Master the Walk

I often walk about ten dogs at a time, sometimes even off-leash if I'm in a safe area. People are amazed by this, but it's simple: the dogs see me as their pack leader. This is why they follow me wherever I go.

Position matters. Walking in front allows you to be seen as the pack leader. Conversely, if your dog controls you on the walk, he’s the pack leader. You should be the first one out the door and the first one in. Your dog should be beside or behind you during the walk.

Use a short leash. This allows you to have more control. Attaching the leash to the very top of the neck can help you more easily communicate, guide, and correct your dog. If you need additional help, consider the Illusion collar. Always keep your dog's safety in mind when giving corrections.

Set aside time. Dogs, like humans, are diurnal, so taking walks in the morning is ideal. I recommend setting aside thirty minutes to a full hour. The specific needs of each dog differ. Consult your vet and keep an eye on your dog's behavior to see if his needs are being met.

Define exploration time. After your dog has maintained the proper state of mind, reward him by allowing him to relieve himself and sniff around. Then you need to decide when reward time is over. It should always be less than the time spent focused on the walk.

Don't punch out. When you get home, don't stop leading. Have your dog wait patiently while you put away his leash or take off your shoes.

Share food and water.By providing a meal after the walk, you have allowed your dog to "work" for food and water.

Pick up after your dog! Set an example: be a responsible dog guardian.

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Mon, 08/02/2010 - 12:05am — lithergirl

Rough Collie very nervous on walk

I too have a dog that is so nervous on walk. He is a rough collie aged 9 mths old. On walks outside he pulls even though I have him on a very short lead. If he sees a stranger he starts to cry and whine and want to go to them presumable to jump up. He is constantly looking round to see if there is any traffic or people. He wants to pull towards what is scaring him. He is perfectly calm before we go out sits while I put the lead on and walks close to my knee but I have to really put pressure on his lead to keep him there when we are outside. Some time he is so frighted he goes to the toilet. I have really tried to be positive but he actually pulled me down and I hurt my knee very badly. However I have not given up we go on short walk at regular intervals and I give him loads of exercise fetching a ball. He is very submissive at home but so nervous outside panting, pulling wanting to jump up at dogs and people. help.

Tue, 07/20/2010 - 8:17am — PrPrincessEG

My puppy won't go to the bathroom outside.

I rescued a 9 week old puppy. I was getting her to do her business, so to speak outside, until I took her to the vet for a check up. Since a vet did not sign off on the vaccinations, which is apparently a law in my state, they are stating that I couldn't take her where strange dogs are or have been, where trees or grass is. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment and my town is a dog town, so I couldn't take her out. Now she thinks going outside is for fun and won't go to the bathroom outside no matter how long I am out there. She waits till we go back to the apartment and will go to the bathroom in my apartment.

She also finds spots and tricks me to think she is going to go to the bathroom and will just lay down or sit there and it is difficult for me to get her to continue to walk. Pls help!!!

I'm also having issues with her chewing on me like I'm a piece of meat and saying "no" only gets her more excited and biting me harder.

Fri, 07/16/2010 - 6:06am — Mau

Como entender las necesidades de mi perro????

Cesar, buen dia tengo un cachorro weimaraner de 5 meses llamado duke, lo unico que quisiera saber es como se, si mi perro tiene algunas otras necesidades? ya que en verdad salgo con el seguido.

saludos !!!

Sat, 07/10/2010 - 10:21am — jara hasaj

Is to early???

Hi, Cesar I'm a new owner of a Husky Siberian and I'm asking if it's too early for him to go out for walk becouse he have only 3 months and when I take him out I haven't the total control of my dog.

Sun, 07/04/2010 - 7:06am — GWPRescue

How we see it at the Rescue-the Walk

We have practiced Cesar's way since 2006 as we understand the philosophy. Most of our dogs come in as neglected kennel dogs that have never seen a collar or leash. One such dog was Meg, as featured with my special needs son as a success story in the newsletter...

http://www.cesarsway.com/packgallery/successstories/matt

Now I have to give Matt this one, but Meg was one of many dogs needing rehabilitation. What we find that is effective is to follow the exercise, discipline, and affection formula first. When dogs such as Meg learn what we want, walk beside or behind us....she gets the reward of running off leash in our 20 acre fenced field we use. Until she has become completely submissive on the walk...this was the reward.
As she was extremely overly excited at the site of the leash...we did put it on, let her calm down...drag the leash around, do some treadmill...play ball...then when some of the pent up energy was released, we went on our 45 minute walk. After this....we could go to the field for some exploring in the woods walking the trails.

