Max puts on the breaks

I have been trying to get Max to walk along with me while he is his leash. From Max's point of view, there are just too many things to pay attention to, like wonderful smells, other dogs, people who might be taking a walk, and anything that comes to his small mind. At first I tried to get him to walk while the leash was connected to his collar. This did not work very well, and I ended up carrying Max when I got tired of trying to coax him along. Apparently, "Good boy, Max" or "Good job, Max" and other types of encouragement, including frequent clicks, do not work in this situation. A neighbor suggested that a harness works much better.

Off to the store for a harness, which is a trick to get on a wiggling puppy, and then especially fun when you realize that you have put it on upside down and could not connect a leash if you wanted to. So off with the harness and back on the struggling puppy, dodging teeth and whines throughout. Finally the harness was on. Now, to try to walk this puppy who has a mind of his own. I quickly learned to keep the leash quite short, and then when Max gets tired of my urging him onward, I can hoist his front legs off the ground and then his back feet follow swiftly along.

Max has now learned to put on his brakes by refusing to move any of his four feet. His other effort is to simply lie down. Both of these efforts do bring walking to a stop. However, this story is not over yet. My neighbor Byron likes to walk his dog Trixie, and Max likes to walk and sniff Trixie's bottom. Trixie does not like to have Max sniff her bottom and runs forward on her leash, and then Max cheerfully follows. We have managed to get both dogs thoroughly tired out by walking the length and breadth of the grounds. Once around is a mile or more. Age may win out over puppy stubbornness, but don't hold your breath. I am sure that Max has other clever ways to stop us from walking. Happy travels.