Good Heavens, Ferret Folks, What a wealth of knowledge you collectively
posses!

I asked for leash walking help for my *11* year old dog Allis (figured
it out, husband and I have been together for ten years, so the dog is
at *least* 11) and the overwhelming suggestion from you was that I
get a Halti snout harness. Well, I went to the Agway today and bought
a number #2 size as suggested on the Halti web site. I read the
directions carefully, and then I snugged all of its little straps
onto Allis's head. She looked at me as if I had been smoking crack or
something, but she put up with it. I clipped her good leash onto the
bottom O-ring, and we headed out into our dirt road with a can of kitty
treats for rewards.

Well, we didn't get six feet before Allis started bucking bike a
bronco, but things were different this time. I was determined to take
*her* for a drag for a change if that's what it took. Yes, I had
undergone an Attitude Adjustment in the night. I had read the Caesar
Milano web page you folks had sent me to. I was feeling Alpha, with
bells on! Rrrr!

Allis bucked and she pivoted and she spun. I simply stood there holding
her leash, waiting for her to grow up and out of it. She did, after a
bit. And we began to walk. She tried pulling. Not a good idea on a
Halti snout harness. I made her stop, and sit. Then we started again.
We started over from the beginning half a dozen times. Finally, we made
it to the mailbox. You know how in newspaper cartoons a really angry
character has a little cloud drawn over his head, and there are ugly
things in the cloud that let you know how he feels? Tiny swastikas,
skulls and crossbones, things like that. Allis had that cloud over her
head by then. I let her rest. I rubbed her head. I praised her for
sitting on demand. I offered her a kitty treat. She made it clear that
I could shove the can of kitty treats up my, well, you know. I put the
can away in my purse, and that was the end of the kitty treats.

We made a turn into the main road. I gave her about two feet of leash,
and let her walk just where she is comfortable for me, on my right. She
pulled. I pulled. She pulled. I pulled. She pulled. I pulled. After
about five minutes of walking I remember thinking "well, this certainly
isn't everything it promised, but she is pulling a lot less." Five
minutes later, a miracle happened....the leash...went...slack...and
Allis trotted along at my knee. Not pulling.

I began to praise her. I praised her and praised her. I kept it up as a
running monologue. And she trotted, and the leash stayed slack. For the
first time in TEN YEARS!!!!!! I took her for a walk like a normal dog.
It wasn't exhausting or frustrating or embarrassing. It was nice. And
when we passed the yard with the three toy dogs? She pulled, and her
snout harness shut her jaws as advertised so that she couldn't bark at
them savagely, and scare the owner, and get a terrible reputation in
her new neighbourhood.

Thank you, Ferret Folks! This will make a change in the quality of
her life, and in the quality of her health. You have done her a great
kindness, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Yes, old dogs
*can* learn new tricks.

Alexandra in MA

[Posted in FML 5598]