Sat, 07/03/2010 - 10:37pm — patriciaj

Mastering the walk

I have a Mastiff that is almost a year old. We recently started using Cesar's way on the walk and it has made a huge difference in him. We only walk about 10 minutes about twice a day, but even that short time makes a difference. He enjoys the walk and is eager to go, at times he will beg to go or remind me that it is time to go. We have a dog next door that growls and barks and I have gotten my dog to sit with his back to him and ignore him until the other dog settles down. What a difference that little bit of walking does when it is done Cesar's Way. I watch the show regularly and even save in on the DVR to rewatch and am now reading the books and watching some of his DVD's. Thanks Cesar.

Thu, 07/01/2010 - 12:22pm — andirana

Problems with the walk

I have a 7-year-old german shepard and i cant take her out to walk because she gets very agressive, she has bitten my and my dad. her agression starts when she sees the leash. and before we start the walk i try to have her go to a calm mind state but she is to overexited and agressive. when we go out to walk she starts chewing the leash and she alredy broke one. i seriously need advice. thank you!

Fri, 04/30/2010 - 7:26am — lspeirs

Should I never let her off the leash?

So are we saying that if I let my dog off the leash on the walk and allow her to run in front of me then that is giving the signal that she is the pack leader? So I basically have to keep her on the leash at all times and keep correcting her so she walks beside/behind me constantly and stops pulling? If I do this will she eventually not need a leash and just walk behind me automatically and always follow me?

(We live in open countryside in the mountains and it seems a shame not to allow the dog to run free although she isnt too keen to come back when called at the moment)

Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:06am — gooba

As cesar said u decide how

As cesar said u decide how long they can be off leash so ur still in control, use it as a reward but only wen they are behaving on their leash, then wen they are calm make them sit then take their leash off so the dog will think wen it behaves it gets rewarded with play time.

Wed, 04/07/2010 - 12:30pm — omcharlie

Walking dogs.

Do dogs need to be walked daily if they have a huge fenced-in yard in which to exercise?

I don't walk my dogs very frequently because they are allowed to go outside and play immediately upon my returning home. Even though none of them are overly aggressive (I have a rescue is mildly aggressive), they are kenneled and raring with energy to go outside, do their business and run.

Once they get some of their pent-up energy out, they are allowed back into eat, get petted, etc. While most of my dogs (I have four) know I'm the pack leader, my Cocker Spaniel, who was rescued and has quite a bit of anxious aggression, wants to jump on me. I'm working on that: I don't speak to him, I just open his kennel (next to the back door) and nudge him out. He runs, goes and is ready to accept my love and attention once he's run some of that aggression out - plus, he's also learning he gets NO affection from me when he jumps on me, but he get gets plenty when he doesn't.

Thu, 07/08/2010 - 3:06pm — Sue0729

Walking Your Dog

No, Omcharlie, they really don't need to be walked every single day if they're getting adequate exercise and mental stimulation from you in the back yard. Of course, walking your dogs isn't only about exercise. It keeps them mentally stimulated, exposes them to new and interesting experiences and occasionally offers teachable moments that keep them (and you) on your toes and all these things are very good for them. But it certainly doesn't have to occur on a daily basis when they have other outlets for their energy.

Sat, 05/29/2010 - 9:26am — tore140

The benefit of the walk

It is nice that your dogs have a large yard available to them, but the idea I believe Cesar is giving regarding the walk is that it is a powerful time for pack mentality.

The walk provides structure, at a constant pace, where all the dogs follow beside you and create a pack bond. Exercising in the back yard is nice, but it is full of constant excitement--chasing squirrels, each other, digging in the yard, etc. Not to mention dogs are not always constantly moving when they are in a back yard, the often lay down or simply walk and sniff for a while. While on a walk, the goal is to have constant control of your dogs, constant moving forward until YOU decide it is time to sniff. This allows for constant exercise, and when you get home you know that your dogs have drained their energy from being kenneled all day, and should settle nicely to receive affection as they rest from exercise.

