Walk with a Purpose

Walking with Samai has been, well, lets just say that I am walking a curious, full of energy puppy.  Not that she is bad when we walk but her learning curve on a leash has been slow. She heals, sits and stays well enough but only when she wants to or there isn’t something new to explore or see.

We recently got a book called the Well-Behaved Dog. It’s an awesome book with lots of great teaching techniques. One section of the book talks about walking on a leash. It explains that one way to help a dog on a walk is to give it a purpose. How you might ask? Use a doggy backpack! When using the backpack the dog feels as though it has a job to do and the walk now has a sense of purpose.  Samai is a German Shepherd and by nature is a working dog so this made perfect sense to us. We loved the idea so much we ordered one and gave it a try.

Samai 8 months

First use- I let Samai smell and see the backpack. I then opened up one of the pockets and let her see a bag of dog treats, put it in the pocket. Showed her some poopy bags (because all dog owners should be responsible right?) and let her watch me put into the pocket, next was her portable dog bowl and finally a small bottle of water. She sat very nicely while I strapped the pack on her back. Then I pulled out her leash and the usual excitement of knowing she was going for a walk ensued. It was now time to go for our first walk. But wait!, no jumping, no running a head, no looking around. She stayed so close to my side I almost tripped over her a few times. Every few feet she looked up to me- not at the blowing leaves, sticks or running geckos! She was attentive and alert.

I have to mention here with the photo above, She sat with the stay command while I ran into the house to get the camera, came out and take the picture!

This is a MIRACLE BACKPACK!! I do believe it’s filled with magic!

So we now have a dog who walks with a purpose. Happy puppy, Happy owners. :)

I reccomend this book for anyone who has a dog: Well-Behaved Dog