By Minou Tpain

Don’t Hesitate

Imagine this, you are walking in the woods with a camp leader but you are happily following the leader because you know he knows his way around but then a spooky sound comes along and you stop.

Here are two possible scenarios:

Scenario#1
The camp leader stops with you and looks around then looks back at you. He seems unsure of what to do, almost as if he is waiting for you to make the first move. Are you still going to want to follow this leader? Are you still going to trust this leader knows what’s best?

Scenario #2
The camp leader keeps on going and tells you “let’s go” not phased by the noise.

Which leader would you prefer to follow?

Most of us are likely going to go with the leader from scenario #2.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I see this human behavior quite often with our dogs, especially when we are on walks together-our dog stops, so we stop with them, we look at them, ask them what’s wrong and literally wait for them to make the decision to move because we think something is wrong when the majority of time there is nothing wrong, except for the fact that now in your dog‘s eyes you don’t look like much of a confident leader, you look more like an unsure follower.

And so the dog begins to develop this habit of stopping and refusing to move forward because they are walking with someone that they do not feel is capable of leading. Now, you may be quite capable but that has not been successfully communicated to your dog and so his anxiety will build and going for walks may not be something he enjoys.

Do your best to pay attention to your own human behaviors and remember to always act like a leader that is confident, capable, all-knowing and fair. Your dog will feel so much better and at ease with you in that position.

Need more help with proper leash walking, visit the Loose Leash Walking Series in the Guides section.

#dogwalking #dogwalkinglife #dogleash#dogadventures #doglife #dogtraining#dogtrainerlife #dogmom #dogparent#dogpawrents #cltdogs #charlottenc#indianlandsc

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