An example I've seen Cesar use is to think of the back yard, dog parks, or games of fetch (when they are the only forms of exercise) as an equivalent to a trip to Chuckee Cheese, and a walk with pack leader as a child's piano lessons. Both examples are ways for children to be productive and stimulated, but one is more structured, calm, and mentally rewarding than the other.

Also, Cesar points out in his books that dogs, like wolves, have a natural urge to migrate and that a walk is the ideal way to migrate safely as a pack. Going from a kennel to fenced back yard is really just going from one confinement to another...there is no migration of territory.

From experience, I really think walking your dogs together will help your rescue dog fit nicely into the pack. Even if it's a few walks of just you two where you are in control of the walk, you will notice that you are starting to form a pack bond as he falls nicely into the calm submissive migrating state. If you can manage walking more of your dogs at the same time, that would be great! He will fit into pack mode even better and all of his burned energy with structured exercise should help manage some of his anxiety and aggression.

Fri, 04/30/2010 - 9:46am — threenorns

as i understand it, the walk

as i understand it, the walk is not so much about physical exercise as psychological and emotional. let's face it, with most dogs, there's no way a mere human could walk enough to give them an actual workout.

i have a border collie cross - MAJOR high energy, highly dominant, but a sweetie-pie (not a truly aggressive bone in his body). when he can follow a car at 40k for over a minute, flop in the river for about 30sec, and head right back for more, trust me - i could walk him till the cows come home and he won't be getting any kind of workout.

and yet, even a 10min walk on the leash with me and he's a docile pussycat who won't eat my house and destroy my daughter's toys when we're out. forget that walk and bammo - total destruction.

like cesar says, even the most luxurious home is still just a kennel and nobody likes to be on 23hr lockup with 1hr "yard time".

Fri, 04/02/2010 - 11:32am — Dr Alice

THANK YOU, CESAR!

I adopted a small 4 year old dog last summer. At the shelter, she was sweet, attentive, and SMART. At home she was ready to kill EVERY DOG that came her way! Thanks to Cesar, she is doing SO much better. She waits for my signal before leaving the house, and now, when we see someone else walking their dog, we rudely intrude and ask if we can walk with them, or she is made to sit with her back to the dog (very difficult for her!) or lie down. She has come a LONG way from the snarling, biting, snapping mess of a dog I first took home.

We are definitely on our way to good canineship. Thanks, Cesar!

:-)

Dr. Alice Clearman Fusco

Thu, 04/01/2010 - 10:27pm — daniel25cm

perro guardian

es posible tener un perro sumiso pero al mismo tiempo entrenarlo para que me proteja ami y a mi familia?... tengo una mezcla de doberman con rottweiler de alrrededor de 10 meses de edad...es insegura y tambiem sufre de ansiedad, salta sin parar cuando nos ve, luego de un rato se calma. me gustaria que se convirtiera en una perra protectora y segura.

Mon, 03/22/2010 - 6:32pm — Oscar77

The Walk

Oscar is my 7 year old, beautiful German Shepherd. It is important to tell you that he almost out-weights me. We struggled with "The Walk" for years. My young son of twelve has wanted a puppy of his own, yes another German Shepherd. All I could imagine was being dragged down the road by two of them. A good friend mentioned Cesar Millan and from there I read his books and watch his show. I connected with what he was saying because it seemed like just common sense and most important, a natural approach. It wasn't easy but we started simply by me walking out all the doorways first. We changed his leash so that it was at the top of his neck instead of at the widest, strongest part, a simple "slip collar", I needed as much help as possible. It's been about 6 weeks into our "plan". We stubbled the first couple of weeks. Some days I thought that "I" was never going to get it. Yes I, I just wasn't sending him the right signals. Now walks continue to be one of the best parts of my day. He walks right beside me on a loose leash. Leadership, patients and time (walks every day). Our new puppy will be here within 3 weeks and we will be ready. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge Cesar. Life is beautiful.

Mon, 03/22/2010 - 6:04pm — mamclch

Won't walk alone...

We have a 16 week old miniature schnauzer who will not walk with either myself or my wife when we are by ourselves. If we go for a walk together with the puppy, no problems, he's happy to come along. But if only one of us takes him, he won't budge an inch. If we can get him far enough away from the house he gets a little better, and when we turn around, he can't get home fast enough and pulls the whole way (which we understand we have to work on as well, but one issue at a time). We can't both always go together on walks with him and we're not sure if we should just only take him when we can both go or if we should get him used to walking alone with one of us now? Any suggestions? Thanks!

