Sticking to It

Teaching Coda to walk on a leash has not been a picnic. I thought my persistence had paid off, as I had been taking her for short walks and giving her treats for heeling. So, today, Ed and I decided to take her for a long walk on the fire road. It turned out, that all she has learned from me is that when mom says 'heel' that means she'll give me a treat. Then, I get to run ahead again and pull as hard as I can. It was very frustrating.

Halfway through our walk we discovered that holding a stick in front of her face kept her from running ahead. I've looked online, and haven't found anyone that has used this method. It seems like they might deem it abusive, but considering the fact that we didn't hit her with it, it seemed mild enough to us. By the end of the walk Ed was able to hold the stick in front of himself and she was still good. We're cautiously optimistic that this is the solution to our problems. Stay tuned....