I am interested in hearing from you all how your dog is asking questions.
Is your dog:
As soon as it was time to go for a walk, Tov was all over the place with worry. He was jumping up and down and all around. This behaviour could be seen as just excitement about going out, being really eager to finally be allowed to go for a walk. I know now that it was sheer worry that made him behave like this. I put the lead on him and opened the door. He was the first one out of the house. After this he was pulling in all directions at the same time, it felt like. He was also jumping all over me, biting me on my arms and ones also on my neck. He was very difficult to walk. Tony showed me how to walk him, he also advised me not to go far from home, in order to make Tov more calm. I followed his instructions and I slowly learned how to be able to walk him in a good way without ever jerking on the lead. If someone would be jerking it would be Tov, not me. Tony said that we can see the walk as a journey, not as a destination. It is better to go for a short walk and be happy and in control, where we are both happy, but you are in control and not your dog.
Now I can walk Tov in a very good way, without having any of the problems I had before. I even practice indoors, both on and off leash.
Walks with your dog is also a way to exercise your dog, however, that exercise can be done indoors. Just play with your dog until it starts panting. Job done.
In the beginning Tov was very difficult to handle on walks. He was jumping all over me and he bit me. Once he even jumped up and bit me in my neck. I learned a way to calm him down and to make him stop jumping and biting. It is a very calm way without using any force or harsh words, no jerking on the lead, just calmly leading him to where we were supposed to go.
Just a few minutes of this was enough to make Tov very calm again. Another important thing that I learned was that I do not have to walk my dog at all. I only need to make sure he has the opportunity to go to the toilet. Dogs can get all the exercise they need indoors, even in a small apartment. Tony told me about a married couple who had a 80kg Grate Dane in a one bedroom apartment. When they learned Dog Listening, they had no problems at all living like this.
As Tov found more and more reason to elect me his leader, he calmed down more and more and started to trust me more and more. My goal was to make him by his own free will elect me his leader and trust me with his life. The more I learned and the more I implemented the knowledge I gained from Tony, the better things went.
