Ah, the joy walking with a dog in partnership. Nothing beats the sense of teamwork and peace that comes from the synchronicity of strolling side by side - almost as one.
That is, unless you and your dog haven't yet mastered the art of synchronized strolling...
Does walking with your dog seem more like day on the
Iditarod than a peaceful amble or power walk? Do you wonder why people use the phrase "a walk in the park" as a euphemism for simplicity?
Or, alternately, have your walks taken on a sort of mechanical precision that would be better suited to a military march than to a dog walk? Don't you just want to be able to hang out with your best friend without being dragged about or having to heel for miles and miles?
Teaching your dog to walk politely by your side can be the last frontier of basic training. This is mainly because so many people unintentionally
teach their dogs to pull on leash.
Heeling is a wonderful and useful exercise, but no dog should have to
heel the entire time on a leisurely stroll or on a multi-mile hike in the woods. In these circumstances what most people really want is a dog that stays close on long walks and checks in frequently. Basically most people want a dog that pays attention and loosely follows them around. And the way to achieve this goal is to first make sure your dog will
follow you in your house.
Once you've got that task mastered, set up a
following course at the park and then move on to
open field following. Following is not as rigid or precise as heeling but it provides a good foundation for teaching heel.
There are many ways to teach your dog to walk by your side, blogger Jennifer Merritt even describes how to use TTouch to teach your dog to
walk in balance in her recent blog entry.
Regular walks are important for physical and mental health at both ends of the leash. Also, they increase the connection between you and your dog. Be sure to get out every day and walk with your best friend because once your dog is trained to walk with you walking is one of the greatest pleasures of living with a dog. Happy trails!
