Leashed Love?

April 23rd, 2011 by Kelly Gorman Dunbar

I’m in Marrakesh, Morocco right now. It’s been quite the cultural experience and has got me thinking… Yesterday, while walking in the Medina I saw a guy with a monkey on leash. It upset me. This poor monkey was alternately doing back flips (without being cued) and sitting looking at his owner while holding one end of his leash, near his collar, in his hand.

I thought, “Poor monkey, trapped like that, he looks like a slave.” But then I thought, “What’s so different about this situation than the typical dog on a leash scenario I see everyday back at home?”

I guess one could argue that a monkey is a wild animal, not domesticated, and that, in-and-of-itself makes it a less palatable situation. I’m sure that was part of what bothered me. But also, for me, it was the fact that the monkey had to be kept there next to the man by force. That’s what the collar and leash symbolized to me, an unbalanced relationship.

Many of our western companion dogs wear leashes, and while sometimes it’s for their own safety, or due to leash-laws, often, the dog that’s been tethered to it’s human wouldn’t be there by their side without the aid of that little handy device.

Good training builds a strong and healthy relationship between man and beast and can be immensely enjoyable at both ends of the leash. When interacting with, and training your dog, why not do your very best to make sure your dog is there with you because she wants to be, not because she has no other choice.

Leashes and Walking

On April 23rd, 2011 saraberry says:

Thank you, Kelly, very thought provoking and comes at a good time!

I am working right now with a lovely couple and their two dachshunds. The male dachshund is barky to the point of making their lives miserable. The female is overweight, and they worry about her back. After working with them for awhile, I found out that when they take them for walks, the dogs are kept on tight leashes next to the humans while walking down concrete paths. They have not been allowed to sniff and scent, and choose where THEY want to go. We did this yesterday with them on a long leash being allowed to go off into the brush along the way and we even hid treats for them to find in the grass along the way. After just 30 - 45 minutes of this, a very short time, both dogs came back to the house and were calm and quiet and very compliant to work on sits, downs, hard targets, and crate training.

At the same time, I could tell the owners were not 100% on board with letting them into the brush. They kept talking about snakes and ticks. At one point I suggested to them that for 100s of years dachshunds had been bred to do things like dig into holes to get at badgers, and isn't that kind of scenting and activity a healthy part of who they are making it worth the other risks, which I believe can also be addressed. (Frontline the dogs, and take a stick to beat the brush for snakes before they go in.)

But at the same time, I felt that a compulsion to keep the dog walking right next to their side on a short, tight leash was part of the perception issue. Like "this is what a dog is really supposed to do".

And then I think about the urban dogs, who may seldom see even a patch of grass. Many don't even have much of a choice in dog parks as an alternative, because they can be packed with dogs there with walkers. Walk the block, sit at the corner, walk the next block, pee by the tree, walk on... maybe there they can make the choice of which block to go down, or where to stop and sniff along the way, even alternating blocks.

And please anyone reading this who has dogs that mostly work a six - eight foot leash, get your dogs out into the parks and outdoor areas, even if you have to seek them out. Get a 25 foot leash or longer and let them loose leash out, or take them somewhere they can truly be off-leash and get the full range of their senses. Get away from the six to eight foot leash every now and then at least, and let them have time to make choices on what they would like to check out.

Sara A. Watson, CTC
Bluefence Bassets
APDT Member
Basset Hound Club of America
Northern California Basset Hound Club
Basset Hound Club of Sacramento
Golden Gate Basset Rescue

I went to a Kayce Cover

On April 23rd, 2011 Jenny Ruth Yasi says:

I went to a Kayce Cover seminar one time (long story for another time) and it was held at a woman's house who had a permit to keep a few monkeys, and so the woman hosting the seminar had three (I don't know what type) monkey is a very strong big huge cage in what used to be a living room I guess, and as I approached a cage a monkey started raging, screaming at me, threatening me with bared teeth, rattling the bars of the cage like a lunatic. Just exactly like an insane person. And the owner laughed and called this display, "PMS, or piss-off monkey syndrome." She explained that she diapered the monkeys and they sleep with her in her bed, but if she wakes up she has to move VERRRY slowly and carefully or otherwise a monkey would likely rip her face off. It was an awful thing to witness, and made me think, sometimes the best thing is just not to own a pet. The whole idea of pet ownership is kind of weird when you think about it. But the dynamic between dogs and people, the shared community and symbiotic relationship there is ancient. The dog breeds aren't ancient, "pure breds" are new inventions, and I believe sometimes we have problems with our AKC breeding programs artificial selection and marketing that can strain the more natural human-dog symbiosis, but also maybe the problem is the attitude, where humans feel entitled to "leash" whatever they want.

Jenny Ruth Yasi Whole Dog Camp www.wholedogcamp.com

all animals on leashes, period

On May 1st, 2011 The_dog_walking_Guy says:

Not to be too dramatic. leash laws protect the animal, other humans, other property (eg stop cars crashing as they try to avoide a fleeing animal).

I have trained our dog as much as my capablilty and dog training classes could do, but if he sees another exciting dog, bird, human, he doesnt always have 100% recall. We emotionalise monkeys on leashes because we see them as human, but the same rules apply. Whether domesticated or not, its not about whether the animal loves and respects you, its all about safety. If I see a person dragging a dog or doing inappropriate chain work, yes I get very annoyed, but the people who mistreat dogs rarely take them for walks, which of course makes the dog misbehave even more.

Dog Walking Guy of Williamstown