Having to take 2 dog walks a day is a blessing and a curse. I’m getting fitter and my mood has been absolutely spectacular, but geezus training my dog is a pain in the arse. Looking forward to the walks requiring less vigilance and not having my arms almost wrenched out of their sockets
It gets better, promise! I love our daily walks, but they have also made me truly appreciate the luxury of solo walks 😄
Haha! Yeah, it’s okay she’ll be old and less energetic one day and my toddler will be 13 and absolutely in love with her dog. That’s what I got it for, not for now, for that future time when the dog will be her best friend and she can walk it.
And you can damage your ligaments and shoulders, be careful.
Oh don’t worry I have a long leash and I wrap it around my waist now so she can’t pull directly on my shoulder, wrists or elbows. I get joint pain these days ☺️
Understand and empathise. I loved the long walks when my gsd was younger, and she is trained enough for me now (but still loses all reason when she sees a wallaby). Now her hips demand a couple of smaller walks per day, so I constantly feel like I am putting shoes on and off. Persevere, good on you.
I look at a guy on insta southenddogtraining he has some good advice
For Irish setters? They are their own hyperactive breed
For all dogs
Some dogs take 80-100 repetitions of a behaviour for their brains to start remembering, these are often highly intelligent dogs but not referred to as such, they’re harder to train. They need more time/more frequent work, with operant conditioning and classical. Positive + negative reinforcement.
Dogs usually pick up training pretty quickly. The trick I found with very active dogs is to shorten the length of your leash so they can't run on a long lead - you'll save your shoulder that way. On the short leash you can train them to stop, sit, and walk beside you. Have treats to reward them.
How big are they? Bugalugs learnt the slightly hard way that a dog that’s nearly her weight can easily pull her off her feet, thankfully she only face planted on grass.