The Dog Blog: Hot dog! It worked

Friday, December 30, 2016

Hot dog! It worked

QUALITY TIME WITH DIXIE.

THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I've had walking Dixie has been her pulling. I didn't walk her as much as she tried to drag me along.

Dixie wasn't the strongest puller I've ever encountered. She's a beagle, for one thing, and she's missing her left-rear leg, for another.

And she's not even in the same universe of pulling as our late mutt Lady. Lady was a sled-dog type (one-eighth chow). She looked like a sled dog, ran like a sled dog, and, most importantly, pulled like a sled dog.

If Dixie pulled like the young Lady, I wouldn't have been able to handle her. Still, walking her was a struggle. Until today.

My wife Holly sent me the link to an online story about training your dog to walk without pulling. I read it and immediately put the info into practice. I got a sandwich bag and put a hot dog in it. Every once in a while, I'd pull out a bit of hot dog and call Dixie to me. She'd eat it, and we'd go on.

After a few bits of hot dog, I began to notice that Dixie wasn't pulling as much, and she was spending more time at my side. She did pull a few times, but it was easily the easiest walk we've ever had.

By the time we got home, she was right beside me. She wanted to stay at my side even when I left home to go to the library.

I'd call the hot dog caper a success, and we'll go that route next time, too.

UPDATE: I've since learned that dogs can't eat a lot of fat like you'd find in a hot dog; so I'll have to give Dixie bits of hot dog, not the whole thing.

NOTE: Lady passed on Sept. 17, 2016.

• Woof! (translation: Go away, kid; you bother me)