Wed, 07/14/2010 - 3:39am — kennelmaid

why not?

Hi, I don't really understand why you can't get your puppy to walk - I understand why he doesn't want to, but he's a tiny puppy? A few assertive tugs on the leash (NOT dragging him along the road) will work. The idea is to make him realise he has no option - you are the pack leader, right?! and even if he only takes a few steps each time you give him a quick pull on the lead it will start to release the right endorphins. Walk quickly and assertively - don't let him take charge of the situation, don't turn round and look at him - head up, shoulders back and a few tugs with confident verbal commands. he won't 'suddenly' improve unless you do something. you're leading,, he will follow.
Why can't you tackle the pulling on the lead on the way home at the same time as the first issue- it's a symptom of the same problem; he's in charge!
Good luck x

Thu, 07/08/2010 - 1:21pm — melissa.sullivan2

similiar problem ....with 5 month old pup

I have 5 month old english bull terrior. She will walk on a leash when we are at a park and when walking around town. But, she will not walk leaving from our home. If we encourage her with treats, she will make it a few steps and then resist. I also notice...she appears fearful, tail between the legs and not wanting to leave the from yard of the home. On the days when I use treats and get her to turn the corner she will walk happily along and then begin pulling with full force ahead to get home.

We are attending weekly training and we also take her to the park for socializing with other dogs. Yet, we still cannot master the walk & there is quite a bit of evidence that she believes she is the pack leader.

Has the walk improved? Did anyone offer you advice?

Fri, 03/19/2010 - 9:26pm — Chatty the Tiger

I need some advise

I have read and studied many different training and behavior books, and have watched lots of Ceasars DVDs but nomatter how I try I just can't get it right with my collie/ labradoodle. I got her at a year old from a lady that had not socailized her at all for her first year, just tied out to a tree to be neglected. She is now three years old and still acts the same as she did when I first brought her into the home. I know that I must be the problem and I have changed as much as I can but I just can't figure it out.

She is very insecure, terrified at everything. Inside the house she is fine, very submisive, listens to any commands that I give her. But as soon as she gets outside(she is very good about not going ahead of me out or in the door) she acts as if I'm not even there. She pulls ahead and no matter how many currections I give her she just doesn't pay attention and my hand and arm just can't take it anymore. I don't mind the pain but it just doesn't do any good. Besides that, because she is insecure she barks like crazy at people, dogs barking that she can't see(she loves dogs), and trucks and such. When there are lots of people around then there are too many to bark at so she just clings to me and trips me, then if anybody tries to talk to me or her she will bark. She's got this really loud shrilling bark that just scares everybody. If it can get any worse, she has bitten one person and has tried to bite many more, it's more fear bites though cause she back off at first, then she comes forward to sniff their hand and then tries to snatch at it before she runs back.

Sorry this is a lot to read but if anybody has any suggestions I would greatly appriciate it! Thanks!

Fri, 04/02/2010 - 1:10pm — mcmadge

try quietest times of day

try quietest times of day possible and gradually re introduce her to busier times, maybe?
definitely do try the short leash that cesar advises, will stop her trippin u, i used to be tortured gettin tripped up and i know- its so embarrassing too ha!! dont give up, try to stay as calm and confident as possible and be strong for the dog, dont feel sorry for her, ur strength will ultimately make her stronger. walkin tall straight and proud works!! and if she 's on short leash practically attached to ur leg she should feel more secure, providing u are feelin calm enough. I noticed a big difference on walks when i changed to short leash and started to watch my breathing- to keep even and relaxed and the dog definitely does feed off this energy!! just do short walks like this every day and maybe try stopping when outdoors if it is relatively quiet and see if u can get her to relax and calm and then show affection or give her treats, as long as she relaxed.

Wed, 03/17/2010 - 3:53am — Lee

Introducing the Leash for the first time!

I just got a 5month old bassett hound and I tried to put a leash on it and it fought it and went crazy I had to take it off of the dog for the dog to calm down. Help...what do i need to do?

