christinepi
10-08-2009, 07:07 PM
Hi,
We (my husband and I, newbies) recently started leading Jessie, our 3 year old gelded male. We got him 4 months ago and have so far not lead him much at all, because we were still not confident enough around haltering and other issues.
He has a very controlling nature in every way; I've posted on this issue here before. He knows our limits in boundary setting all around. While things have improved lately by taking certain measures, almost all around food and personal space, we won't change his impression of us over night.
He came to us halter trained and leading pretty well as such. We watched Marty's dvd on leading and obstacles (as well as read the book) and today tried to implement the subtler elements, like the positioning of the wand/body when walking forward, going around corners and stopping. On this dvd, Marty keeps the animal at a 4 feet distance by tapping the animal a bit on the neck with the wand or stepping sideways herself to recreate the 4 feet when the animal moves too close towards her. Well, we went for a stroll today. Every time Jessie came in too close I tried the tapping/touching on the neck and Jessie pretty much every time moved his whole body in ever closer while leaning his neck towards me (therefore showing displeasure/control). I can't step to the side all the time because that as well just confirms to him that he can control me. And then he clearly gets frustrated, which doesn't help things. If we just putter around with him, though, or go through the labyrinth, that seems to be more agreeable to him.
So 2 questions:
Would it make more sense at this point to just putter and not put too much/any pressure on him to pay such specific attention? Let him have fun? He does seem to enjoy walking as such--he puts up absolutely no fight then and is quite well behaved.
Are there other ways to keep him 4 feet away that are less confrontational (therefore more amenable to him) and help establish my leadership (such as it is)? Use the frisbee when leading (that he respects)? That's just difficult because it would require a third hand.
Thanks,
Christine
We (my husband and I, newbies) recently started leading Jessie, our 3 year old gelded male. We got him 4 months ago and have so far not lead him much at all, because we were still not confident enough around haltering and other issues.
He has a very controlling nature in every way; I've posted on this issue here before. He knows our limits in boundary setting all around. While things have improved lately by taking certain measures, almost all around food and personal space, we won't change his impression of us over night.
He came to us halter trained and leading pretty well as such. We watched Marty's dvd on leading and obstacles (as well as read the book) and today tried to implement the subtler elements, like the positioning of the wand/body when walking forward, going around corners and stopping. On this dvd, Marty keeps the animal at a 4 feet distance by tapping the animal a bit on the neck with the wand or stepping sideways herself to recreate the 4 feet when the animal moves too close towards her. Well, we went for a stroll today. Every time Jessie came in too close I tried the tapping/touching on the neck and Jessie pretty much every time moved his whole body in ever closer while leaning his neck towards me (therefore showing displeasure/control). I can't step to the side all the time because that as well just confirms to him that he can control me. And then he clearly gets frustrated, which doesn't help things. If we just putter around with him, though, or go through the labyrinth, that seems to be more agreeable to him.
So 2 questions:
Would it make more sense at this point to just putter and not put too much/any pressure on him to pay such specific attention? Let him have fun? He does seem to enjoy walking as such--he puts up absolutely no fight then and is quite well behaved.
Are there other ways to keep him 4 feet away that are less confrontational (therefore more amenable to him) and help establish my leadership (such as it is)? Use the frisbee when leading (that he respects)? That's just difficult because it would require a third hand.
Thanks,
Christine