How is your Corgi on a leash?
Ok, someone asked for tips on getting a new puppy used to a leash, and that got me thinking.
Jack is the funniest dog on a leash that I have ever seen. He loves going out. He loves walks. He can go for miles and not get tired.
He knows heel, and he heels pretty well. Not well enough to win an obedience class, but he sits when I stop and turns when I turn, as long as there are not picnic leftovers on the ground to distract him.
But if he's not on heel.... well, that's an entirely different matter. Since I don't have a fenced yard, our walk time is time for my dog to go exploring. I always spend at least part of the walk on heel, but I also spend part of the walk on a relaxed leash, letting him sniff and wander. When he's on a relaxed leash, I don't care if he's a little ahead or a little behind, as long as he's not dragging me (he's not a real dominant dog, so I don't worry about the whole "pack leader always goes in front" thing). He'll lag a little, then lope to get ahead, then trot next to me.
Most of the time.
Ah, but if he's not on heel, he seems to think that every decision on direction is negotiable. He'll get to areas he likes (say where he sometimes meets his doggy friends, or an area with a group of kids playing) and he won't want to leave. He'll plant his little legs, and his collar will start to pull over his ears, and he'll get a look on his face like a two-year-old kid ready to pitch a fit.
Sometimes he lays down and rolls over on his back. This is usually if he just had a good visit with one of his many adoring fan clubs that we meet out walking, and he's not ready to leave. They laugh and say "Oh look, he's tired!" and I sorta grit my teeth and smile because he's not tired at all, he's just arguing.
BUT, if I say "Jack, heel" he hops right up all bright-eyed and cheerful, and off we march.
I think the lying on the back thing is a patented Corgi move, personally. I think their mothers teach it to them while they are still puppies. :-)
Jack is the funniest dog on a leash that I have ever seen. He loves going out. He loves walks. He can go for miles and not get tired.
He knows heel, and he heels pretty well. Not well enough to win an obedience class, but he sits when I stop and turns when I turn, as long as there are not picnic leftovers on the ground to distract him.
But if he's not on heel.... well, that's an entirely different matter. Since I don't have a fenced yard, our walk time is time for my dog to go exploring. I always spend at least part of the walk on heel, but I also spend part of the walk on a relaxed leash, letting him sniff and wander. When he's on a relaxed leash, I don't care if he's a little ahead or a little behind, as long as he's not dragging me (he's not a real dominant dog, so I don't worry about the whole "pack leader always goes in front" thing). He'll lag a little, then lope to get ahead, then trot next to me.
Most of the time.
Ah, but if he's not on heel, he seems to think that every decision on direction is negotiable. He'll get to areas he likes (say where he sometimes meets his doggy friends, or an area with a group of kids playing) and he won't want to leave. He'll plant his little legs, and his collar will start to pull over his ears, and he'll get a look on his face like a two-year-old kid ready to pitch a fit.
Sometimes he lays down and rolls over on his back. This is usually if he just had a good visit with one of his many adoring fan clubs that we meet out walking, and he's not ready to leave. They laugh and say "Oh look, he's tired!" and I sorta grit my teeth and smile because he's not tired at all, he's just arguing.
BUT, if I say "Jack, heel" he hops right up all bright-eyed and cheerful, and off we march.
I think the lying on the back thing is a patented Corgi move, personally. I think their mothers teach it to them while they are still puppies. :-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Aj on
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Ein will pull like there's no tomorrow until after we've walked about half a block, stopping every so often to sniff and do his business. Just we've walked that half a block, he will trot along with a smile on his face, on a loose leash. Oh, and when he gets tired, he just flops. (Which is so cute!)
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie and James on
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I LIKE THIS. :) My Billy is still working on staying buy my side, I don't use the word heel cause I really don't want him too close to me while walking, having him within foot distance for tapping his butt is fine with me. I tried a retractable leash today and found it nice that he could sniff around since he knows "leave it" now and won't pick at random items. As long as he's not aggressive I think it's fine. I took him to the dog park for the first time and I believe he has a strong chance of having good manners with other dogs. Rolls on his back like your Jack. (so far he's only had trouble with one pup)
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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Bear is great on a leash EXCEPT (why does it feel like there's always an exception when it comes to corgis?) when we get out of the car at the dog park, he's soooo excited to go in that I feel like I'm being pulled by a train. But, besides that, he walks quite gently on his leash, he's pretty good off leash too.
