Carrying the dowel

[MontanaRott]

Guerin has no interest in carrying a dowel on a walk, but Stevie is another story. We get out the door and to the end of the driveway and he stops and sits and nags for his dowel. His is not a wooden one but an Air Kong, the long thin one.
He carries that thing the entire walk, head up, chest out and full of pride. The walks we take are anywhere from 2 to 4 miles. He trots the whole walk not interested in what is going on around him, as long as he has his dowel. His walking is entirely different without that thing in his mouth, he is easily distracted, and does not maintain a steady pace, as he does with it in his mouth.
I am going to be sorry to see the warm weather get here, when he will not be able to carry it the whole walk. Is there something else, similar to this we will be able to do in the warmer weather?

[Judi W]

So what is wrong with the actual dowel?

I think you're worrying ahead of time about something that might not even be a problem.

[MontanaRott]

Originally Posted by Judi W

So what is wrong with the actual dowel?

I think you're worrying ahead of time about something that might not even be a problem.

I don't know what it is with him, but he does not like carrying wood. Guerin when he wants to carry something likes the wooden dowels. And I bet you are right, when the weather is warm, he will do fine, because he will not want to be carrying anything anyway!

[moondog]

The day Luna learned to carry a bag was a hot summer day, when we walked a couple miles to Petco and I bought her a pig ear (pre-PLE and bacteria awareness days). She really, REALLY wanted her pig ear, so I gave her the bag to carry. She was so proud of her prize that she really turned her motor on and had a mission.....to get home quick so she could have it. She had no idea how to pant and carry at the same time and I thought she would faint before we got home! I'd offer to carry it and she'd give it to me, then ask for it right back again.

Long story short, she loved to carry bags from that day on and she did learn how to pant and carry at the same time. If Stevie really wants to carry his dowel, I think he'll learn how to pant when the weather warms up. And he's got a whole winter ahead of him to practice, LOL!

It did give her focus, too. She took her bag carrying duties very seriously and even had a couple little dogs bushwhack her one day, but she was so busy with her very important task that she completely ignored them, even though they were running around trying to nip her legs.

[spoteet]

Sajan carries boulders and logs on his walks regardless of the temperature He just pants around them.

[LynnS]

Originally Posted by spoteet

Sajan carries boulders and logs on his walks regardless of the temperature He just pants around them.

That is my exp with Bella as well. Although why she chooses to carry object "A' and is not interested in object "B" (even if they look identical) is puzzling

[Skip]

Originally Posted by MontanaRott

Guerin has no interest in carrying a dowel on a walk, but Stevie is another story. We get out the door and to the end of the driveway and he stops and sits and nags for his dowel. His is not a wooden one but an Air Kong, the long thin one.
He carries that thing the entire walk, head up, chest out and full of pride. The walks we take are anywhere from 2 to 4 miles. He trots the whole walk not interested in what is going on around him, as long as he has his dowel. His walking is entirely different without that thing in his mouth, he is easily distracted, and does not maintain a steady pace, as he does with it in his mouth.
I am going to be sorry to see the warm weather get here, when he will not be able to carry it the whole walk. Is there something else, similar to this we will be able to do in the warmer weather?

Just my 2 cents...but (and even if it seems the dog enjoys it) I would not let or make a dog carry any object in it's mouth for several miles. That's a half hour at a brisk walking pace. I carry a 2 foot long wooden dowel on our walks to keep any loose running dogs from getting too close. I'll even let Rocky (my dog) carry the dowel for maybe a hundred yards or so once in a while, but I think a dog should be able to have some fun sniffing around/investigating periodically during a walk. I can't imagine the power of a dogs nose, and I would not want to stop the dog from using one of it's most powerful senses periodically. I understand the need to have a dog have leash manners while on a walk...I think there's better ways to train it rather than letting the dog carry anything in it's mouth for a couple miles. Rocky knows there will be short periods during our walk when I will give him the full lenghth of the 6 foot leash to investigate the sides of the trail for a few minutes. He always has a prong collar on when we're going for a walk. For most of the walk he has enogh slack in the leash to sniff the ground once in a while, but he walks at my pace and my direction.

[macho rottie]

Mia carries a large holy roller, that way she can pant at the same time. Just have to be carefull she doesn't let go of the darn thing at the top of the hill.

[MontanaRott]

We do not use the dowel for a training device for leash manners. We have worked with this boy on his leash manners and he is a differnt dog now then he was when we got him in July.
The dowel came about due to his need for a job. This boy was neglected and is discovering he wants to work, so in addition to obeidence classes and tracking practice, he carries a dowel. He is not doing this long a walk at a constant brisk pace. He is 8 and out of shape, tho getting more in shape everyday!
He is free to sniff and look at bugs if he chooses to do so, but to him carrying that silly dowel is the biggest reward, and his greatest joy. We are just not willing to take that away from him at this point. But I think that when class resumes next week we will see if he wants to carry the training bag!