This week, I experienced some training back tracks with my dog. It is totally normal for anyone to experience this with their dog and it is highly likely that you will at some point. One experience was pulling crazily on the leash and the other was ignoring me during “come.”
Now everyone that knows my dog knows that we have trained very consistently on leash walking and come. There are days when my dog may receive less exercise, less attention, or have an off day (he appears to be in another world). On these days, I allow my dog to be where he is instead of fighting of it.
For me I let my dog pull on the leash. I didn’t fight it. It was clear to me that he needed to get pulling out of his system that day. After about 10 minutes of this, he was willing to walk on his leash loosely. In fact, it was one of his best times on the leash in a higher distracting area. Now this isn’t something I would do everyday but I am not open to fighting. Fighting doesn’t get us anywhere. Dog training is not about control it is about being a team.
There are also days where I just know Seiki, my dog, needs to run and I don’t push a recall (“come”). When I know he has gotten some of the off leash running out of his system then I will call him.
Notice when it is time for your dog to be a dog. Honor this and watch how your training changes.
Happy Training!
Johanna Teresi, Professional Trainer and Owner of Four Legged Scholars
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