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Permalink Reply by Lou Ann Lemaster on
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Terrible! But it's sorta my fault. We really don't do a lot of walking. We have a huge backyard in which we play fetch, chase and he follows us every step of the way when we're doing yard work. I also have been having a lot of feet problems and just had surgery on one foot and will need surgery on the other probably within a year. That usually means at least 3 months off my feet before I can really do any walking. My husband (bless him) does take them out of the yard about once a week for a walk around our block, but that can be a hassle also, due to other irresponsible owners who don't control their dogs or let their dogs run loose. Call the animal warden and they say they have to catch the dogs loose to do anything.
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Permalink Reply by Derek on
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I had the lie down thing happen at PetsMart. I walked into the store, realized I forgot my wallet in the car and walked right back out with Miranda. Miranda was behind me and all of a sudden I feel her drag. I turn around and she is belly up in the middle of the parking lot road (for lack of a better term) and not budging. She just looked at me and smiled with her toungue hanging out the side of her face. We went inside (with out my wallet) and did laps around the store buying what we needed and then I went back to the car after and got the wallet. She declared Mutinee because she thought we were just going to leave. It is her FAVORITE store to go to because of the dog trainer there and the dogs and the free treats ... need I say more. She is a cute little thing and she gets away with murder!
LOL
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Oh, and Miranda does not know heel, I have trouble walking sometimes and so it is best if she is not right under me if I trip. But she knows "over" means move off the road, she knows "turn" and "cross" for crossing the road and she knows "wait". So she is well trained, she is just trained the way I want her to be. She is not a german shephard, she is a corgi, and unfortunately being short means you run the risk of being stepped on, so I prefer her a good 2 feet in front of me.
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b(^_^)d I like this! You don't have to be a...well...Nazi, with your dog. Being happy with them is great.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Yep, what Miranda did in PetSmart is pretty much what Jack does.
Worse, because I trained him to walk off nicely by giving him a treat if he does so, now when we leave another dog or playing kids or whatever, if he doesn't mutiny he keeps looking up at me, grinning and drooling, saying "C'mon, I did good, right? Right? Where's the treat, where's the treat?"
It sometimes makes me wonder who is training whom.
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In addition to "heel," I have also taught Jack "right side" and he will switch behind me from walking on the left to walking on the right with that command; great for avoiding mud or traffic, and it should be valuable for the (hopefully soon) day when we have two dogs to walk.
He will also jump over puddles on command, which keeps him from getting too mucky when we are walking after a rainstorm.
But the legs-in-the-air mutiny just cracks me up. If we are somewhere that he decides is fun and he does not want to leave, he makes it perfectly obvious that he is questioning the sanity of my decision.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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trevor is good, he never stops, he never sniffs mail boxes he just lopes along at my side. abby is a little strange, she never stops either, and i mean never she will be running full speed and pooping at the same time lol, but she never comes close to me like she will heel but she is always liek two feet away cuz she is scared of feet :P shes getting better tho. trevor and abby both use to stop and trevor was very hard to leash train because his neck was very sensative, any pressure would send him into a screaming fit
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Mine love their walks! Sparty trots out like he is the KIng of the World, Izzy drags along behind and Misty (the dobe) has to walk at a heel because she is too big and has terrible leash manners. I think I look a little silly but that is the price I pay for all that love! If Izzy comes across something she wants to check out she will sit down and let you drag her. She is very stubborn! Sparty will do what he is told but he is a product of many, many classes so that helps. Mine also do the lay on the back thing when they are submitting to something they don't really want to do. It does make it very difficult to pick them up when they are on their back!
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Permalink Reply by Corgibyassociation on
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Freya walks ok. She doesn't pull too badly unless her daddy is leaving her far behind then she starts crying very loudly and continuously until she gets to him. She will nearly yank my arm out of socket just to get to her daddy. Otherwise, she doesn't pull if we speed walk--she'll trot right along side me until she suddenly wants to smell something and crosses to my right and nearly cause me to fall on my face.
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