Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Leash Monsters

I just attended a fantastic seminar called "Leash Monsters" at 4Paws University.  It was fantastic!

A Leash Monster is a dog that goes ballistic when it spots a dog, cat, bicycle, etc... while on a leash.  It was cute she called us members of the Midnight Walkers Club. 

She started by sharing her story of her first dog that was a leash monster; he sounded like quite a handful.  We proceeded by discussing body language in dogs and we saw a few videos.  The discussion on causes was minimal due to the fact that many dogs are adopted and many times the reasons are unknown. 

She ended by showing us techniques she teaches her students. 

I loved he way she organized the class and the topics she presented.  I also liked the way she didn't try to make us feel bad we had naughty dogs. It was very factual with lots of helpful tips.

The best thing I learned:  Most of the techniques that were mentioned were already part of my toolkit. This made me feel like I wasn't harming or torturing Marley while trying to manage her behavior. 

4Paws University will be hosting seminars once a month for the next couple of months.  This seminar was so good, I may attend the whole series.