Gus and I had had a lovely walk. We rounded a corner on our way back to come within sight of our lane, to hear the Rumble of Wheelie bin – a sound which is one of Gus’s triggers. He immediately started pulling and trying to lunge forward as we saw Himself appear at the end of the lane to park the bin, walk in a small circle (why?) then set off back home.
I screeched at him to wait for us but Himself is a little deaf and didn’t hear, so he carried on, oblivious to my screams.
The final part of my walk was unpleasant. Trying to control the raving maniac on the end of the lead, who redoubled his efforts to surge forward every time we turned a corner to see Himself turning the next, was a struggle.
Himself seemed surprised when we eventually made it home and I explained, with a few choice words, why the end of our walk had been difficult.
I needed to have stopped and calmed Gus, but I had to get back home for an online appointment, so I didn’t have the time to do that. The pulling and lunging were a bad thing.
But it was also a good thing because I now have increased empathy with all those owners whose dogs react to things and pull on lead.
Of course, if I had worked harder with Gus to prevent and control his reaction to the Rumble of Wheelie Bin when he was a puppy, I would not have had such an unpleasant end to our walk. My fault.
But I can help you to prevent similar problems.
We have our three day Socialisation at a Distance course coming up next week (Tuesday 8th, Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th). Help your new puppy to be confident with what life throws at them or learn how you can usefully use lockdown to help your dog cope with everyday things they find too exciting or frightening – see here for details.
You can watch it live, or you can buy the course as a self-study course. All the details are here. The benefit of attending live is that you can ask me any questions you like about your puppy and I can help you with any specific problems you’re having. The benefit of the self-study course is the lifetime access.
Keep training and stay safe,
Carol