BoneDaddy

As far as lead training goes, I found that at about 16 weeks, Xanthe began to seriously forge. This after 8 previous weeks of no problems at all on the lead. It simply started one day, and no amount of patience, commands or rewards seemed to curtail the behaviour. Our vet recommended what's called an easy walk harness. Rather than a nose piece, this one clips the lead onto the breast, which nudges a forging pup toward you and softly impedes her shoulder movement. Literally within minutes, Xanthe was back to her previous pattern of heeling, with no discomfort. After about a week, we introduced her to a long lead (a reel type) which she was able to use with little to no problem with tugging. Every so often we go back for a walk with easy lead as a sort of intermittant reinforcement It looks like this

We have the exact opposite problem with Xanthe. Her great auntie, Zoe, despised the water: hated to go out in the rain and avoided puddles like the plague (prancing plaintively through only when she had to). Xanthe loves the rain and headed straight for the surf, forging on the lead the first time she saw the ocean. While she was slightly spooked by the surf (it was high that day) she went straight into a tide pool chasing little fishes.. no worries, and days later, straight into the deep water of Throsby Creek as far as we would let her. We're wondering whether that is 'normal' and we're not sure how it's going to go when she's old enough and better behaved under distraction to go lead free on the dog friendly beaches. We'd really prefer that she not swim out to sea!