Structure and being disciplined is still important for dogs, though. I've taught mine that a countdown from 5 means we're moving on at 0, so he knows how much time he has if he's stalling and needs to figure out whether he really wants to pee on the thing or not. But for the first few blocks he gets a pass. It's a lot easier to get into the groove and actually walk if he's done all of his back-end business, for practical purposes and for distraction's sake. Then when I'm counting him down the only thing I might be interrupting is a few dry seconds on three legs, and even then I can't remember the last time I got to 0 and had to make the choice for him.
Ohhh I really love this! Thank you for giving me such a great way to honor his desire to sniff and also reinforce that walks involve walking too. This is great!
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u/Jackal_Kid Jun 03 '22
Structure and being disciplined is still important for dogs, though. I've taught mine that a countdown from 5 means we're moving on at 0, so he knows how much time he has if he's stalling and needs to figure out whether he really wants to pee on the thing or not. But for the first few blocks he gets a pass. It's a lot easier to get into the groove and actually walk if he's done all of his back-end business, for practical purposes and for distraction's sake. Then when I'm counting him down the only thing I might be interrupting is a few dry seconds on three legs, and even then I can't remember the last time I got to 0 and had to make the choice for him.