Daily Walks with Kishu Ken.

Training a Kishu Ken to walk nicely on a leash can be a challenge, even for those who are experienced with dogs, experienced with primitive dogs, and experienced with Kishu Ken specifically. They are always hunting, which makes convincing a Kishu Ken to focus on their handler while walking something of a challenge. I struggle with it, too, even though we take daily long walks (each of my dogs get about 1 hour of paw-to-pavement exercise a day, minimum). 

It's become more and more difficult to manage multiple dogs on walks for me, due to my own handicaps, but training tools make it possible for me to get more dogs out at a time and feel I am safe, and my dogs are safe. 

Today, I utilized head collars on my daily walk through downtown Oregon City, which got a comment from what I imagine was someone who meant no harm, criticizing me for using gentle leaders on "such small dogs."

I can admit that maybe it looks a bit silly to an outsider who doesn't know that I sometimes have hand tremors and weakness that can make controlling two strong, fit, medium-sized dogs who may experience a novel distraction (like a rude, charging dog) difficult, but I'm not sure the boys minded their walk with extra head gear, so... as they say... ​whatever.

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