Yes, I talk to my deaf dog. Often. It doesn't hurt that I already talk a lot in general and have had the habit for years of talking to my cats (they are usually terrible listeners and fall asleep) and mumbling to myself as I work. Also willing to bet some of my family and friends can also attest to my tendency to spilling out as many words as possible.
Now, back to talking to Xena.
I know full well that she can't hear me but I talk to her constantly regardless. Talking is natural during interactions and if I tried to not talk my entire face and body language would change in a not positive manner. When I talk, I smile, I laugh, and convey an entire array of emotions which I'm fairly confident Xena can pick up by visual cues. Trying not to talk would leave me with a stern face which I imagine would leave Xena rather confused especially if she was acting correctly so I will continue to cheer when she does her business outside, say "good dog" when she sits on command, and even tell her how adorable she is even after she steals my slippers and tries to use them as chew toys.
So, training a puppy and trying to handle owning a house for the first time takes more time than I initially thought. Weird.
Hoping to write entries soon as a thumbs up versus a light for a marker/replacement for a clicker as well as some of Xena's resource guarding issues we are trying to tackle.
This entry will focus on trying to get Xena accustomed to loose leash walking.
Overall, Xena started out pretty decently on walks once we got her into a harness. When collared only, she would pull until she was hacking but for some reason doesn't strain against a back clipping harness (weird, I know). Most of her pulling centered around wanting to stop to continue sniffing or attempting to eat something versus lunging forward which is usually easily remedied by continuing to walk forward as even my
small frame moving forward brings the pup along with me. Her inability to hear actually helps make walking easier as noises don't distract her so dogs barking loudly from windows don't even warrant a head turn.
Now, I don't want to give the impression she was/is perfect on walks as there is still room for improvement which is one of the reasons we started working with our trainer Kathleen at Spring Forth Dog Training to introduce us to loose leash walking. Loose Leash isn't perfect healing but helps tell the dog how far they can go on the leash before pulling. We started the process in the house rewarding Xena (thumbs up followed by a treat) when she came up behind me on my right side (preferred side for walking) while I walked around and spun to go in different directions which progressed to on the front lawn and we are just beginning to do so on our walks. If she pulls forward as we are walking I automatically spin around and change my direction and reward once she comes up behind me.
It's not easy and gets immensely frustrating when she decides lunging forward constantly for five minutes is a good idea but we are making progress. We have found another helpful component of this training is to reward when she makes eye contact with us during a walk. Since we can't audibly call her positively enforcing eye contact is crucial in our entire training efforts and has helped immensely on our walking adventures.
Now, back to talking to Xena.