Mon, 03/15/2010 - 6:34am — bedwards

Others Walking the Dogs

I have 4 dogs (three small breeds and a 63 Doberman). I have worked REALLY hard on the walk with all 4 (although my 14 yr old Min Pin still pulls some and can only walk for short periods because of health issues). The three younger "puppies" (all under the age of 1 yr), now walk well for me most of the time. In fact, the Doberman is my "best" walker and will walk beside me for the whole walk, stopping when I do, ect. However, anytime my husband or either one of my children attempt to walk any of the dogs, it's like they have been replaced by their evil twins. Sometimes all it takes is for one of them to join us on the walk for this behavior to start. Loki (my 4 month old Min Schnauzer) just sits and refuses to move anywhere. Kisses (my husband's 7 month old Boston) is intent on going anywhere except where the person wants her to go. Pele (the Doberman) either pulls ahead or runs in circles trying to find somewhere to hide (she was mistreated and not socialized and we are working VERY hard at socialization). I am at my wits end. I would LOVE for the family to be able to enjoy our walks together, but it's become an ordeal for any of the family members other than myself to be there. What can I do to help this behavior?

Tue, 03/30/2010 - 5:19am — Lucyyamaha

re: Others walking the Dogs

I see the same thing with our Yorkshire Terrier (emphasis on the Terrier). At Home I am the leader, he waits for a whole minute in sit for while his dinner is in his bowl and he does it paitently (it allows him to calm down he gets very excited at dinner time). when I walk him on my own he walks to heal (on the lead) never pulls in any direction and when he is off the lead he rarely will trot infront of me or go anywhere I have told him not to. However whenever anyone else walks him with me or for me, he is a mischief! It's almost as if he forgets all the other stuff. I think though I have worked out why, with me I am leader, however my husband even though he is good with him, he is not quite as strict as I am, I make him walk to heal to the park and walk to heal on the way home, my husband lets him just wonder on a slightly longer lead. I think everyone in the family needs to act exactly the same with the dog, That way he see's everyone as a pack leader and holding the same standards, rules and boundaries for the dog. I think its like how children try and play on their parents and other family members if they think they are a bit softer.

For instance our dog is terrified of the hair dryer, When he has had a bath, I dry him with it, calmly and assertivley hold him infront of me and dry him, if he tries to run away, I bring him right back, my husband would just let him go, so I think its being consistant with them, using the same words for the same things and having the same routines, once they know that you are all equal and all incharge I would have thought they will start responding. We have seen this with our dog, now we use the same words, and have the same routine.

Hope that helps. Just my ideas.

Mon, 03/01/2010 - 12:20am — scottstewy

I used to be scarred of the walk. I stumbled across your show. Now I am an avid watcher. I appled the short leash technique to our female Rottweiller part shepard dog.What a differance in walking now. First night went for a walk.She had a tence leash but stayed beside me. Second night she was walking beside me and a slack leash. This dog of ours wants too please. What a differance. Before she would be dragging us around.I wished I would have seen this show earlier in time. We own the door way now. She no longer jumps on our guests. We make the new guest wait till our dog is calm and in submissive mode. After we allow the guest in and she just goes up to our guest and just sniffs. and walks away.My God what a different dog we have. I still at times wonder if someone kidnapped our old LILLIE and brought us another Dog .What happened LOL. I know my wife and I became a pack leader.

Sat, 02/13/2010 - 5:17pm — syboneze

Master the walk

I found the piece informative, but when I clicked on the quiz link, it went nowhere.

I'm pretty sure that I am not mastering the walk.

Fri, 01/29/2010 - 2:16pm — danielle.nicholas

Introducing the leash

I have an 8 wk old Neapolian Mastiff/Catahoula Cur mix. At what age is it best to introduce a leash? And how's the best way to introduce it so that he doesn't fight it? I tried to take him for a walk to the park, but we barely got 10 feet from the door before he started thrashing in protest. After about 5 minutes, he stopped thrashing, but refused to move. How do I correct this? With his breed I know exercise is very important and I lead a moderately active life. I'd like him to be comfortable and see a walk on a leash as a fun enjoyable experience, not punishment. Do you have any tips to help?

