2011 - The Year of the Leash

I’m happy to announce that Toby made a liar of me at class yesterday by performing both of his Rally runs surprisingly well. Of course, he was on leash.

Regardless, it made me very happy, especially in light of the fact that I have not worked with him since that disaster of a Rally match back in January – the one which prompted people who are familiar with Toby to query if he was okay. Which of course, he wasn’t. Whether it was his leg, his ear, cabin fever, or a combination of the three, he wasn’t my normal Toby.

Yesterday, he was.

Did I mention he was on leash?

What about the leash is so magical, this umbilical cord of sorts that keeps dog and handler together in the ring? It wasn’t tension, as the leash stayed loose for the majority of both of our runs. It wasn’t fear of collar corrections; Toby has never received a collar correction inside the Rally ring or while training for Rally (and rarely in ‘real life’ for that matter). It wasn’t for lack of handler nervousness traveling down the leash; I went into class fully expecting Toby would do poorly, ready to be embarrassed.  Yet he behaved wonderfully – which really shouldn’t have surprised me. When Toby’s leash is on, he is (usually) right on my page, following commands so eagerly that others have referred to his tail as a “rudder” and commented that they wished their dogs “had half his enthusiasm in the ring.”

If you have not had the chance to watch Toby and me in the ring, you might be wondering, “What exactly does happen when you unclip his leash?”

One of two things: Either Toby behaves exactly as he does with the leash on, making me exceptionally proud of him – OR – he runs out of the ring and receives a non-qualifying score – the big NQ. In regards to Toby’s marked swing between extremes, one of my Rally trainers, Sue Reising, jokes that I never know which dog I’m showing up with at each show.

Why? I can never truly be sure, but several reasons come to mind. Toby appears nervous when unfamiliar dogs practice too close to us or bark a lot before he goes in the ring - he pants, his forehead wrinkles, he stares at the other dogs, sometimes lunging towards them, sniffs the ground frantically, and pulls to try and get past them. Since he has gotten bit several times in the past, I consider this the most likely cause and try to keep him well away from strange dogs - but that is not always possible at a show. Another likely reason for his behavior is that my own nervousness traveling down the lead is causing the very behavior that concerns me. Finally, I might have just rushed too quickly into the higher, off-lead levels without proofing him properly, allowing a bad habit to form.

Whatever his motive, I worry that Toby may get hurt when he bolts. Because I am afraid of him getting hit by a car, I only compete indoors. And, after witnessing a particularly severe dog attack at an AKC show a few years ago, my biggest fear is that Toby might run up to an unfriendly dog at a trial and get mauled.

I have discussed this problem in depth with my trainer, Sue, and discovered she had a similar issue with her own Lab, Emily. After promising her associate that she would keep Emily on leash for an entire year before attempting off-lead again, Sue said Emily is now like a new dog. Because of her success, I have decided to give it a try myself, and have vowed to keep Toby leashed – for the remainder of 2011. While this means that Toby won’t be earning the last two legs of his Excellent title in AKC or attempting any legs of his APDT Level 3 title any time soon, it also means that we have a goal to work towards over the next year. Hopefully, by next winter, we will be able to walk into the ring with total confidence, our umbilical cord finally severed.