#llw

🚂/🌾/🚂|🌾/🚂/🌾|🚂/🌾/🚂

Stimboard of my favorite Locomotive: Nickel Plate Road 765, S-2 class Berkshire built by LLW in 1944. Wish I could have found gifs of the actual train.

BUT where's the communication down the lead?

*answer* ya don't need any leash pressure to teach a dog anything on a walk. The lead is there as a safety guide and nothing else. The teaching is done through human monitoring situations and gaining the dogs attention before a reaction occurs they react. Intimidating them with corrections or pressure to do what you want is ignoring dog behaviour and emotions just to gain what you want in a situation. Benefits handler only and not the dog.

NO TREATS EITHER???

Well hey because we have already created a foundation of behaviour we only use treats when needed like walking passed people, traffic noise, other dogs.

So on FB all these people were talking about like a “circle method to loose lead walking” for pulling and it was driving me nuts because the technical discussions and videos were very interesting but I wanted the foundational context of what on earth they were referencing. Which I finally got! The quick and short of it:

When your dog pulls, lunge them around in a circle like a horse

When the dog does anything you don’t really like basically just lunge em around in a big or little circle

Then continue on your way

It gives your dogs an alternative direction to move in, reminds them you exist and burns energy.

and special mention for these tips I personally found interesting:

The circling puts them ever so slightly off center so they give in to your gentle guidance without experiencing oppositional type frustration

Use the circles to both move towards things that they can investigate and away from things they cannot

Keep slight tension on the lead so you and the dog can “feel” each other and prevent “yo-yo”ing

Some people will do a square and this is easier for doing it with two dogs too

The goal is less frustration for you both and more peaceful walks

It’s training but without training

and I am personally super enjoying the:

Burning extra energy lunging them in a circle hell yeah work them muscles

The focus on keeping all aspects of walk enjoyable for us BOTH

The slight lead tension thing??? I like??? being able to feel my dogs??? and not wondering if Thistle has bit the lead in half and wandered off??? (True story)

It’s just surprisingly effective way to redirect energy into more enjoyable walking

Anyway I finally found the timegated webinar! Which is currently available as a pre-existing recording for an unknown amount of time so I’m quickly posting about it for anyone who might be interested in grabbing it before it disappears again. It’s towards the bottom of the page:

It has an amusing bit of advertisement:

Is your dog is a chronic leash puller? If leash walking is a misery then this webinar is for you! The Fenzi “cutting corners” method can work even for dogs where other approaches have failed. It requires no food, no highly controlled environments, and allows for reasonably inexperienced handlers. This method is equally suited to a young puppy on dog directed socialization outings as it is for strong adult dogs with years of practice pulling on walks. And the best part? It works fast and without compulsive techniques by reducing frustration in both the puller and the pullee!

The webinar itself was very good for a small “online training session”, and I definitely am enjoying this kind of lead handling with Thyme. Thistle is a little less efficient but she has more years of different training methods producing internal conflict in her understanding why I’m suddenly circling all over the place lol 

I especially enjoyed the case studies with verbal overlay of things being done right/different potential approaches of how to use the method on different types/sizes/attitudes of dogs and how to change things up to suit your individual situation. You can get a transcript on request if you can’t hear it all easily.

It has two follow up webinars on reactivity and overarousal, of which one of them I am definitely considering because I want more insight.

Some happy gifs of Thyme who WOW really loves this whole circling concept when I purposely put him in situations I know he will get over excited to try it out

(ducks. it’s ducks. the boy is obsessed with ducks. give him the ducks).

*edit* damn forgot to put their “trailer” in of it: