Walk this Way... Adelaide's Walking Journey from 8 weeks to now
In just four months on this planet, little Adelaide has experienced so much. We started her in puppy school, brought her to events, introduced her to our friends and family, socialized her with other puppies and dogs, brought her along to work, and so much more. We’ve learned so much about our fur baby but today we will focus on her walking!
In the first week, we used a tiny nylon puppy collar to walk Adelaide. She was so small, nothing else would fit her. Jess even had to clip the collar when smaller with a couple bobby pins. Adelaide was a little shy when she started walking so we didn’t have to worry about her fighting the leash or squeezing out of the collar. Something we noticed in the beginning was Adelaide’s desire to stay close to our feet. In puppy school, we learned how to walk with a slack leash, however that wasn’t too much of a problem because she never pulled ahead. The biggest problem we had in the beginning was being cautious not to trip on her!
In the next few weeks, we introduced Adelaide to a more traditional nylon harness. For the first time, she didn’t fit into the very smallest size: XXXS. She did fit into XXS however, so we used this one. The harness fit well around her chest/belly but the opening for the neck was a little too big. Adelaide started growing more and became confident in her walking. The only problem was that the harness was a little too easy to sneak out of when playing with other puppies. The harness also quickly became a chew toy for other pups in puppy school. One other downside to the nylon harness was that Adelaide started to shake when we brought it near her. We tried our best to use treats and get her more comfortable. The harness was hard to put on as well because we had to slip the harness over her head.
Around 12 weeks, Adelaide was big enough for us to buy her current harness - the buddy belt. Jess used to work for a lovely dog walking company and this was her favorite harness/collar out of all the different harnesses the dogs would wear. So far, we are in love with this option for our little pup. Adelaide is still a little afraid to put on the harness, but once it’s on, she is excited to walk. Luckily, this is the easiest harness to put on so the part she doesn’t like is over pretty quickly. Once we get outside on our walk, Adelaide starts to walk quickly and excitedly. Everything on her path is enticing. She sniffs incessantly and tries to pick up everything from sticks to cigarette butts. One of the habits she has picked up is running side to side. She gets so caught up sniffing that her walk is usually in a zig zag pattern. We’ve tried shortening the leash, which often helps. As she becomes more courageous everyday, she has started leading the way! When she pulls far ahead we stop, try to get her attention, and then continue on with better control.