As dog owners, we often wish our dogs healthy. If our fur babies show a dynamic energy level, it is assurance of their wholesomeness. However, if such exuberant energy is presented during daily walk time, like charging around, pulling hard and galloping forward, it could transform a supposedly pleasant outing into a hectic track and field race.
Such a control issue could also cause serious accidents if we need to walk besides street with busy traffic. We don’t want to get ourselves tripped down and dragged ahead by our excited fur babies, either. Trust me, it really hurts. To avoid all these aforementioned hazards, we need to train our dogs and prepare them for possible distractions.
We would also need to get a No-pull dog harness and a good dog leash to achieve the training goals. Dogs are not naturally used to harness and leash, so we need to acquaint them with these gears first. What we should do is to reward treats to the puppy while they are wearing the harness and leash. In this way, the puppy will associate them as desirable presence.
We should always start with home training. Even though we are using a no-pull dog harness for more control, we shouldn’t engage into pulling when the dog starts dragging in a different direction because you don’t want to encourage more pulls. Instead, we should shorten the length of the dog leash by holding the traffic handle near to our dog, hold our place and stay put. When the puppy comes back to you, reward it with treats and praises, so that it learns to follow our instructions and leads.
After sufficient homeschooling, we can take the fur baby out. But, keep in mind that this is actually where the real training starts. We could expect more pulling and sometimes lunges when distraction multiply outside. Besides treats, we need to utilize the no-pull dog harness with more deliberation and wariness.
Watching our dogs attentively during their first few social debuts, so that we can react before they react to surprises, like squirrels passing by, hares hopping a far, and leaves swirling in a fleeting gust wind. We don’t need to tighten or yank the dog leash. We don’t wait till the harness is strained tilted by the tug of war between you and the dog. What we should do is to hold on tight to the handle installed in the middle of the harness and stand still firmly. When the dog calm down a bit, we beckon it back with treats.