Importance of walking.

Exercise is an important part of any-ones life. It keeps us healthy and helps with anxiety, over weight, stress, and other health risks. In-fact, people who exercise regularly will tell you they feel better. Well, the same goes for dogs.Without exercise dogs are prone to all sort of health risk. That is why it is imperative that we keep our dogs body in ship shape. One of the best ways to accomplish that is with regular walking.

For dogs, walks can be the highlight of their day. They often get excited right before walks with anticipation. Unlike family and friends they are ready to walk whenever you are. The only problem is dogs will often pull and drag you up and down the street. Almost as if they are walking the owner and not the other way around. Fortunately, their are many great and effective methods to correct this problem.

Walking your dog.

So, your dog pulls. What now? Well now we begin to train to correct this problem. Here I will discuss twowhat method you can use to get your pooch walking like a champ.  If your like most people you want instant results. Although, that is never the case with dog training. This will produce the fastest results in my opinion. So, without further delay………drum-roll please.

 

The Gentle Leader.

Gentle leader is a great product I recommend to get almost instant results. This is nothing more than a head harness. Unlike traditional collars a head harness direct the movement of the dog by controlling their heads. Simply put if the dog begins to pull their head will genlty be pulled to the side by the harness. Immediately correcting the behavior. Collar and choke collars will put pressure on the front of the neck. When the dog feels this pressure, their natural instinct is to pull. A head harness will put the pressure on the back of the neck and their instinct will tell them to pull backwards, never forward. A head harness will seriously speed up the learning process.

Using the Head Collar.

Using the head collar is very simple. Here is how to do it.

1. Relax your arm. Dogs can sense tension. Remember this is a recreation not an obligation. Enjoy your walk walk together with your pal.

2. Keep your dog to the left. Dogs are natural lefty’s.

3. Keep the leash short enough to have slack if they walk next to you.

4. Do not keep the leash tense. You should not be pulling back on the leash as you walk. This will confuse them. When they get a gentle pull they will eventually walk next to you. Reward that behavior.

5. When the dog pulls, gentlygive the leash a smooth sidewards pull. Not a yank or a snappy pull. A small smooth pull. Remember if your dogs head is being pulled all the way to the side your pulling or tugging to hard. Just enough to slightly redirect his nose.

6. Keep some treats with you. Reward your dog when they walk next to you. The leash should have slack. Gradually increase the time between rewards when they walk next to you.

7. If your dog resist and sit down don’t yank the collar. Stand next to him and give him a high pitched lets go. Hopefully that will get him up. If not, a small push from behind will help them move along.

That’s it! Remember, dog training is a long and frustrating process. Although cliche, practice does make perfect. Never get mad and yell at your dog. Above all never hit your dog. This will have a negative effect and can cause many emotional problems such as aggression, stress, fear and other issues. So keep your pal safe and happy and go out and enjoy a nice walk together.