If You Want Something, DO Something

 

“Wow, why won’t my dog walk like that!” said the man who stopped me while walking Rio down a busy sidewalk earlier this year.  I know I’ve written it time and time again, but my response was, “thanks, we work really hard.”  Dogs don’t magically adopt a loose leash walk, they don’t magically learn to not jump, and they don’t magically learn to potty outside.  We must work to teach our dogs the behaviors that we find valuable.
 


I was reminded of this yesterday when I took advantage of the ridiculously warm weather and brought Rio and Linus to the park for a nice walk.  It was the first time Linus had gone for a proper walk outside my neighborhood (weather has been quite yucky) and after the initial moments of apprehension, Linus was all over the place on the leash.  He was pulling a bit, but the biggest pain was his zigging and zagging and his spinning around me and wrapping me up.  While Rio walked beautifully next to me (until released), Linus was like a Tasmanian devil all over the place.
 
If I want to see a change in his behavior, I need to DO something about it!