Tips For Having Great Walks With Your Dog
Even very well behaved dogs can have a very hard time behaving during a walk. This is not his fault, however, it is yours. If you are sick of having to fear your next walk with your dog, you have found the perfect article for you. Below you will find the information you need about how to behave so that your dog learns to take a walk the right way.
The most important thing you can do is to start to train your dog how to walk as soon as you can. The longer that you wait, the harder it will be to accomplish your goal. This is not to say that your dog can not learn this skill when it is older, it will just take a lot more time and work. Train your dog as soon as it is old enough to go for a walk at all. You will be thankful that you had.
Keep a calm, relaxed demeanor. Your dog can definitely tell if you are stressed out, and if you have been having terrible walks with your dog, you are likely stressed before you even get out of the door. To prevent this from impacting your dogs behavior you should prepare yourself mentally before you even alert your dog to the fact that you are going to take him for a walk. Think about what you hope to happen on the walk instead of what you fear might happen. The calmer that you are, the more likely it is that your dog will learn how to behave appropriately.
Follow through with everything that you expect your dog to do. If your dog begins to drag you, for instance, even for just a second, you should pull his leash and force him to stop. Inform him that you are not pleased with your words and tone, and then allow the dog to continue at the appropriate pace. You must also follow through with positive reactions as well. If you have a good walk with your dog, then you should reward him when you get home to let him know that he has done good. The more consistent you are, the better your dog will be able to understand what is expected from him.
Do not lose control over your dog's behavior. Yelling, getting stressed out or even worse, hitting your dog, will only make things worse. Anytime that you feel like you are losing control over your emotions you should take a deep breath. Whatever that your dog has done wrong is not so bad that you should allow yourself to become stressed over it. Learning to control yourself will go a long way in teaching your dog the same habit.
Of course you want to have wonderful walks with your dog, but if you have been thinking this was up to your dog you have been wrong all along. You are the one that is in control. Use the tips that you read above when training your dog to walk properly so that you can find success quickly.
