[NAGDU] Question about walking the [other] dog

[Tami Jarvis]

Matt,

I would go with puppy and cane at this point. It can get dicey with a 
large, energetic young thing, but if you really work at it, you can 
learn to be braced for impact and still relaxed enough to keep from 
exciting the puppy. Well, some days. I speak from experience. /lol/ I 
have also discovered that adjusting my center of gravity so that I can 
sit down to hang on to an excited wild thing works wonders to keep hold 
of the dog without ending up on my nose. That was with my husband's 
powerhouse tank kinda mutt when she was young. Then we got a martingale 
style prong collar, which was enough to slow her down at least. I didn't 
even have to take the rubber pads off the prongs, so it helped. Her 
muzzle is short and broad, so a head collar is hard to fit on her.

A no pull harness with the leash attachment in front works wonders, too, 
since the dog just pulls itself around away from whatever it wants to 
pull towards. Even if the dog keeps trying, it just can't get the same 
leverage as when it's pulling straight forward against you. It also 
helps avoid the feedback loop where the dog is pulling harder because 
you're pulling back while you keep pulling harder because the dog is 
pulling. I've spent a lot of time practicing my end of loose leash work, 
but I can still find myself making that mistake if I don't pay attention.

A head collar also works, but there's the danger of neck injury for the 
dog if it tries to take off and gets pulled around hard. It is 
definitely an option, though, and safer than having to decide whether to 
let go of the dog or get dragged.

I never have gotten the hang of working my guide while taking one of the 
others on a walk. I know other people do that and make it sound easy, 
but they have special powers that I don't. /lol/

Good luck!

Tami

On 02/17/2018 09:24 AM, Matt Hackert via NAGDU wrote:
 > Good morning, fellow dog guide users,
 > I have a question, not pertaining so much to guide dogs as it 
pertains to non-visual work with pets. I have my Seeing Eye dog Igloo, 
and his performance is great. But our family adopted an additional 
member over the summer, a rescue dog, most likely a Dane-Mastiff mix, 
but we don't know for sure. Anyway, she's definitely high energy, and is 
experiencing cabin fever, evidenced by the fact that she is frequently 
finding her way out of the fence.
 >
 > Here's my question: does anybody have suggestions for a safe way to 
walk the dog, which is not a guide? I have no sight or light perception, 
so it would either have to be both dogs, or the puppy and a cane. She's 
strong though, and not totally accustomed to loose leash walking yet, 
and I could easily imagine a situation where I could lose my grip on her 
and/or my cane.
 >
 > Thoughts/suggestions?
 >
 > Much appreciated,
 > Matt
 >
 > E-mail me @ matt.hackert at gmail.com
 >
 > Sent from my iPhone
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