So, today was another day of leash training. I spent a good deal of time walking with Casey, pulling her back, stopping etc. Nothing seemed to work well. The moment she had extra slack in the leash, she would pull and forge ahead, willing me to follow her. No can do, Puppy! We had a battle of the wills—and I barely won. She is getting larger everyday and I am determined to turn her into a compliant walker before she weighs more than I do! Time is of the essence.
I am nervous that her standard nylon collar isn't enough to train her. It requires a substantial amount of force to get her to stop leading and I am afraid that I am going to hurt her or choke her. At the same time, she has choked herself by pulling against me—to the point that sometimes her entire upper body is of the ground and she is walking on her hind legs.
Some books and friends recommend a choke collar for training. If put high up near the ears, apparently this collar can work wonders by giving the puppy a quick jolt without risking injury. Still, I am not sold. Maybe it is the name... “choke”. Who knows. I am sure it is completely safe, but I looking into getting her a harness instead. I have heard that a harness can be very helpful in walking larger dogs. I feel like it would give me a better handle on controlling her safely. I think I will try it. I hope it works!
Incidentally, we only had one accident today inside. She was out a good deal of the afternoon and we let her run free for about an hour to tire her out. She could barely keep her eyes open this evening. Man, I love a tired puppy!
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