• Teresa Stanczak

    Member
    October 20, 2012 at 1:25 am
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    Glad that the flat collar is working well for you. I do prefer Martingale collars to the flat collar because it’s a little easier on the trachea. But on a puppy that young a flat collar would still be ok.

    One method that I like for puppies this young that like to lag :
    Drop a small piece of treat by the outside of your foot ( left foot if you want pup to learn to walk at your left Side) as you are walking
    You should drop a treat at regular intervals such as every step or two,
    when pup is following you easily, drop treats at longer intervals ( every 3-4 steps,etc)
    Start dropping treats at random intervals so pup can’t predict if it wil take 2 steps or 15 for treat to appear.

    This in addition to leash manners should set you on a better course.

    As far as distance, for a 10 week old puppy I would say 1/2 a mile to be safe. He can get the rest of his exercise playing ball or tug. You must be careful with his joints at a young age.
    The reasoning behind short leash walks vs yard play is for a few reasons:
    Repetitive forced (ie leashed) pavement walking can overtime lead to joint issues. (it’s a concussive surface and the joints are still developing.

    Yard play is on a softer surface (generally grass) nd the pup can naturally stop when he is beginning to tire.

    As a rule don’t walk your pup to tire him, but use it as an opportunity to socialize him instead.

    Tug, yard play and training can be used to wear out some restless spirit instead.