Dear Cesar,
We watch your program and try to follow your dog training techniques and retraining ourselves and rehabilitating our dog. We have a four-month-old Jack Russell named Wetto. Our dog problem with him is taking him for dog walks.
He is taking us for walk — even though we continuously stop and try to get him to walk next to us. He wants to smell everything and tries to run ahead. We also made the mistake of allowing our dog to sleep on our bed at night. As the night progresses, our dog hogs the bed and also interferes with our private time. He gets so excited when we get home from work that he just cannot calm down for a half an hour. He also gets hyper, jumpy, licky, and just wants attention when we have company.
I understand that Jack Russell Terriers are high energy dogs, but we didn’t expect this much. Other than the things mentioned above, he is a good dog. We want to be retrained and rehabilitate him. Sometimes I think that even you might have problems accomplishing this dogs rehabilitation.
Your advice/help would be greatly appreciated,
Rick & Martha Flores
Cesar Responds
Dear Rick & Martha,
A lot of dogs don’t want to walk, they want to run! So it can become difficult and boring for them to follow a slow walking pace. With high energy dogs like your Jack Russell Terrier, I recommend using bikes and rollerblades if you are safely able to do so. This is the fastest way to drain your dog’s energy.
If you have a bike and are able to maintain your balance, you can ride while your dog runs alongside you. If you have trouble getting your dog to do this, I suggest calling a professional and explaining your goal: I want my dog to learn to safely be beside the bike as I ride. Another option is to put a dog on a treadmill before you take him for a walk.
If, during the walk, your dog is in front of you and going off on his own, then he is telling you very clearly that you are the follower. Until you master the walk, you will not be able to alter his other behaviors.
However, if you’d like to cut down on that half hour of hyper dog activity when you arrive home, ignore him! I know it’s hard and that he’s very cute, but even though he’s bouncing, don’t let him get to you. If you don’t feed that hyperactive energy, he’s going to stop the behavior eventually.
Stay calm and assertive,
Cesar Millan
