Baby Thor

Baby Thor

Training Thor

In January 2010, Thor, a 5-month-old weimaraner, came crashing into my life.



Here, I will outline the steps taken to train him to be a well-mannered dog,

to do agility, and to perform some service dog tasks.



At five months, he is pretty wild.











Saturday, February 20, 2010

Goofed Again

When I took Thor to his vet appointment, he pulled me eagerly into the building and wanted to greet a little bulldog who was just inside the door.  Afterwards, he dragged me back outside.  I was afraid of falling down he pulled so hard.  Note to self:  work on loose-leash walking!

The training I do with Thor in the house and in the (fenced) yard is all without a leash.  No problem getting him to stay with me.  But put a leash on him and he pulls, pulls, pulls.  So yesterday I decided to take him with me (on lead) to walk to my mailbox (about 100 feet from my front door).  I loaded up my pocket with lots of little bits of cheese and hotdog.  I thought that with the food held in front of his nose, Thor would want to stay next to me.  Wrong!

A neighbor's dog was tied out and barking, within our sight but 3 houses away.  Thor found that very exciting.  He pulled, he jumped, he circled me tangling me in the lead and knocking me to the ground.  Between Thor's bouncing and pulling, and my weakness, it was several minutes before I was on my feet again.  The return trip was equally difficult.  When we got to the house, Thor tore up onto the porch slamming my hand into the porch railing.  It hurt!  After we got inside and Thor was back in his crate, I sat down and cried.  My hand hurt, and I kept thinking I was in over my head with this big strong wild dog.  Finally, my thoughts became calmer and I went online to find a front-clip harness. 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Melinda! NEBCR has a ton of Easy Walk Harnesses. They really do work well! I hope you are feeling better and your hand is ok!!

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  2. Thanks Amy! Do you happen to know what sizes/colors/styles NEBCR has? My sister tried an Easy Walk with her sheltie and was not impressed. I've looked at a product called Walk Your Dog With Love but it comes in fewer sizes with fewer adjustable parts and no leash-included option. I'm up in the air but want to come to a decision quickly. If possible, I'd like to get one ordered today.

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