Friday, 10 April 2009

Heelwork

Any dog will pull on a lead, also if you are walking more than one they will naturally compete to be in front. But again it is what you train them to do, I can walk all of mine together and yes they will pull, but I do not let them, if I tried to walk into a show with 5 dogs all pulling I would be flat on the floor. It is a case of teaching them what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Manners are things dogs have not got a clue about until you educate them, then they will soon respect you and each other. I do not have one dog here that will not walk nicely on the lead if alone, most will walk perfectly as a pair, the more you have the firmer you need to be. Halti's will stop them pulling but they do not teach them not to pull. The minute you take a halti off they will pull again, I use halti's when handling a lot into a show, but I also know if I had forgotten my halti they would listen and behave. Only because I put the ground work in first. Judith and I are often at a show hanging on to 6 or 7 if one of us needs the loo for example, it is something we can both do confidently because we put the effort in beforehand. (Diva may be on Judith's head as she loves her so much, but she wont be pulling!!!)