“Walking” is not exactly the right word to use; it’s more like LET’S ROAM THE STREETS!!

Princess is little and only 46 pounds. But she is one strong lady, and with her high energy level AND her prey drive, on a scale from 1-10, she would score 11, or maybe even 12!

Sass was very excited having company on walks, so it was quite a daily adventure and a workout for me, to say the least!

When I say that I purchased every collar on the market for Princess, I mean it. I got the prong collar that did not work well, because she would continue to pull and tear up her throat. Not good.

Same with chokers – she would pull and choke herself without any result in a positive direction. The “no pull harness” was a joke- she did not even feel it! I added the backpack after watching Cesar Millan on the Dog Whisperer (yes, I Netflixed EVERY season of the show). Actually, I even purchased the “Illusion” collar from Cesar’s website. I have quite a collection these days, thanks to Princess!

The backpack was supposed to drain her energy more quickly, but I think it just made her stronger instead. She definitely became more focused, carrying the pack, but it was more like she was training for the Olympics with extreme determination. The “Gentle Leader” was the winner with her—it wasn’t perfect, but it worked better than anything else.

At one point, a friend of mine offered to show me how to work with her on hikes. Out in nature, her prey drive kicks in, of course, so that is a whole different challenge. Since my friend is a very fit & muscular guy who owns three very well behaved pit bulls, I was happy to take him up on the offer. I thought it would be a great learning experience for me, as well as for Princess.

I had Sass off-leash, and my friend had Princess on a leash. He rejected using the “Gentle Leader,” saying, “…she is so little; I’m used to the big strong guys.” He was quickly breathing more heavily than Princess was, and it was a constant struggle. In the beginning, I felt bad for him.

But after a while, I just started laughing, because it looked really comical with little Princess pulling like mad and my friend, who looks like a football player, sweating as if he were walking a whole pack of unruly dogs.

I think the fact that it was not just me having a hard time was a huge relief, since I had started to doubt my skills as a handler.

After months of obedience training every morning, walking with Princess improved slowly. The evening long walk with Sass and Princess started to be really enjoyable, and they are both very well behaved! Unless there is a cat…..or a squirrel… 🙂