a leash rarely pulled

Other than a fish or two at various points throughout my childhood, I didn't really have pets while I was growing up. Consequently, I ended up with this notion that I didn't really like animals, and I was more than content with the idea of never having to own one. Dogs always seemed so dependent and starved for attention; cats on the other hand, while they certainly could take better care of themselves than dogs, they rarely demonstrated the capability to do much else. When I married my wife though, a bonafide lover of all animals, I knew that it was only a matter of time before some sort of four-legged creature would work its way into our lives.

Now it has been exactly two weeks since my wife and I acquired Jinny, our wonderful little rescue dog, from the local animal shelter. She's nearly three years old, unbelievably calm, and markedly shy. Given her history, it took her a bit to warm up to us, but I think my wife and I both knew that with me already on the fence about animals, getting a puppy would have meant managing a level of hyperactivity that would have turned me off of dogs forever. Jinny is amazing though: she's a great, little runner, sometimes stubborn, but generally very willing to please.

It was clear that she hadn't had much training, but rather than working on general commands, we decided to prioritize getting her house-trained and good on a leash. The first came quickly, only a couple of accidents over the first few days we had her; now she has no problem waiting while we're both away at work during the day. The second proved a little trickier though.

Since I was the one who was primarily going to be walking and running Jinny, I did most of the leash training with her. I employed a number of different strategies to get her to stop pulling. Obviously the first, and the one that I still use periodically, was rewarding her with treats whenever she walked at my side. Aside from that though, I also worked on making sure she knew that I was in control. I made a point of stopping abruptly whenever she started to pull, only resuming our walk after she had stopped and given me her full attention, and whenever she was being particularly bad at staying by my side, I switched directions quickly and repeatedly to demonstrate that she needed to be paying attention to where I was going to move.

It feels like we've had Jinny for so much longer than the two weeks it's actually been. We've gotten into a routine where we go for a run in the morning and a long walk in the afternoon. She still tends to freak out when a truck rolls by or when we explore a new trail together, but it's amazing how much progress she's made in such a short amount of time. Dogs really are the perfect fitness companions, and I can't believe I've waited so long to have one.