So the Daize and I hit a bit of a rough spot this past week. My sister (Daisy's much beloved Aunt Mia) and I recently moved in together. Awesome apartment, lots of space, great views...but no yard. Now Daisy was previously used to "doing her business" off a leash and in the backyard at her own leisure. Enter leash and more scheduled bathroom times and she was not a cooperative participant in house training, part 2. She decided our floors were perfectly okay for "eliminations". Um, definitely NOT okay. But that's a topic to be covered at a later date--maybe after we've eliminated her bad eliminations.
She also decided that walks were no longer fun and she would just sit and stare at me while I tried to walk. Somehow she still managed to look cute while doing that, but it wasn't working on me this time. I had a period of time where I got so frustrated with her that I just wanted to give her away to the first person who wanted her. And she would just stare at me like she knew. However, as someone pointed out, I had to outsmart her and use my human brain to do so. How do I outsmart a cocky, obstinate, bratty little puppy with more attitude that body mass? Google. I googled how to get my dog to walk on a leash and I found an article about little treats along the way. Basically we walk and when she's walking well, I drop her a little treat. If she stops, no treat. And you know what? I actually got her to take a stress-free walk around a couple of blocks! She is still distracted by other dogs and people, especially children, but with one little tug she follows behind...and then I reward her a little bit down the way. My human brain prevailed and Daisy lives to see another day! Win-win all around.
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