Mastering the Walk day 2

Buoyed on by the success of yesterday, I began work with Billy.

He's quicker to calm down than Gypsy and good to walk out the door behind me so we left the house within five minutes. It was a bit harder work to get him to walk beside me because he's bigger which makes it tough to 'encourage' him back to my side. However, after about fifteen minutes he was walking really well with only the occasional correction.

I was over the moon! For the first time, I was actually able to enjoy a walk with him. He wasn't perfect but I felt like we're almost there. It's all going so well it made me wonder what I'm going to put in my blog now. They're obviously sorted in the walk department.

Mastering the Walk?

So, this week I've started the process of mastering the walk. As both of them have their separate issues whilst walking, I've decided it's best to practice with them individually before I try them together. This means that they will only each get walked every other day, but I'm looking for long-term results so it's better than not trying at all.

Yesterday I started with Gypsy. As soon as I got the lead out she was jumping up and running around me. I sat down calmly and waited until she did the same then attempted to slip the lead over her head. She went to bite it so I took it away and waited again. Second time lucky, lead is on and she starts writhing around, pulling and jumping.

Gypsy was definitely not 'calm submissive'!

I waited again until she was sitting (about five minutes) and opened the front door. She immediately ran towards it but I pulled her back a few times until she sat again. We walked out the door quite calmly and I stood quietly while she tried to run off down the road with only a few tugs on the lead and the occasional 'sshh!' to stop her. Once she was calm again, we began to walk up the road. It took a while for her to walk nicely beside me and then, after about five minutes, she got it! We walked for forty minutes and, although not perfect, she did a really good job.

I was delighted! This is easy! Cracked it!

Billy's turn tonight!

Method or Madness?

My guru, if that's the right word, when it comes to dog 'training' is Cesar Millan. I put the word training in quotes because Cesar says "I rehabilitate dogs. I train humans". His philosophy is that the issues our dogs have is a result of us not taking the leadership role within our 'pack'. Too many of us humanise our pets and don't allow them to be the animals they deserve to be. I'm certainly guilty of that; more than one of my friends has pointed out that we adopted Gypsy at the same time as my daughter left to go to University.

Anyway, I've got his books and recorded his series, The Dog Whisperer (National Geographic Channel) on sky + so let's see how I get on. If you've seen any of his shows I think you'll agree that his methods get results, but can an ordinary human like me achieve the same?

Cesar Millan - The Dog Whisperer
(picture - National Geographic Channel)

The first principle of bonding with your dogs and taking leadership of the pack is plenty of exercise. It probably goes without saying that dogs need to be walked but I think many owners, myself included, have been a bit neglectful in this respect from time to time. And it's not just taking them for walks, it's about being in charge from the moment you put on the leash to the moment you walk back through the door. If I can master this, I'm one third of the way to a harmonious relationship with Billy and Gypsy - apparently.

Sounds great, right? Also sounds like it's gonna take a lot of time and patience; that's the commitment you make when you decide to bring a canine friend into your home I guess.

Our current experience of walking the terrible two involves Gypsy getting over excited and rushing towards the door after trying to chew through the lead. Both of them will try and rush out the door before us and will pull on the lead - not such an issue with Gypsy as she's light and easier to pull back into place, but Billy tugging you up the road is not fun. As the walk goes on, they'll calm down a bit but Gypsy will whine and bark if Billy gets ahead of her. If we meet other dogs, Gypsy will try to run over and jump all over them whilst Billy (normally very timid) sometimes lashes out at the stranger.

Me? I'm a good girl!

All this results in my husband and I getting angry or frustrated or both and no one enjoys the walk, dogs included. So, I'm going to start taking Cesar's advice from today and establish myself as pack leader.

My next blog, then, will update you on how I get on this week with THE WALK! I'd love to hear your experiences of walking with your dogs - good and bad!

Meet The Dogs

This is Billy.

He's a six year old collie cross who we brought home from the Blue Cross just over four years ago.

This is Gypsy.

She's a yorkshire terrier who was given to us by an old couple who couldn't manage her any more.

They're both wonderful dogs who are great company for each other but each of them are unbalanced in certain areas of their lives.

Being a collie, Billy picks things up very quickly. He's always been clean, will sit and stay (most of the time!) and go to his bed when told. He doesn't whine when we leave the house or chew up our stuff and, being short haired, isn't a smelly dog.

He can pull a bit on the lead and, although he'll come when called, it doesn't apply if there's another dog he's more interested in. Another issue is that he jumps up at us all the time and, since I'm short, I get hurt sometimes. He's also quite a timid dog; if we take him to a pub garden or for a picnic, he'll whine the whole time and just doesn't seem happy.

Gypsy, on the other hand, loves being around people and new places. She jumps all over people too - it doesn't seem as bad since she's so small but I know it means she thinks she's the boss. However, she'll also happily lie quietly in a public place and watch the world go by.

But.... She pees in the house. I can't crate train her because she barks if she's isolated and we're sometimes away from the house for 6 hours - it doesn't seem fair to put her in a crate and let Billy run free. She doesn't chew the house to pieces but she does occasionally destroy items, sometimes something I really care about. She's good on a walk once she gets in the swing of things but will go crazy before we leave the house.

I am aware that I'm lucky they're both so good in most ways and that we are the cause of the problems that remain.

This blog is about my attempt to help them become totally balanced, happy dogs. I'd love to hear your ideas along the way - maybe I'll end up with some tips too!