The Gentle Leader

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.

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!)

A Walk in The Dark

I walk the dog in the early morning hours before I get ready for work. We do a fast paced walk around our neighborhood that equals about one mile. We walk because we BOTH need it. All dogs need to walk. It's in their nature. It isn't enough to let a dog loose in your yard and expect that to fulfill their inborn need to "travel". They NEED to walk. I need to walk. I sit at a desk all day, then I come home and sit at my worktable all evening. I know I need to walk. So, the morning walks are good for both of us.

The problem is that I HATE walking in the dark in the morning. We don't live in a high crime area, but I don't like the dark. I have never liked the dark and the fact that I have been walking the dog in the dark amazes me. Am I comforted knowing that Wrigley my canine protector is at my side? Oh, hell no! Wrigley hates the dark more than I do. In fact, Miss Wrigley hates noises as much as she hates the dark. She hates the leaves rustling, car doors slamming, plastic bags crackling, dogs barking, motorcycles, cars, skateboards, bicycles...When we are walking I fully expect her to get whiplash as her head whips from one side to the other, watching out for anything and everything that just might make a sound!

(We haven't figured out what caused her fear of noises, but we are working on it...based on the advise of the "Dog Whisperer.")

Anyway, we don't like walking in the dark. Why don't I just walk her after work when it's light outside you ask? Well, there always seems to be something else calling my name after work and just like doing my exercises...if I don't do it in the morning...it just ain't gettin' done!

I have even thought about starting work a little later, like 8:00 instead of 7:30 so we could walk a little later in the morning....but that would mean not getting off until 4:00 and that would mean more traffic and that would mean more annoyance and you get the idea....

I just want it to be light in the morning at 5:30 and then everything would be perfect! Can anyone arrange that for me?