While my improvised method of teaching Oscar how to walk with a loose leash worked really well the other day, he's still struggling a bit with whole concept. Assuming his previous owner ever even took him for walks, he's been pulling on the leash his whole life so not pulling is a very foreign concept and is proving difficult to master. We've decided to try yet another new method based on what Cesar Milan teaches. Up until now, we walked Oscar with a regular non-retractable clip leash attached to his collar, which sits very low on his neck. According to Cesar, this is not the best location for correcting. He recommends having the leash way up high on the neck just behind the head. Since Oscar isn't a pull-until-I-choke-myself-into-unconsciousness type of dog, we've gotten out the slip lead (instead of fastening with a clip, it's just a loop that goes around the neck and tightens if you pull on it) the shelter gave us when we adopted him. Normally, we would never use it because, if he were to pull hard, it could damage his trachea, but we know him well enough now to feel safe using it.

I'm happy to report, so far, it's working really well. He's walking right next to us now with very few corrections and, when we do correct, it's very small and he responds really well. Because his little peanut head is so tiny and it doesn't take much for him to wiggle out of the slip lead, we're still attaching the regular leash to his collar for safety. I thread that leash through my belt loops to a carabiner I wear clipped to the opposite side. It just hangs loose the whole time and all of the communicating is done through the slip lead, but at least I know, if he were to squirm out of the slip lead, he'd still be attached to me and not running amok in the street or something. We must look a sight walking a 12 pound dog with two leashes, but it's what is working for us and we will continue on with it. It's too bad other people are too afraid of looking foolish to even try it because, as we see every single day, there are a lot of dogs out there who could use the help.