Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m quite surprised to read about the way Honey is on collar and lead. I thought Golden Retrievers came with built in adoration and velcro-ness:)

Maybe you are hurrying to get across the street and she’s anticipating that? If she knows your routines and you are always speeding up to cross a street, she just getting ahead of the game a little. Just a thought.

It’s possible she doesn’t do it with your husband, like maybe he’s a little calmer when he’s crossing. Just another thought. 🙂

One of the things that always makes me wonder is that when we walk to dog training obedience class he pulls whatever I would try. As soon as we are on the grounds of the school, and he knows we are training, there is not the slightest pull for the remainder of training class. Both are predictable, what is he thinking? Trying to be unpredictable doesn’t help. He knows, eventually we will wind up on the training premises.

Y’know, I’ve experienced the same thing with the head halter. I continued to use it with Christie because it kept her from choking herself. But it didn’t really stop the pulling.

Honey doesn’t usually wear a collar around the house. She’s a naked pup. And I haven’t noticed any difference when putting on the collar or harness to go for a walk.

She’s actually the most serene dog I’ve ever had before a walk. Honey will calmly move into position to get leashed up, walk quietly to the door, and gently look up to ask me to open the door. She doesn’t jump around or bark or charge the door or any of those things.

Now that you’re asking, I think she starts to pull when she needs to go faster. It happens a lot when we’re crossing the street because the good smells are on the other side. And that’s the biggest problem–I want her to be with me and under control when we cross the streets. Living in town, we cross a lot of streets on a regular walk.

I know I’m holding her to a pretty high standard. Anyone else walking her probably wouldn’t notice the pulling at all–my husband doesn’t.

I always see nice pictures of Bunny with just her collar and leash. I’d love to know more about how long it took before you could walk her that way easily. Do you think the freedom harness did anything to teach her to walk without pulling? I mean, when you went to only using the martingale collar?

Good question, Edie. It’s one I’ve asked myself over the years but it’s good to get it from someone else.

1) The harness isn’t ideal for every day, full-time use. It will eventually start to chafe under the legs or cause mattes. I use it only when I really need better control (like at the vet; Honey loves it so much she’d go crazy spinning on the end of her collar) or don’t have time to do the training I’m supposed to.
2) I’d like to pass the CGC with Honey and I don’t believe gizmos are allowed.
3) I went against my principles when I adopted Honey from a breeder instead of going to a shelter. I wanted to have one chance in my life to work with a dog who had the best start in life–to see what we could do together.

My dream, upon bringing Honey home, was to create a life for myself that would allow me to spend more of my regular time working with dogs. Honey would be my partner in that–whether it was raising guide dogs or fostering.

Holding to this higher standard is part of aiming for that dream (although I despair of ever reaching it with my recent schedule). 🙁

As for being the center of a puppy universe, I understand. I’ve dealt with separation anxiety in the past and I know that burden of responsibility. But someday, you may find an “aloof” dog in your life and miss those days of being the center of a dog’s universe.