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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
Elaine has been training dogs professionally for 14 years. She is a CPDT as well as an endorsed member of NADOI. She is also certified in narcotics detection and is one half of a (twice) certified explosives detection team - the other half being her Dutch Shepherd Spawn, who is also titled in several protection sports. Elaine is the owner of Canine's Best Behavior, a Los Angeles based training company, offering Basic Manners, CGC, K9 Games (soon!) as well as behavior modification for aggression fears phobias etc.
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7/19/2005
Hi there..my dog Buddie, is to the best of my knowledge, a Collie St. Bernard cross, he picked me when I went to the pound 6 years ago, and he's still training me to this date...lol he is with out a doubt the smartest and nicest dog I've had the pleasure of feeding. First I'd like to know if your dog should be walked on your left or right side..he has since day one walked on my left, someone spent a lot of time training this dog, then someone spent sometime abusing this dog, he's much better now (I've had him just over 4 years )..he's very loyal to me, and is admired everywhere we go, he's very friendly and just loves to let the kids pet him..The problem is that after all this time, he is still afraid and easily spooked. When we're on our walks, if we approach a large truck parked on the side of the road it's all I can do to get him to walk past the thing; and when he does it's as though he's waiting for it to jump him or something. It's a good thing I have him on a leash or he'd take off running ? the other thing I would like to know is the hair on the bottom of his feet, between the pads is very long, should it be trimmed or does this act as a cushion for the dog at all ? (daddo47, British Columbia)
Hi Daddo,
Walking your dog on your left is personal preference and nothin
g more. If you like it stay with it. Originally it was taught with hunting dogs because most carry their guns on the right.
Regarding his fearfulness around large trucks, you may want to read The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell, it talks a lot about how to desensitize your dog to things that scare them.
One thing I wonder about is the type of equipment you are using, if he's a Collie/St. Bernard mix he must be pretty big! You may want to use something like an Easy Walker Harness or a head collar like a Halti, backed up to a martingale collar to keep him from pulling you over. Both the harness and the head collar work using accupressure and may calm him a bit. If he's the type of dog who would resist the head collar (lots of dogs do) then use the Easy Walker harness, same principles, just on his body instead and most dogs do just fine with it.
You may want to try pairing something that he enjoys with the scary thing. Simply: if the only time he gets steak bits is in the presence of large trucks, he will be hanging out in tow yards in no short order!
Lastly, If the hair under his feet is problematic, picking up burrs or matting you may want to consider trimming them, but I am a big believer in letting a dog look as much like he's supposed to.
Hope that helps
Elaine Allison CPDT NADOI
Canine Behavior Consultant
Canine's Best Behavior
1.866.K9s.Best
www.caninesbestbehavior.com
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