All of us at Doggedly Devoted want to extend our sincere condolences to Willy’s family, Emily and Andy. We didn’t know him for very long, but we know that Willy was a very special dog. Willy had had 3 spinal surgeries to help him with lameness in his hindquarters. When he first arrived at Doggedly Devoted, though, he won us all over with his charm and his smile. He loved playing with the other dogs, and never let his physical difficulties slow him down....
Building a Foundation You can’t learn calculus without first learning algebra. Loose leash walking follows the same rules. A beautifully focused dog voluntarily loose-leash walking is the same as a dog performing calculus. In order to tune out distractions, stay focused, and control herself, a dog needs have strong impulse control and handler focus. She needs to have learned basic algebra before we can expect her to learn calculus. Fortunately, teaching a dog to walk on a loose leash in the most effective and humane way doesn’t require as much mental effort as teaching a student calculus – well, unless, you’re a math genius....
by Sophie Liu, CDBC, Doggedly Devoted Summer Training Associate Nothing is more stressful about our dogs than poor leash behavior. To counter leash pulling, people have come up with an enormous variety of tools to better control dogs, some better than others. Walk into any pet supply store, and you’re sure to see chain collars, prong collars, head collars, front-leading harnesses, etc. And, yet, loose leash walking isn’t as hard to achieve as you might think....
This summer we are offering Advanced Training Walks for dogs who need a little extra coaching on walking nicely on a leash. All dogs get a solo walk during daycare, but you can sign your dog up for an additional 30-minute walk with a staff trainer so he or she can focus on polite walking skills during the day. Advanced Walking dogs will work on the cue “watch,” as well as sitting at street corners....
Harlem United’s 1-Mile event on June 21 is dog-friendly! Doggedly Devoted will be there to participate in this community race around Marcus Garvey Park. There will be five heats of one mile each, split by age and gender, with the final heat being a fun run the whole family can do together. You can bring a stroller or walk your dog. By the way, there is no correct definition of family–it is anyone you want to run with....