The interesting thing about learning training is that there are so many other things you learn as well. One of my big questions is, "How is life supposed to be with my dog? What is the goal?"
I'm getting to the point where I can have Kody walk right next to me for almost our full walk. But once I accomplished this, something strange happened, the goal changed again. It got me thinking, the only time Kody gets to go outside is on leash on our walks. I asked myself, is it really my intention to completely deprive him of tracking and sniffing? Of course not, but if he's always paying attention to me and walking by my side, that's what's going to happen.
So today we tried something different. I let Kody pull on the leash almost as much as he wanted, if it became difficult for me, I would encourage him to be by my side again. But when he did come by my side, he was rewarded. The difference is that it's a free choice for Kody. If he feels it's worth it to forgo sniffing for a few treats, he can. If he wants to go to the end of the leash and sniff, he can, as long as he's not being obnoxious about it and trying to pull my arm off.
I also took us to a few interesting areas off-path just for him to sniff. I would walk where he wanted and we could even go around in circles if he thought that was the right thing to do. If he came back to me he would get a click and a treat but if he led me around the place, that was fine.
You know how the walk turned out? Perfect! At first he "did his business" which has always required acceptable leash pulling while he finds his spot. After the business, he's still very curious so there was some leash pulling. Then he walked by my side for a while. Then it was off and on as he found interesting places. But at the end, I think he was pretty sniffed out so for almost the entire second half of the walk he chose to walk by my side. Good quality by my side and slightly behind me walking, and all his choice.
I know it was a better walk for him, and it was better for me too because I didn't panic everytime he wandered off or went to the end of the leash. It was the most relaxing walk we've ever had because I remained stress free.
I'm meeting with my trainer again soon, so I'll get her input on this whole thing, but what I'm glad about is we're coming to a good balance where Kody is able to do what I want, and I can gather control of a situation, but there are plenty of times when he doesn't have to.
I wonder about this too! I definitely feel bad for dogs who have their collar way up on their neck CM-style and aren’t allowed to sniff anything (why are you walking your dog exactly?) but I do get annoyed when my dog feels a need to stop at every. single. tree. I recently realized how good she’s gotten at it, though–she almost never reaches the end of the leash–and I’ve started looping it around my arm and keeping my hands in my pockets. It helps that I almost always slow down to allow her to sniff, unless it’s getting ridiculous, and I keep the pace very lively while moving. A proper heel with full attention (as opposed to loose leash walking) is very difficult for some dogs to achieve, when they are more interested in the environment than in what their owner has to offer at that same time. It’s like a dance, learning to line your goals up with what can currently be expected/asked for.
It’s so true that it is different for different dogs. Different breeds and even different individual dogs have different wants and needs. People would consider you crazy if you expected a labrador retriever not to jump around and play like crazy sometimes. It’s equally crazy to expect a dachshund not to track. It’s what they were bred to do.
But what I’m personally finding with Kody, is that I can maybe have this balance. When he wants to track, most of the time he can go ahead and track, and tracking is the reward. But when he doesn’t have a strong urge to track, I’m trying (and succeeding) to train him to walk by my side. I can see what mood he’s in by what he chooses. I can see him choosing between the reward of tracking and the reward of treats, and that’s a great thing.
If I need to force the choice (like we need to get going) I seem to be able to do that too, with a command that encourages the behavior I want, which is also important.