At last, I think I can manage a walk

I tried out the front fastening halti harness today for a short walk to town with L. It was really nice, as although not a training tool that will teach him to walk nicely, he was much more relaxed than he has been on these type of family none lead training outings on his head collar (Gencon or the Halti). I'm still going to carry the Gencon with me in case of situations where I need tight control of him though. But his body language was much more relaxed and he wasn't trying to rub it off or crying like he still does on the head collar. The best thing was that it was relaxing for all of us. No grinding of teeth, funny burping noises and struggled breathing. So it was much easier to get him to focus on getting used to traffic and the high street again. I was also happy in the knowledge that when I got him back from free running on the beach that I wouldn't have to whip out the head collar which I was worried might muck up his recall and put a downer on the trip out.

So far so good. I've been here before though where I've said I think I found a good solution. But this time it comes off the back of a load of lead training and he's a little older. So perhaps he'll be easier to manage on it.

This morning we ran through some of Helen Phillips training for the lead. Just standing still. Putting my foot on the lead with enough slack and standing in a relaxed position on one hip and just taking the scenery in. CT rewarding him for being calm. I have to work on getting him used to being relaxed and switched off outside before expecting him to be nice on the lead.

Later tonight we went to a cafe and Grey had a cow's ear to keep him busy. Was a bit of a noisy chewer, but he was really good and the cafe people like him.