Walking my dog on the lead

Lifeisbutadream

I have an English Springer Spaniel puppy who is just coming up 6 months old.

He was booked in for his 'snip' for Friday, but I have now postponed it until the new year as I when I considered his recovery (10 days?) I thought that he might find it difficult with us in and out a fair bit over the build up to Xmas.

SOmething I am a little bit concerned about though is that during the recovery period I have been told that I will only be able to walk him on the lead.

At the moment he has two to three walks a day and I walk around 3-4 miles altogether, but he will go at least double that with being off the lead. Also I HATE walking him on the lead - he just pulls me along (lethal in this weather - I have been over several times!) - he also hates been on the lead.

During the recovery time will I need to walk him 6 miles on the lead??? :eek: I just cant face being pulled along for 6 miles!!! I cant even face being pulled a long for a mile!

Any advice would be very helpful

(I am working on getting him walking nicely on the lead, but it isnt working very well yet!)

puppychick79

Hi,

As a mummy to 2 Springys myself I can vouch for them being terrbile on the lead!! Ours are awful and despite training and puppy classes we can not get the 'pull' out of them but then their recall is fantastic! We are guilty probably of trying to get them round to the field as fast as we can to let them off now as its easier! And they dont seem to benefit as much by lead walking than a gallop around a field.

Our girl has been fixed and we rested her for quite a few days and let her potter round the garden as we were worried due to the pulling, lead walking may do her more damage than good, after a few days she seemed fine and we took her for short bursts. Of which she seemed very comfortable with. It depends on the dog.

One suggestion is maybe invest in a Halti? They stop the dog from pulling as much or at all so shouldnt hurt him if he does decide to try and pull, ours hated theirs but they are getting used to them despite our girl keep fighting to get it off occasionally.

Good Luck

peachyprice

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

During the recovery time will I need to walk him 6 miles on the lead??? :eek: I just cant face being pulled along for 6 miles!!! I cant even face being pulled a long for a mile!

I'm not sure he will want to walk 6 miles when he's recovering from having his knackers chopped off, he will need reduced walks and rest until he's back to 100%.

Lifeisbutadream

puppychick79 wrote: »

Hi,

As a mummy to 2 Springys myself I can vouch for them being terrbile on the lead!! Ours are awful and despite training and puppy classes we can not get the 'pull' out of them but then their recall is fantastic! We are guilty probably of trying to get them round to the field as fast as we can to let them off now as its easier! And they dont seem to benefit as much by lead walking than a gallop around a field.

Our girl has been fixed and we rested her for quite a few days and let her potter round the garden as we were worried due to the pulling, lead walking may do her more damage than good, after a few days she seemed fine and we took her for short bursts. Of which she seemed very comfortable with. It depends on the dog.

One suggestion is maybe invest in a Halti? They stop the dog from pulling as much or at all so shouldnt hurt him if he does decide to try and pull, ours hated theirs but they are getting used to them despite our girl keep fighting to get it off occasionally.

Good Luck

Thank you.. I think it is a springer thing with the lead as there are loads of springers round here and all of them seem to just pull their owners along!

I tried a halti but it kept falling off - maybe I put it on wrong!

I didnt really think about resting him, I suppose that might take up a few of the 10 days! do you know the actual reason for not letting them off the lead when they are recovering?

Lifeisbutadream

peachyprice wrote: »

I'm not sure he will want to walk 6 miles when he's recovering from having his knackers chopped off, he will need reduced walks and rest until he's back to 100%.

That made me laugh.. :rotfl::rotfl:


I never really thought of that - he will probably just want to lay feeling sorry for himself and looking at me with his big brown eyes asking how I could do that to him!:D

puppychick79

It will be due to stiches and not wanting them to tear or catch on anything! To rest a springer is hard work, if ours dont have a decent run they are a nightmare and will bug you constantly all night with their toys!

With the Halti need to make sure its quite tight round the back of the head and also clipped the lead to the halti and their collar. Im sure you need a degree to work them out!

gemini12

You could try playing lots of games in the house and making him use his brain as this , in theory, tires dogs out quite well. I am not sure how well it would work on a springer because they have high activity levels :rotfl:but might be worth a try.

gone4gold62

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

That made me laugh.. :rotfl::rotfl:


I never really thought of that - he will probably just want to lay feeling sorry for himself and looking at me with his big brown eyes asking how I could do that to him!:D

i had the same .problem with a dog i had with my ex a very large staffy x and we bought a dogmatic head collar
cant recommend them highly enough turned a snarling beast of a dog when around other dogs in to a real pleasure to walk .hope this help you x

Lifeisbutadream

gemini12 wrote: »

You could try playing lots of games in the house and making him use his brain as this , in theory, tires dogs out quite well. I am not sure how well it would work on a springer because they have high activity levels :rotfl:but might be worth a try.

Do most Spingers have brains? not sure mine does... :rotfl:

peachyprice

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

That made me laugh.. :rotfl::rotfl:


I never really thought of that - he will probably just want to lay feeling sorry for himself and looking at me with his big brown eyes asking how I could do that to him!:D

The first night he'll probably still be drowsy from the anaesthetic, the next day he'll be constantly looking on the floor for something he's lost

elliesmemory1

If you let him free run with stiches in you run the risk of him undoing them, also he should take it easy for a few days after. he will also need to wear a buster collar until the stiches are out in case he chews and licks at the wound possibly causing an infection.

You could ask your vet to do internal stiches, they sometimes can if you explain how lively he is etc.

The other thing that might help is to get a large marrow bone which should keep him busy for some of the time.
Otherwise it is lead walks only for ten days