Wed, 02/10/2010 - 8:44am — suzydog

Now's the time

Now's the time to introduce the leash to your pup, but do it positively. I've been training for 15 years and have found that dog owner's have the most trouble when they postpone collar introduction. You certainly shouldn't jerk your pup around or even force him to walk with it on right now. But you SHOULD put it on him, let him sniff it and walk around for a few minutes with it on, then take it off, several times daily. This will really make a big difference in the long run. It'll be even better if you give him a few tiny treat pieces or just pieces of his daily kibble whenever you pull out the leash for these intro exercises -- then he'll really look forward to it. His neck is too young to be pulling around, so go about it in a positive manner and he'll stop the thrashing and protest. For more "Puppy 101" training info, http://www.dogdaysusa.com/puppy101.html

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 11:04am — Susie O

The Walk

I have a 4 month old miniature poodle (female) who is currently enrolled in puppy classes. Whenever I attempt to walk her, no matter how much I work at the calm assertive attitude on my part, and work to have her behind me a bit, etc, she continually jumps ahead and tugs on the leash. I've used a walking halter on her, but that isn't any better. I'm finding it difficult to maintain a positive attitude with all this tugging and jumping ahead. I'm afraid she'll hurt her neck with all the tugging and jumping. I'm at the end of my knowledge base and don't know now to correct this behavior as nothing I've done seems to be working. I've utilized the strategies learned in puppy class as well as what has been written in Cesar's book. Help.
Susie O

Thu, 01/07/2010 - 5:13pm — aboyssuicide

Walking on the leash

Cesar,

I have been working with my dog Thor with walking on a leash for 3 months now. I even went through a training class and got nowhere. I even got some different collars, anti pull collars and they don't work either. he just wants to walk in front of me and i am trying to get him to walk by my side. Any suggestions?

Sun, 01/03/2010 - 8:57pm — jwatson53170

Dog Fight

I have a 7 yr. old male st. bernard & a 1 yr. old male pitbull/lab mix. They have always gotten along & the pit mix was raised around the st. bernard but they have suddenly started fighting each other. What's strange is they only do it when they are alone or if someone else is around. They never do it in my presence. Why are they doing this except for when I'm around? What can I do to help them?

Tue, 12/15/2009 - 9:46pm — michelle1978

Aggressive barking problem at gold carts !!

Haven't heard back .. It's been a month and my dog killed two security guards already!!
LOL :-)

Sun, 11/29/2009 - 10:25am — btrohr@gmail.com

Mastering the walk

My 3 1/2 year old Golden Retriever will walk on a loose lead, only if I allow her to be just ahead of me ( her tail is at my knee level instead of her head).I cannot seem to correct this behavior. We are having a leadership struggle here. Any Suggestions?

Thu, 07/08/2010 - 4:00pm — Sue0729

Relax and enjoy!

I just have to ask, why MUST she be behind you? If your dog is relaxed, not pulling and enjoying the walk (and you are too), what is the power struggle about? My dog has walked as you describe for years. She is loving, attentive, responsive and happy. She listens when I give a command and respects my leadership, and all this even though she walks slightly ahead of me at the walk. I would suggest you relax and enjoy your well-mannered dog and not get caught up in all the "total domination" hype that is interfereing with you enjoying your walks with your dog. I am all for training and expect obedience from my dogs, but truthfully, we can often take it too far and let it take over. Each dog is an individual and some may need to be totally dominated every minute of the day to keep them in line, but truthfully most do not.

Sat, 01/02/2010 - 12:34pm — jaberwalkie156

I had the same problem with

I had the same problem with my dog. She was so insistant on being just a head. I saw on one of cesars shows that he always carried a walking stick and had one dog that would not stay behind so he placed the stick in the path to correct the dog when they tried to get a head. I myself also would stop and make my dog wait until i walked ahead and then allowed her to continue. I at times would also place my self or even my leg in her path and verbaly correct her. After awhile all it took was a verbal correction to make her fall back into place.

Tue, 12/29/2009 - 12:12pm — schalkbrits@gma...

mastering the walk

so what was cesar's reply?

Sun, 11/22/2009 - 7:07pm — michelle1978

Barking agressively at passong golf carts!!!

Cesar, how do I get my dog to stop barking aggressively at golf carts? We live in an HOA and all the security personnel are terrified of him because he barks at them while on the golf cart so much, he even foams at the mouth at times. It's embarassing and the shock collar doesn't even work. Once I even walked him with a muzzle on and he still barked at the cart. It's a real big problem and we're at the end of our rope.
Also, he's an 89 lbs foxhoud/ pitbull mix ....how many times day should I walk him to get enough exercise? I take him out 3 times a day for about 20 minutes each time.

