[nagdu] walking guide dogs?

[Tami Jarvis]

Gary,

I've heard that just walking your dog on leash will ruin everything, 
especially if you let it sniff! I've heard a lot of other stuff, too, 
that I ignored on accounta the people telling me this were clearly daft. 
/lol/

Training Mitzi meant a lot of months doing nothing but loose leash work, 
some in the training sense and some for leisure and to get to the park 
to let her run off all her wild energy. So when I started in-harness 
training with her, we still did other stuff on leash, including sniff 'n 
stroll. Would you believe a dog can tell the difference between when 
it's wearing a harness and when it's not? Shocking! /lol/

With her poodly temperament, I do a lot of the same things you describe 
because giving her a break to sniff and relax helps her keep better 
mental balance in her work. It can also be relaxing for me, so it works 
out. Even now that we have a nice big yard, and I don't need to take her 
out to relieve, I do like to do "buddy walks" with her sometimes around 
the neighborhood. We both enjoy it. Sometimes I will do a long working 
walk, then use the cane coming back, or part way back. It just varies.

With Mitzi, giving her a chance to sniff sometimes actually seems to 
reduce her sniffiness in harness. She seems to need to get it out of her 
system, then she's good to go. Other dogs may be more prone to sniffing 
in harness if they're allowed to sniff on leash, but that is not the 
case with mine. /smile/

Tami

On 11/19/2013 03:34 PM, GARY STEEVES wrote:
>
> Hi all:
>
> This lack of speed thread has produced this interesting question for me to ask. I'm curious how many of you walk your dog on leash daily? I know when I was talking to my school about working on heeling Bogart while just on leash they were wondering why would I need to do that.
>
> I take Bogart out for a walk in the morning on leash. If I'm heading to work then it is just half a block where he knows how much time he has to get busy or harness is on and we're on our way. At night I take him for a walk again before going to bed. These aren't long walks, about 15 - 20 minutes weather dependent. I use my cane for walking him. This is where he is allowed to be a sniffy dog but when he is in harness I do not allow him to be sniffy. At lunch at work we go in harness a block from here to the residential street where I take off his harness and we walk a block one direction and then back with him on leash. Then back in harness and off to lunch. After work it's all in harness until the block of my place and then harness off so he can sniff and relieve himself.
>
> No judgements about right or wrong but I'm curious if others take their guide dogs for walks without the harness.
>
> Cheers
> Gary
>
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