Cu Liath Deerhounds and Whippets

03/09/2025

Leashes and Harnesses

I have a thing about harnesses. I hate them. I totally get the reason that people use them: their dog pulls, and they don’t want to strangle the dog or possibly injure him, so they get a harness that will “gently” correct him. Maybe. Harnesses that reduce the dog’s desire to pull do so by making the dog uncomfortable if he pulls. And while uncomfortable is a step up from strangled, I suggest that you take a step back for a moment.

If your dog is pulling, so are you.

Anyone who has walked with me and my dogs knows that I regularly walk two, three or even more dogs, any two of which outweigh me. And they have a lower center of gravity, and better traction. They would win any tug of war, which is why I don’t let them pull. And I do this with a simple leash and collar. As it happens, I usually use a slip or “choke” collar. But since the leash is almost always slack, the dog is never strangled. (The method works equally well with a buckle collar, but I don’t have the patience to keep buckling and unbuckling collars.)

So try this. Attach a leash to your dog’s collar and just hold the handle of the leash. Repeat after me: “Excuse me; we’re attached.” If your dog pulls, resist while you say “Excuse me.” And then - this is the important part! - relax your hand and let the leash have a little slack while you say “We’re attached.” At first you will probably have to repeat the action several times before your dog gives up and stops pulling, and he will pull again at the next distraction. After a few times, he will stop pulling after the first or second resist/release.

To make it stick, you have to recognize an implicit contract you are making with your dog. You set the length of the leash and the direction of travel. Your dog is responsible for keeping slack in the leash. If he tightens the leash, you will remind him (excuse me) and then reset the slack (we’re attached). You can call your dog, or move closer to him in order to shorten the leash, but you cannot reel him in, because you are never going to put tension on the leash.

30/09/2024

On Friday afternoon I got a message from the dogs’ agent looking for a Deerhound for Saturday Night Live. I was at Canine Camp Getaway of NY, where I run the lure coursing. But the other staff figured out a way to cover for me, and with the support of the camp owner, staff and campers - and my son who brought me the dog who seemed most appropriate, and cared for the dogs I had at camp in my absence - I drove down to NYC on Saturday morning.

It was a fun day of rehearsing and hanging out with Emily and her Dachshund Elliot, and Erica from the agency. In the end, the skit was cut from the live show (they had WAY too much material!). And I figured that was that. But one of the campers thought she caught a glimpse of Solenn in a montage at the end of the show, so I went on YouTube to see if the montage was posted. And lo and behold, they posted the whole (rather long) skit! Solenn appears at the very end of it.

In this Cut for Time sketch a group of friends (Heidi Gardner, Andrew Dismukes, Devon Walker, Ashley Padilla) try to watch a new season of their favorite sho...

23/06/2024

Had a good couple of days at the New Paltz dog shows, a convenient location for a group of us with some young dogs to show. Vicki Smith Grandin brought Arwen, Paula Hogan brought Cici, and I brought Zoë, all of them at their very first AKC shows, and I also had Tessa and Solenn entered. We chose to enter Friday and Saturday under hound specialists Fred Vogel and Patricia Clark. Arwen was WB on Friday and Tessa took that honor on Saturday, with Cici taking the reserve both days, and Solenn taking breed both days. On Saturday Solenn went on to an owner-handled Group 3. The heat was miserable, but Paula had a terrific camping site under a lovely shade tree, and we all enjoyed both a shaded ex-pen and the air conditioned trailer.