training - walking & boundaries

the first thing we learned is the proper way to walk on a leash, which has been so, so, so important!  part of that training was teaching wally that he’s not allowed to go into the street (or cross any boundaries that we set, actually) without my or joe’s command to do so.  steve wanted to make sure that we taught wally things that will keep him safe first and foremost.   

when we first got wally, he was pretty good on the leash.  he didn’t do that dragging, pulling thing that makes it sound like he’s choking himself to death, but he did definitely walk out ahead and pretty much lead the walk.  steve taught us how to make him walk either beside or behind us, that wally should stop and start when we stop or start, that he has to keep up with us if we’re walking slowly or running, and most importantly, to not ever cross the street until we tell him to do so. 

I think this command has been wally’s shining moment.  I very rarely have to correct him for going into the street without my command.  joe tests him sometimes with different words to make sure that he’s listening for the right word before crossing the street, and I’ve even started testing him by walking into the street myself and then tugging the leash a little bit.  you’re never ever supposed to say his name or the command “come” when you’re testing your dog with boundaries because you always want your dog to respond to “come” or his name, and testing him to go into the street like that is unfair.  but with the gentle tug, he’s been doing phenomenal.  every time we cross the street I tell wally what a smart boy he is.  :) 

teaching him not to cross the street, or the boundaries of the street, has been really helpful in training wally around the house, too.  he’s not allowed in the laundry room – originally because that’s where I kept the cats’ food and I didn’t want him getting in there.  now, though, in lieu of a shed, we’re using that back room to keep lawn and gardening stuff in… the weed whacker, plants, pots, tools, weed killer, etc.  so needless to say, it’s not a very safe place for any animals to hang out.  so we practiced with that boundary, and he’s got it down. 

next, we started removing the baby gate from the staircase so that wally could come with me if I go upstairs to get changed out of work clothes, go to the bathroom, whatever.  he’s got one boundary at the bottom of the stairs, and also one before entering the bedroom.  he’s got the stairs down with very few mistakes… but the bedroom is a whole different story! 

I thought that we had made enough progress with wally that we might be able to have him start sleeping upstairs in my room at night.  he’d still have to sleep in his bed, not mine, but just to have him in the room with me was nice.  you see, since we got him, I’ve been falling asleep on the couch every night until joe comes home from work because wally will whine at the gate if I go up to bed by myself.  so I fall asleep on the couch, joe comes home, then I shuffle upstairs to go to sleep again.  it’s a little annoying, but worth it to me to spend a little time, even sleeping time, with him. 

so he was sleeping in our room at night for a couple of nights in a row… and then we started to notice his behavior was becoming more and more beastly.  he was acting up on walks, ignoring our commands, and even growled at joe’s friend tom!  unfortunately, we had to admit that wally was clearly not ready to sleep upstairs with us.  steve said that if he sees the bedroom as the place to be, even if he has to sleep in his own bed, he’ll start thinking he’s the boss again.  funny how quickly wally fell back into his old ways!  but, I guess he was used to getting his way and being the boss in his last house, and old habits die hard.  it’s back to the couch for me, and the downstairs level of the house at night for mr. bear!