Where the head goes, the body follows

It's really surprising how long it has taken us to figure out how to teach dogs to walk nicely on a leash. We figured it out with other animals long ago. After all, when we want bulls and horses to pull a plow or a wagon, we put a harness around their necks/chest. When we want them to walk nicely, we guide their heads. As they say, where the head goes, the body will follow...

Basset hounds are notoriously hard to train because the only things they are interested in are food and funny smells to track. (Lack of brains doesn't help much either...) Trying to walk my parent's dog has always required a lot of work because he likes to tear off after every new smell and doesn't mind pulling us so he can follow them. My mum's hands got too sore from fighting him when he would pull, so she had to stop taking him for walks. Thus, every time he goes for a walk with me or my sister he has to be retrained. Annoying. But he loves his walks, so it's extra mean not to take him out. This is a dog that has learned to love his leash almost as much as he loves his marshmallows or table scraps, and will literally sulk and cry if he gets left behind. (It's quite funny to watch actually.)

About a year ago I saw a cousin of mine using a nifty little head collar on her dogs, so I examined her new toy and did a bit of research on my own. Instead of pulling with his neck/chest, a head collar puts the pressure on his nose, pulling it to the side when he tries to lunge forward and messing up his forward momentum. The Gentle Leader looked just about perfect for our problem dog. So, last time Buddy came to stay with me, he got a present. Naturally, almost the very next day I jacked up my ankle, and didn't get to take him on any more walks to get him used to it.

Well, now he's back for another week of babysitting, and seeing as how my ankle is now fine and I am no longer sick, he is getting the royal treatment. Walks at least once a day, sometimes twice (still no table scraps, but he will live). He is really SO funny about it too, because he HATES his new head collar. But, he loves his walks so much that as soon as I pull it out he starts dancing around and practically puts the darn thing on by himself - shoving his nose right into the loop as if to say 'hurry up and figure it out!'

Naturally he struggled a bit at first, trying to get used to the feel of it and trying to figure out why he wasn't in charge of his walk any more. But now... it's almost blissful taking him out. He trots right along beside me, watches to see when I am going to turn... it's like magic. Of course, being a Basset hound, he has to keep his stubborn streak. So three or four times during a walk we stop, and I stand and wait for him while he throws a Basset tantrum, trying fruitlessly to rub the loop off his nose.

Is it mean to laugh so hard when he does that? He just looks so ridiculous that I can't help myself - and now that it is snowy outside he winds up plowing through the drifts trying to rub it off. It looks like he is trying to dig a snow cave. Of course once he's made his opinion perfectly clear, he gets right back in his spot so he can finish his walk. This dog never ceases to make me laugh.