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Re: ‘Easy,’ ‘Far Enough.’ and ‘Hold It.’ — All 3 are fine, provided you teach and use them consistently. Since they are Commands, if you are following the Full Predictable Command Sequence, you need to precede each Command with ‘Nugget.’ and then Correct and Praise in a timely, appropriate way. That said, I’m not entirely sure why you even need ‘Easy’ and ‘Far Enough,’ if you are doing Leash Manners Walking the K9-1 way, which is to finger pump as soon as that leash gets tight and say ‘Nugget,’ particularly when you are changing direction, but also whenever else you think you need to say his name to get his attention. Please understand: I’M NOT SAYING IT’S WRONG to use those words, but the whole idea behing Loose Leash Walking is to get your dog used to staying on a loose-leash without you’re having to say anything. So if you do use those words, just be consistent. Regarding ‘Hold It.’: I think that’s a very useful command. For example: to prevent forging at the door or the curb (if you’re not in Heel or you are still working on Heel). You might want to use it at the doorway, when you are going out for a walk, if Nugget forges. You also can work on it in your apartment. You could put two chairs next to each other (to simulate a doorway or curbside), walk between the chairs and say ‘Nugget. Hold It.’ I did something like that at doorways. General Observation: We instinctively use words, because we’re mere humans. Dogs don’t need no stinkin’ words, because they’re dogs. Body language, tone is what they ‘hear’ instinctively. They can learn our words, and they need to. But we need to get more body-language literate as well. I truly believe that’s greatest pleasures and benefits of being with dogs. And it’s part of dog ‘training.’ Some dog-researchers believe we learned our social skills and hunting skills from watching wolves hunt in packs, and later from hunting with proto-dogs. Just sayin.’
