Welcome to PAWpundance Dog training Academy on Locals.com. We are excited you chose to join our community!!

We are a community of positive dog/animal people that want to share our experiences and help each other grow. And Locals is an "ad-free experience" so a minimal contribution goes a long way to support our tech.

We want to see your furbabies!!

We are here to help with any question you might have about training/behavior and more. We are a little silly here at PAWpundance. There are three things you might find here: paws, puns and occasionally a dance or two. Let's have some fun, some laughs and improved relationships with our pups.

Our animal view:

We invited another species to come live in our homes. This is not an accessory like another purse. These pups are our guests. They do not speak our language. And just like the movie, ET, we don't want to be the scary government personnel trying to coerce/manipulate a scared/confused being. We want to be like Elliot. We want to try to ...

Eye-contact, eye-contact, eye-contact! Reward the glances. Then ask for your pup to hold your gaze. Then phase your side of the eye contact. Your pup will learn to watch you and adjust to your movements. This helps your pup learn to walk with you without having to communicate via the leash.

And remember the leash is just for safety, not for communication.

See this video with Meghan and Buckee. Buckee is watching Meghan and smiling. Meghan rewards Buckee by looking back and giving treats. She also smiles at him and he is smiling back! She also looks forward occasionally so they learn to walk forward together.

Notice Buckee is a reactive pup. The leash is very important for safety, especially if your pup reacts to something. But we only use the leash for necessary physical control for safety reasons. As soon as Buckee can focus again, we talk to him and Meghan regains instructional control and they continue their walk. She does a great job of talking to Buckee. When we have taken ...

Here's a tip for walking loose leash: Where you reward is important! Try using the hand on the same side of your body to reward.

Rewarding with the hand on the other side will pull the dog's nose in front of you as you reach across your body to reward. This encourages your pup to walk in front of you and subsequently pull.

See the video of Meghan and Domino. Meghan holds the leash with her left hand and Domino walks on her right. She rewards by petting and giving treats with her right hand. This keeps Domino at her side walking with a loose-leash next to her, not in front of her pulling her along.

Next time you are out walking with your pup, try rewarding with the hand on the same side as your pup.

https://twitter.com/wholedogjournal/status/1292609106637987840?s=21

This is about counter-surfers, but I love the description of trying to shame dogs. This author, Pat Miller helped me understand this concept in her book the Power of Positive Dog Training.

If you’re still on Twitter, the Whole Dog Journal is a great group to follow. Lots of fantastic info!