My dog's park bench meeting changed our whole walk routine

So I was at the dog park in Riverside Park yesterday, just letting my beagle mix, Beans, sniff around like usual. This older lady with a super calm golden retriever was sitting on a bench and saw Beans doing his frantic zig-zag thing, pulling me everywhere. She smiled and said, 'He's not walking you, you're walking him.' She told me to try stopping completely every time he pulled, and only move forward when the leash was loose. We tried it right there for like 20 minutes. It was slow going at first, but by the end, Beans was actually walking next to me for a few steps at a time. I've been doing it on our walks today and it's a night and day difference, way less stressful. Has anyone else had a random stranger give them a pet training tip that actually worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

rodriguez.felix1mo ago

Ever had a stranger give you advice so good it makes you feel like you've been doing it wrong for years? I mean, a guy at the pet store once saw me struggling to get my cat into her carrier and just said, "Try putting it upright so she can walk in." I'd been shoving her in sideways like a monster for three years. Felt like a total genius and a total idiot at the same time.

river3201mo ago

That carrier trick is solid, but you gotta leave the door open for a few hours before you try it. Put some treats inside. Cats aren't stupid, they need to check it out first. Just flipping it upright and expecting a walk-in still gets you scratched. The real pro move is making the box itself not scary.

the_oscar1mo ago

The real monster move was shoving her in sideways for three whole years.