When I first joined THS I lost a local short sit after meeting up due to the HOs not believing that I was capable of walking their two dogs, they were small and medium and certainly not strong dogs by any means. I’m 5ft 3”, however having owned horses for decades I’m pretty skilled at leading managing and directing large animals and large stronger dogs from the ground- it’s a set of skills and techniques you learn with experience. After that I included pictures in my profile of me walking 2 dogs (large ones!) and it’s never been questioned since. We sit mostly as a couple but I always do the early morning walk so sometimes it’s just me walking the dogs, except one time when there were special circumstances of them being reactive dogs. In this case hubby walked 20 yards ahead to warn other dog walkers that we had dogs ‘in reactive training’ which certainly got them putting their dogs on leads to pass by. Anyway I include pictures of me walking 2 dogs…what are your experiences?
I understand - I’m 5’4” but also regularly walk large dogs. I’ve had one owner decline my application because they were looking for 2 people for their 2 large dogs. I was disappointed, but couldn’t really argue with that. I’ve had other owners hesitate, so I changed my profile picture to me with a lab/pit mix that had crawled into my lap, and me obviously thinking it’s the best thing in the world. That seemed to put everyone’s mind at ease that I can handle large dogs. Good luck!
I have looked after two dogs alone on several occasions, of different sizes. Sometimes I’ve had to walk them separately because of their different personalities/reactions and other times together. I will be looking after 3 Labradors in August and wondered if that was wise. However, I met them on Saturday and feel quite confident. Two of them are older and just have a 20 minute walk morning and evening, the other is aged 2 so I’ll be taking her out on her own for longer walks while the other two sleep at home.
Here’s my daughter, about 8 years old at the time, walking these two. It was all fine until one decided to look at something in one direction, and the other headed the opposite way - they nearly pulled her arms (and mine too!) off!
My view is that if dogs pull on the lead (after initial excitement of ‘going out’) then corrective training is necessary, especially if there are two.
I’ve often owned and walked bigger dogs and I’ve found Halti (or Halti type) harnesses excellent for both training and control. Dogs can’t pull on them because if they do it makes them pivot their heads.
My own dog, who was a large and sometimes reactive rescue German Shepherd cross, stopped pulling entirely after a few month of training on one.
I’m doing a sit next month with a large Rhodesian Ridgeback and when the owners said their was a Halti available if I found she was pulling with me (as we all know it sometimes takes dogs a while a settle with a new person walking them) I knew the owners were really responsible dog parents.
Knowing the dog you’re walking can be properly controlled at all times is a protection for you, them and also other animals and humans you encounter. Behaviour on the lead is something I always ask about in the video call if the dogs need to walked that way. A Halti-type harness is a good aide to have in addition to other distraction tactics for reactive dogs.
I prefer to use this technique: pass the lead down between their front legs and under the near side front leg. If they pull they’re working against themselves in that pulling exerts downward pressure on the collar. It’s just one approach.
Do they actually walk if you do this? I would have thought they might stop until you adjust the lead
Yes they stop and look puzzled and then after a while learn to walk nicely. The thing is the pressure downwards is instant after they pull forwards so the message to their brain has zero delay. As all techniques it is skilled and all about positioning/placement/timing and your reaction all in the moment. It’s just one technique. I find I use half a dozen different ones depending on the psychology of the dog or its age or lack of training. A few I make do circles, so that pulling creates a circle at every step or I turn the dog into the fence/wall so pulling results in them blocking themselves in effect. A person will never win a pulling match with a dog or a horse, so it’s about being clever.