Wed, 01/20/2010 - 1:30pm — Jimbolaya

Practice What He Preaches

I'm not Cesar by any stretch of the imagination, but my Husky was less than great when it came to passing DOGS on our walks and would react outrageously as well (never aggressive, no foaming around the mouth or anything like that, but not good nonetheless), and it was unacceptable, so I started to practice what Cesar always preaches and absolutely bombarded my dog with my friend's dogs as we walked. I would have them walk past me and when my dog would "act up" I would correct him and do it again...and again...and again until it "sunk in" that my girlfriend and I, and everyone else in the area, would not tolerate his behavior. Since then he very rarely steps out of line when we are on our walks, but every once in a while he will and I correct him and he "snaps out of it" and it's back to business.

Okay, that said, I would try a similar technique with your dog and it's golf cart problem. See if there is a friend that can help you and drive by as much as possible while you correct your dog when it starts to act up, but remember to do it with the right energy so your dog doesn't feed off of a fearful, stressful or aggressive state of mind that you might be projecting, and always, ALWAYS make sure some of his excess energy is drained beforehand or it's going to be that much harder to correct your dog's unwanted behavior.

Per your walking suggestions, I own a very strong, very active working breed who needs to be walked AT LEAST an hour a day with weights in his pack. So, you're 3 times a day 20 minute sessions are probably alright as long as they are 100% perfect 20 minute sessions each time. Try picking him up a doggy-backpack, add some weight, and see if that helps for the 20 minute walks. It sure helped me!

Wed, 11/25/2009 - 1:01pm — snowfilly21

barking at golfcarts

I am new to this site, and cannot find the answer to the problem you experienced with your dog barking at the golfcarts. My newly rescued miniature poodle barks and wants to run to the passing golfcart too. What advice were you given to resolve this problem?

Wed, 11/18/2009 - 4:32am — covelli

How to handle stairs

Hi Cesar,

I'm about to adopt an old lady cocker spaniel (11 yrs) whose foster owner says tends to pull on a leash. Her owners gave her up because she "tended to get into things". I've owned cockers my whole life and always managed to train them to behave while walking.

As I am not a spring chicken myself, I have a hip problem which requires that I take stairs slowly. I live on the 2nd floor, so will be going up and down stairs several times a day with my new dog. In the past, I've always gone in and out the door ahead of my dogs, but let them go ahead of me on the stairs. They always kept at my pace, though.

I don't want my new old lady pulling me down the stairs, but I still want to let her know I am the boss. I was thinking of using a retracting leash to allow her to go down the stairs ahead of me at her own pace so she won't pull me, but am afraid this will set a bad habit for walking, once we reach the ground. How should I handle this situation?

Cesar, I am half way through your audio book, "Cesar's Way". I want to thank you for sharing your life's story and experience. You are such a great inspiration to me in every way!

Tue, 11/17/2009 - 10:21pm — amandarey07

Worried Dog

My boyfriend and I are well aware of your methods and practice them on a daily basis. While walking she will be in 'the zone', her ears back and mouth open. Then suddenly, she will hear distractions behind us, and instantly close her mouth, shoot her ears as far back as she can and start to speed up. If the intensity is low I will use leash corrections and/or make her sit and ignore whatever it is while watching me. If the intensity is high I will have to lay her down, and it will take about 30 seconds for her to calm down completely.

Other times she will see people in front of us, from a distance and she will prop her ears forward and start to slow down. Again I use leash corrections and/or a light touch behind the ears/behind the legs and she will snap out of it, but she will go back to the behavior shortly after. When we finally pass the person she will turn her head and want to stare at the person behind us as they are walking away and I will have to do more corrections until she ignores. Making all the corrections does push my patience and I don't want that state of mind while on the walk.

My question is am I the source of the problem and simply ignoring the behavior will resolve the issue or are there better tools to use so that I don't have tug and touch so often?

Sun, 11/15/2009 - 4:15pm — v_goodall@hotma...

Walking ahead of your dog

Hi Cesar

I have been using your tips while walking my dog. I always ensure he is the last one out of the door, the gate, and back through when coming home. I also really try to keep him slightly behind me when walking however, he continuously tries to move ahead of this position. How do I get him to stop trying to walk ahead of me?

Mon, 11/16/2009 - 4:35pm — Juliana@CesarsWay

You can use the leash to communicate with your dog.

An article in next week's newsletter (11-22-09) will talk about how you can use the leash to better communicate with your dog. Check back to read that article!