18/10/2023
The sausage that taught me the most 🥰💜
Landry for me was like my “dummy” when it came to learning more about canine behaviour and training! A task that I found extremely difficult but I dread to think what Landry thought. Some things I trialed really didn’t work, he probably thought “wtf is she trying to do? I have no idea goodbye!” And he was right to think that!
Not listening to me was also frustrating! But then it clicked, why on earth would he want to come back to me anyways when I’m virtually screaming at him now red in the face? The key is to remain calm and confident, walks should still be fun for you both otherwise they won’t listen and will run the opposite way where fun probably is, or isn’t, but who knows? Where they are right now isn’t fun, the person they are with is screaming their name and not looking very happy at all, your dog thinks “I don’t like it so I’m gonna keep going.”
This is essentially you trying to be the ‘alpha’ - an outdated theory. I will keep saying working with your dog as a team reaps much better rewards than trying to control them through their fear.
Landry is probably the only daxie in the world I completely trust. I have worked extremely hard with him, his recall and behaviour on walks. Now I never have him on a lead, he comes back to “here, Landry, come on then, this way” and sometimes all I have to do is whistle and he comes running straight back. If we see other dogs on their leads he goes back on his, if he is off lead and other dogs are off lead, then this is a scenario when I don’t put him back on a lead as I know he feel much safer when he’s able to go around them. He feels much more uncomfortable in this situation if he is on a lead and he can’t get away. He is always watching me and listening to me so I know he won’t run away from me, but he may keep a distance or play with the other dogs - it just depends how he & they feel!
I’ll upload a video of my superstar Landry and his excellent recall just to show you all it is most definitely possible to train your dog and it can be so easy!
Now I can enjoy listening to podcasts without the stress of worrying where Landry is and when/if he will come back!🐾🥰💜