Walking the Dog

There’s lots of advice about walking your dog on a leash.  If you use the “training” method to extreme, you can make your dog walk obediently by your right side and then immediately sit when you stop. All the while your dog will ignore every distraction. If that is what you want, go for it! To me it smacks of a robot dog.

As long as my dog stays close by, I’m fine with her walking a few steps behind or a few steps ahead.  Dogs need to explore and that impulse should not be supressed.

Your dog should know to “come” on command and know the flexible “drop it” command, as explained in The Heart of Your Dog on page 103. As long as your dog understands those things, you and your dog will always have a pleasant walk.