've eased your minds a little... When going for a walk/run, the dog should always walk either behind you or beside you. YOU are the leader, not the dog! Well Reggie was born a leader, and so we have to correct him and let him know that he is in fact NOT the leader. We are. So on our walks/runs, Reggie always likes to get ahead of us. We constantly have to correct him and pull him back. We had made significant progress since we first got him back in the Fall, but it was still a constant power struggle with him.
Today when I was at the store buying some cat food, I saw the choke chains and decided to give it a whirl. What could it hurt? At the least, I would be out a few bucks. Well I'm here to tell you that as soon as I put that thing on him, he was a different dog! I only had to correct him once or twice when we first walked out the door. But after that, he stayed either right beside me or a step behind me the whole way! I couldn't believe it!!!
Now if we could just get him to behave inside the house...
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