Soon-to-be-jetsetter Cody just finished up with me this morning. He did a great job with his basic indoor manners (although jumping up when he wants something remains a challenge), so during our lessons we focused on reigning in his surly leash behavior. Well, we attempted to focus on that behavior, but the environment conspired against us.

Dealing with “tough guys” is a fairly common training request – I get several calls a week from people who are looking for help to deal with their dogs’ leash walking grumpiness. I enjoy working on these types of cases, but I always warn potential clients that we’re at the mercy of their neighborhood … if there are no dogs out and about during our lesson, all we’ll wind up doing is taking a pleasant, grumble-free stroll. What’s bizarre is that I can go to the most heavily trafficked dog ‘hoods to work on leash issues and we’ll not see a single dog for the entire hour. I show up and suddenly Dog Town, USA turns into Ghost Town.

It’s a curse.

As expected, we rarely saw other dogs during Cody’s lessons. We employed Rex and Maxine initially, just so Cody’s person could get the leash and treat handling mechanics down, and then spent the majority of the lessons chasing down every vaguely canine shape we saw. At one point I mistook a decorative stone lion for a dog. Desperate times …

Thankfully, we ran into a little Westie on several walks and I was pleased to see that the dog-friendly, science-base techniques we used enabled Cody to draft behind her and not flip out. His person told me that in the past, Cody would react even when he saw a dog a few blocks away. That’s progress!

Cody is ready to begin his adventure in England, and I have a feeling that he’s going to greet his new canine neighbors with a smile and not a growl.