So we decided in the end not to get the harness. This decision wasn't entirely thought-out: the local Petco didn't have any harnesses that we liked, and they didn't fit Ruki anyways. I went on-line and looked at the Sensations and Hightower harnesses, and didn't really go any further than that.
Because all of a sudden, our problems with Ruki on the leash started going away. Yes, she pulls occasionally when there's something she *really* wants, but since we've been treating her to come out of the courtyard, we haven't had much of a problem.
I treat her with these all-beef squares, ripped in half, so the pieces are like 1 cm x 0.5 cm or with slices of baby carrots. After about a week of this fantastic behavior, it takes at most 2 treats to get her downstairs and out the door. About 3 to get her out of the courtyard. And I usually burn about 10 or so for a 20-min walk around the block--sits at street crossings, jobs across streets, random treats while she's following, etc.
I think now that Ruki is about 4 months old, she's becoming more emotionally mature. It was almost overnight. She has her crazy times, but not as crazy as before. Her chewing is pretty manageable--as long as I keep my eye on her, she doesn't really chew things she's not supposed to, and if she does they're "soft chews" and not the voracious gnawing it was before.
She hasn't had an accident in the house for about a week. We can let her out of the crate and just let her play and hang around.
It's crazy. I think she's even developing her language to let us know when she wants out. Recently, she's just kind of gotten up and walked to the door. And hangs out there. Looks like a signal that she wants to do something outside!
I don't know if this is a change in her, a change in us, but probably both combined. So if anyone's having trouble with their bullie, the leash, and walking, the only things I can say are: take a deep breath, relax, and she's still growing up.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment