The man trying to walk a young Husky issued a string of commands without waiting for each task to be completed. The training session was compacted into less than five minutes. The problem was obvious to any bystanders on the public path. While his master barked out orders in record time, this pup looked completely bewildered, as the instructions piled up. He continued to make false starts and finally gave up completely. The pair turned back toward the parking lot.
Walking this dog on this day was not going to happen. It was not apparent as to who was training who at this point.
Watching this training session from start to finish required less than five minutes. All the commands were issued loud enough for any dog who was hanging around to follow. The duo appeared to have no understanding of the other’s body language. The animal on the short leash looked at his walker eagerly. Neither appeared to have any hearing or vision problems. The leash was cinched a tiny bit before the next command.
Describing the activity of actually walking the dog to someone who either has never had a dog, is walking an unfamiliar canine, or has been told the animal has had some exposure to the training basics, is almost impossible.
Thinking back to a long-ago childhood pastime, the yo-yo trick known as “walking the dog” required a lot of practice using a real yo-yo. It could be so frustrating for a novice. Mastery took a great deal of time and effort. The human-dog version of this trick is best practiced at home with no one looking. Then again, it might not be worth doing. Walking the dog using a dog or a yo-yo might only be an exercise in futility.
By Dolly Viscardi
