Split: Split: For Hope and Steve – Page 15

Keymaster

Hi Hope, Steve and Jeffrey. So glad you ARE taking it Low and Slow too. :)

Yes, as Sheena said, like Bingo, Sadie would tire (you remember like an elephant Sheena!!! How do you do that?!). I would try to walk Sadie around the block and get maybe 10 houses down, where she would stop and look up at me, scared and out of breath. I would pick her up (all 40 lbs!) and we’d walk toward home. All the way, I’d be whispering, “it’s okay, it’s okay, we’ll get there in due time” to calm her. And we did – it just took some time. But then, Sadie was on high doses of both prednisone and cyclosporine for way too long (due to relapse). Stay patient – Steve will get there too. He will.

As for Jeffrey pulling. Sadie has always been a puller. Mostly because she detests the hot sun and pulls to get to the shade. But in the meantime, my arm is about to fall completely off! So, I bought a harness called a Gentle Walker (not a Gentle Leader). It attaches at the bottom/front, so they have a tendency not to pull. Now, it does get tangled up in their front legs due to this, but if you keep the slack out of the leash, it helps.

Another ‘trick’ I used on Sadie, especially when she was a puppy and would literally pull me off my feet, was:

Using a regular collar and a long leash (at least 6-8 feet), I would pull the leash from where it was attached to the collar, attachment side up (on top of the neck) and run the leash along the back bone, to the rear, straight toward the tail. At the point just above their back legs (still on top though), I would loop the leash, holding the top in place, around to the bottom, between the tummy and hip/back legs (meaning, thread the end through the leash handle, creating a loop). Pull it through and around to the other side. This makes a “lasso” type of harness around their back legs with looped leash above on their backside, hind quarter. Their back legs, interestingly enough, is where they pull from, not their front legs. So, if you control their back end, they have less leverage and hence, tendency to pull. Sounds weird AND looks weird (my husband would not walk with me when I did this), but it does work – every time. Don’t pull hard, as the ‘loop’ closes (as a lasso would) and can be harmful to their tummy, I’m sure. Just little to no slack in leash is usually good enough to let them realize, they have no leverage. Ta da! This technique was found from researching when I was desperate for an alternative to the choke chain collars with the spikes (I threw that away – yikes!). I found this technique on a dog trainers website.

There is actually a product called the Instant Trainer Leash (you can google it), but you don’t need to invest in this when you can do the same with a regular collar and leash. Just remember, don’t let it become too tight around the tummy. But if you look up this leash, you’ll get a better idea of how to run the leash down the back, under the tummy and back around to the top. Watch their video and do it for FREE. :)

Good luck with all. As always – PLEASE keep us posted.

Lots of love and huge hugs, Linda and walking pretty nice these days, Sadie

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