[nagdu] the dog cut me off

[Katrin Andberg]

When you walk with him in harness and on the GL (gentle leader) can you feel
when he turns his head?  Can you feel when his head shifts left or right,
before he actually has moved his body to block you?  If you can feel that
shift of his head, when he shifts his head to the left due to a distraction
or desire to sniff, take a large step forward with your left foot/leg to
block him, then turn into him until he backs off your pressure.  With a GL
or any type of head collar you don't want to do any kind of jerking on the
head collar since you can do some pretty good upper spine damage on the dog
if you yank and jack knife them on the head collar.  Dogs understand body
pressure and space very well, it's a large part of how they communicate with
other dogs.  If you teach him to respect your body space and pressure, and
to give when you put body pressure on him, it can be a very effective way to
get your point across that you do or don't want a dog to move in a specific
manner or go a certain place.  

 

When he goes to turn his head to sniff in front of you, by body blocking him
with your left leg, and then turning into him, you are putting body pressure
on him to back up and away from what he wants to sniff.  If you reward him
for backing off your pressure, by taking the pressure off (so moving back
into guide position) and allowing him to go forward again, and praising, you
can effectively teach him that walking in front of you in that manner is not
acceptable.  Once he has already gotten fully in front of you though, it is
more difficult, though still doable with body space/pressure, so if you can
catch him just as his head turns that will be easier for him and you to
understand and make clear. 

 

Katrin 

 

Katrin Andberg

Katrin at maplewooddog.com