No, I'm not talking about my boss or the President. Maggie our rescue pup was ten months old when we adopted her. She came to us with no training whatsoever and a very sad past. She had no idea how to walk on a leash. Training a puppy to walk on a leash is one thing...training a ten month old Border Collie mix is quite another.
I tried to walk her with Wrigley. I tried to walk her without Wrigley. The result was always the same.....she dragged me down the street practically pulling my arm out of the socket! I tried everything I knew and none of it worked. I couldn't keep her at my side, and once she got in front of me she would zig and zag all over the place. I can't tell you how many times I almost ate the pavement.Michael had a problem training his Aussie and he purchased a Gentle Leader head collar. We have a little family joke about it even. One time when we were watching Teagan for them, Michael drew us a picture of how to put the Gentle Leader on her. We laughed so hard at his drawing....the dog in the drawing looked more like an ant eater!!
Anyway, the idea behind the Gentle Leader is that it puts pressure on a dog's nose in the same manner in which a lead dog communicates with dogs lower in rank. The dog immediately understands her place and considers the owner her leader.When it's time to walk each day, Maggie sits and waits for me to put the Gentle Leader on her. As soon as it's on her.....Irv and I start laughing because she stops moving. She sits and just stares straight ahead and won't even acknowledge you when you talk to her. It is so darn funny.
We can now walk every day without any pulling, dragging or tripping. Three cheers for our Gentle Leader!!
(Added note: If I'm not around for a little while it's because my home computer died. Certainly not what I needed right now...but what are you going to do. I'm going to talk to someone at work here today and see what they think. If it ends up being a lost cause, I will need to get a new one. I'll be checking in occasionally while I'm at work. We did get 12 inches of snow last night and woke at 4:00 a.m. this morning because we were having a 4.3 earthquake! I'll tell you about it when I am up and running. Make it a good one!)
If you look closely at this picture, you can see it across the top of her nose, under her eyes. See how serious she looks?
We can now walk every day without any pulling, dragging or tripping. Three cheers for our Gentle Leader!!(Added note: If I'm not around for a little while it's because my home computer died. Certainly not what I needed right now...but what are you going to do. I'm going to talk to someone at work here today and see what they think. If it ends up being a lost cause, I will need to get a new one. I'll be checking in occasionally while I'm at work. We did get 12 inches of snow last night and woke at 4:00 a.m. this morning because we were having a 4.3 earthquake! I'll tell you about it when I am up and running. Make it a good one!)
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15 comments:
Wow! Good to know for future reference. She's adorable.
I just saw one of those gentle leaders on a huge dog we encountered yesterday on one of our walks. He looked like a handful, but seemed to do well with this leash. Good luck with i!! Hugs, Silke
I've wondered what those are - my neighbor has one on her dog that was given to her to help her walk the dog. I'm working on my second "no-pull" harness (my dog will attempt to eat leashes and harnesses while walking in addition to trying to eat every car that is passing by...) so was thinking of trying to find one and try that instead.
I just love it when things like that work. I am impressed. I see people being walked by their dogs all the time, instead of the other way around. Great for you and Maggie!
I've never heard of a leash like that. I'm going to put that one in my memory bank for sure.
Hope you get your computer issues worked out without a lot of expense.
Our weather guy mentioned your quake on Facebook this morning.
earthquake - my gosh!
hope the computer can be fixed/
those are great! i haven't used one but know several people who do and it's changed their life ;-)
good luck on the computer thing...;-(
You felt that quake by you? Crazy! As if snow weren't enough!
Aw, you sound like such a great dog owner. What a hero you are.
I've never heard of it though I've seen it a lot in the city so that's what it is! =D
oh my goodness! You had an earthquake!?
My stepfather is a veterinarian and swears by the Gentle Leaders...glad it's working for you!
we actually were going to look at these this weekend..Thank you for this...!!!
We use The Gentle Leader on Todd and Lucy. I can walk them at the same time with just one finger!! It is amazing!!
I've heard of those devices; glad to know they work. Do they make them for humans who need to understand their place? Heard about the earthquake...can't wait to hear your story.
Snow and an earthquake...oh my. Thanks for the info on the gentle leader. It may be just the thing for Lucy.
We have a 145 lb. German Shepherd who tends to 'shepherd' us. That's a great idea..will check it out!
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