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Dog Walkin' Woes

In my Dog Whisperer enthusiasm, I've taken it upon myself to 'master the walk.' In the words of my man, Cesar Millan, it's important that I don't let DogSpot drag me along on our walks or she's gonna think she's the pack leader. And we can't be having that, now can we?

But DogSpot doesn't see things that way. Each morning, she gleefully hops in to the back of my Explorer, enthusiastically hops out when we've gotten to our walking spot, and then she just takes off. The poor thing has about strangled herself and crippled me in her quest to lead us off into the wild blue yonder and she's just about yanked my arm out of socket a time or two. You'd think the little beast weighed more than 33 pounds.

I've tried all the tips. I faithfully recored each and every episode of the show and pore over all the instructions. And I try to follow them, I really do. But my dog just doesn't turn into the little miracle that Cesar promises she will. I've used a regular collar, I've used a harness, I've used a backpack (which is on hold until her fix-it stitches totally heal), I've even used one of those slip collars.

I'm coming to the sad conclusion that it's not the dog. It must be me. I guess I just have bad energy. And according to Cesar, you just can't walk a dog when you have bad energy.
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Comments

Mary Ellen said…
Why not send ole Cesar your plight? Maybe he'll come to your rescue and you'll both get to be on his show AND you'll end up with a well behaved dog!?!?!
10/16/2007 10:47 PM
Rochelle said…
I have resolved a similar problem with a much bigger dog (60 lbs) with the Gentle Leader (to be had at Wal-Mart, or PetSmart,etc) It works fabulously. My dog doesn't drag me on our walks anymore...I LOVE it!
10/17/2007 7:44 AM
Unknown said…
It's been sooooooooo long since I've had a dog, but our last dog was a Doberman and was already trained when I got him. I walked him daily for miles and he was so good walking right by my side. I thought he was the most handsome dog on the planet with his beautiful sleek black coat and I felt like a queen everyday on our walks. But I draw a blank when it comes to training a dog.
10/17/2007 8:56 AM
Anonymous said…
Well, Jennifer, she is keeping us in shape with her energy. She is a great pace setter. I thought she was doing well!

~Sue
10/17/2007 12:49 PM
LindaJo49 said…
It makes you wonder what you said to her to get the expression she has here? Quizzical? Baffled? Bored? Or, I can pose!!
10/21/2007 3:52 PM
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