Dear Kaley, My corgi kid is uncontrollable on our daily dog walks..he wants to chase the cars, cats and squirrels!

Dear Kaley,

How do I get Casey Corgi to not become so wild and want to chase cats, squirrels, bikes & motorcycles? I have tried to get his attention with a treat, but he ignores the treat!

He also ignores my stern NO. He has a one-track mind that wants to chase those moving things. If I hold him, back he stands and barks at them.

MY dog drives me nuts!

Good question, and i am always happy to help out!

Dear MY dog drives me nuts,

First of all,  for the moment, you have an undisciplined dog.  I know you recently adopted this corgi kid, who is about, two years old.  From all I have heard so far, he is nice, lovey and house trained…..however he still needs to learn puppy basics!  You have summed it up perfectly by saying….he is WILD!

Start training him in basics so he knows who is in command on his daily walks!  Teach him sit, stay, and to focus on you, rather than to think going on a walk is free dibs for him to do what he wants!  I am wondering, does he even know how to walk on a leash???  That is basic training too.  When walking him, use a  leash you can have control with in length and certainly not those nylon retractable leashes that can go out to 16’.  With a leash that long, your dog is already way in front of you and probably could care less where you are!

Try this on your walk next time….  with a short leash, no more than a few feet long,  walk as you normally would and if by chance he starts to …’haul out’  in pursuit of a car or cat or squirrel…. immediately stop and turn around, the other direction.  Of course he has no choice but to stop short his forward dash, and turn around. Immediately tell him he is good and reward with a treat and praise.  Then turn and continue in the direction you started.

Teach your pup the….’”leave it” command.  It comes in handy if by chance he finds something icky on the ground and you do not want him to eat or touch it…or if by chance you drop a steak on the ground and his teeth are near it, and  darn if you feel brave to grab it off the floor….. or  possibly he gets excited about, the cat that ran cross his path…….”leave it” sure makes me stop in my tracks.

Us pups are not stupid… you can teach us lots of commands that make sense to you, and will to us as long as we  pups know what it is supposed to mean!

When you walk, talk to your dog and have him look at you…reward him for his focus.  It just might happen that a car goes by and he will find the car more interesting than you, but if you have trained him he gets reward when looking and listening to you,  you will be his main focus.  Mum does that with me all the time, cuz we live on a busy street and lots go by, cars, kids, adults and dogs… and it is sooo exciting… I have been known to dash, but I have much better recall now, so  i do listen and stop and come back!  Mum means it when she says, “KALEY COME.”

Use your walks as training…it is lots more fun than just  going out each day at the same time to do boring training, sits, down, come, stay, leave it…..He can sniff the ground and flowers….and other dogs pee spots, but still, work the basic training into the walks.

No matter when you get a new dog, puppy or adult, it might be a good idea to take a basic obedience class.  As my old obedience trainer used to tell Mom, obedience is the one thing a pup can learn that can save his life. Besides, it’s a fun bonding thing that you can do with your new pup kid.  I don’t ever want to take another obedience class again, but I’m kinda glad Mom and I did take them way back then.  They’re often offered from pet stores, ASPCA, Community Rec Centers those kind of places.  Worse comes to worse there’s always the Dog Whisperer on the telly.

walking your pup should be fun, for both us pups and our humans! fresh air and so many stimulating things….on the ground, in the bushes…….

Walks should be fun, for you and your pup. Good luck and start training today…..mum trains me daily!

Kaley corgi kisses  : ) mum always says, an obedient dog is a fun dog,  fun for mum and me…cuz then i do not get yelled at cuz i know what is right!