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When
Max, our dog , was only a few of months old, I put a tiny harness on him and I
let him pull a little 4 inch piece of 2×4 down the road, while I walked him on
leash. His first reaction was to turn around and pounce on the little thing
that was following him, making rattling noises. Soon he got used to the sound
and the gentle tugging.
Later
on when Max was older and stronger, I used a larger piece of wood, and took
him walking off leash in a nearby field. The piece of wood was large enough to
occasionally get snagged on a clump of grass. At first Max would stop,
thinking that the resistance meant he was stuck. But after a few tries, he
learned that a strong pull forward would un-stick the drag. This was the
beginning of really learning to pull.
As he grew up,
Max got to pull a full sized tire up the road, in exchange for praise and
occasional treats. During these lessons, I taught him not to stop to
investigate things beside the road. “On by!” means leave that squirrel and
keep moving foward. I used the leash on his collar to tug him forward every
time he began to veer to the side towards a distraction.
You can make
your “On By” lessons very effective by planting your own distractions beside
the road - favorite dog toys, food, neighbours with on-leash dogs, etc. That
way one lesson you can practice “On by” twenty times. It’s an important lesson
for your own safety while scootering and skijoring. It is worth going out of
your way to teach it to your dog.
Over several
lessons, Max became more confident, and started running ahead of me pulling
strongly. At that time I moved the leash from his collar, to the back of his
harness. Now he was pulling the weight, and a good amount of resistance from
me too. He was ready to try pulling the scooter.
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