Dashing dog?
I love my dog. I promise I do. I would do anything for this tornado of fluff but OH MY GOD.
We are having an issue with walks. They appear to over stimulate him rather than doing the opposite effect that I hear they do.. this is new for me so some background.
2 year old, intact male springador (spaniel/labrador). Regular (three/four times a week) we go out to work him (impulse training, gun dog training, hide and seek sniffs). He is working on how to settle in the home as he is an impulsive little turd and so far, doing great, loves his sleep. We will be getting him snipped within the next year (no advice on this please!)
He was diagnosed with meningitis at six months old and has a strict medication schedule to keep him stable. This hindered some training progress in his developmental stages as we were trying to keep him alive.
Has always needed extra lead training as he just wants to go and do EVERYTHING. Like a four year old after a couple of bags of sugar. However, doing really well - no longer excited/reactive with every dog on a walk, we can walk nicely with a few reminders. Recall is very good but not with other dogs around or rabbity/squirrely places.
But now…. Going out for a long leashed sniffy walk brings out the demon in him. He rarely sniffs on walks, he just wants to look at everything, run to the end of the leash, and back, and to the end, and back, look there’s a squirrel, lets chew on a stick. It’s exhausting and not good for any of us.
Now for the advice bit. Do we stop walking him in highly stimulating environments and focus on his engagement on shorter leash, do we cut walks and focus on mental stimulation and working, do we get out some energy before we go out? I’m a bit stuck and have head varying different bits of advice…
TIA!