Sunday 26 January 2020

Lynx


I spent some time with this stunner today. Meet Lynx. Approximately 4 years old and looking for a new home.


Lynx has never been taught to walk nicely on lead and he pulls, paying no attention to who is on the other end of the lead.
The wind, rain and loud noises today did not help and you can see in the video that he is checking them out, paying no attention to me at all. We need to make it worth his while to pay attention to me!

We began in the same way we did with Tilly, marking and treating where I wanted him to be. Lynx quickly gets the hang of it and we have some lovely moments of connected loose lead walking.

Repetition, consistency and short sessions are key. If we try to do sessions for too long, dogs will get bored or frustrated. If we don't show them how we would like them to walk, how will they know? 

Yanking the lead or pulling them back does not work and can actually cause anxiety and frustration. Constantly calling their names or saying things like "heel" do not work - dogs don't know what the words mean. We have to teach them how we would like them to walk, using kind, positive methods and reinforcing the wanted behaviours.


As with Tilly, we mark and treat where we would like them to walk and avoid calling their names. Whenever he pulled ahead, I turned and changed direction and all I used was a verbal Yes and dropped down a treat (Lynx was initially in a rush and missed some of the treats so I had to point them out to him)and lots of praise.


I didn't ask Lynx to sit for this photo - he just did it and then got "paid" for it. Clever boy.







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