A NEW LEASH ON LIFE

A NEW LEASH ON LIFE

Bringing Jazmine home was a new leash on life for all of us.  I got her on a Saturday so we could have some time getting acquainted before normal life resumed.  Not that a weekend is much time.  I made the commitment beforehand, that I would give my new pup daily walks.   Exercise is important – not just for us, but for our furry friends as well.  It’s not only great exercise, but a way to socialize and make friends too!!  Daily walks would benefit us both.  I had plenty of neighbors that walked regularly, including a retired man that lives down the street and walks his dogs probably 4 times a day.  He inspired me.  I decided I would walk Jazmine before and after work.

EXERCISE IS GOOD

We discovered on day one, at Petpalooza, that Jazmine didn’t know how to walk on a leash and that I would need to teach her.  The day after getting her, we went for our first walk.  We started with using the slip knot leash that she came with.  Oh, how I giggle remembering that walk.  She wouldn’t do it.  At first, she would just sit there, while I tugged on her leash.  So, I would drop her leash and then coax her to walk next to me.  She would trot along side of me, sniffing at the grass.  As soon as I picked up the leash, she would stop walking again.  Or collapse on her side.  SO FUNNY – I wish I would’ve had a video of it.  It must’ve taken us an hour to get around that block, the first time.

LEARNING THE BASICS

The second day, she was a bit better.  I would still have to drop the leash and coax her along but she was more cooperative.  A neighbor (who I didn’t know) called out from his porch – “That pup’s walking much better today then she did yesterday!!”  I laughed so hard, not realizing we were being watched the day before.  What a sight we must’ve been!!!  That neighbor watched our progress over the next few weeks and would comment from time to time on how better she was doing.

It didn’t take long before I couldn’t drop the leash anymore.  My puppy was FAST.  Once she got the hang of things, she was on the GO!  Now that she was actually walking on the leash, she needed to learn some rules.  Rule #1 was learning to stop and sit at the corner before crossing the street.  She still had to learn to sit on command, but with daily walks, it was great practice.

Since Jazmine is part husky, aka sled dog, it didn’t take long before she was pulling pretty hard.  Still to this day, I haven’t quite broken her of that.  But, I feel it’s in her DNA, right??  On day 1, we started with her slip knot leash but quickly started using her pink threaded choker collar that I bought for her on the way home from her adoption event.  She grew out of that in a few weeks and went to a silver choke collar….and then I realized I didn’t love the choke collar and I got her a standard collar, which was also pink.   Jazmine went through several pink collars, as she out grew and even out chewed some.  She is currently in a purple collar, that she has been in for several years now.  

 ** This was originally published on 4/8/2018 but due to technical error was republilshed.. **

How well does your dog walk on a leash?