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I have five chihuahuas, and while currently I'm not able to go anywhere without someone driving me and my yard is small, I'm going to be moving to a new house - it's a gorgeous, cozy log cabin with 110 acres of mostly empty land around it. Since the yard is so big I'd love to be able to walk my dogs around there daily, so I'm trying to train them how to act on a leash.
Some of the have some issues, though, primarily with getting the harnesses on. The harnesses I use have holes for the front legs, velcro at the top in the back and a part on the shoulders that clips like a seatbelt. I usually put the front legs in, pull up the harness and then secure it, but my 10-year-old dog won't let me do anything with his paws. He keeps pulling them back out of the holes. My 5 year old girl runs from me when I try to put the harness on her, my 2 year old boy freezes, and the other two do fine.
Once they're ready and on their walk, they're happy and perfectly fine, but I want to get them more comfortable with putting the harnesses on. Any ideas other than just letting them get more used to it? I was planning on trying giving them a treat or a bite of cheese after the harness goes on, to let them associate harness time with good things happening.
As well, while pulling isn't really a problem since our biggest dog is a 10 pounder and they don't pull on the leash much anyway, they usually try to walk in front of me or behind me, and I'd like for them to walk beside me. I'm not sure how to train them for that, though.
Some of the have some issues, though, primarily with getting the harnesses on. The harnesses I use have holes for the front legs, velcro at the top in the back and a part on the shoulders that clips like a seatbelt. I usually put the front legs in, pull up the harness and then secure it, but my 10-year-old dog won't let me do anything with his paws. He keeps pulling them back out of the holes. My 5 year old girl runs from me when I try to put the harness on her, my 2 year old boy freezes, and the other two do fine.
Once they're ready and on their walk, they're happy and perfectly fine, but I want to get them more comfortable with putting the harnesses on. Any ideas other than just letting them get more used to it? I was planning on trying giving them a treat or a bite of cheese after the harness goes on, to let them associate harness time with good things happening.
As well, while pulling isn't really a problem since our biggest dog is a 10 pounder and they don't pull on the leash much anyway, they usually try to walk in front of me or behind me, and I'd like for them to walk beside me. I'm not sure how to train them for that, though.