Tips For Encouraging On Leash Manners

[mamamia1]

My girl is 15 weeks and we have been working on basic obedience for about 3-4 weeks now. I understand that she is way too young to be heeling perfectly for a 20 minute walk, so I work with her for very short sessions (5 min) encouraging her with praise and treats to heel with out pulling and to watch me. After our session I say O.K. and let her use her full leash length to sniff and explore. Our success varies from day to day. If we're having a good day I might sneak in a couple heeling sessions during the walk, if its not so good I keep it down to one. I do my very best to stay up beat and praise when she is paying attention to me instead of any distractions that may come by. I have been using the change in direction as a tool when she begins pulling, but usually by the time shes already started pulling this will only stop the pulling for about 10 seconds and the next change of direction. She will pull until she chokes if I allow it, which I do my best not to. I have been using kibble as treats, if I use more valued treats [ie. weiner bits] her reaction is no greater, and it seems to actually be more of a distraction because she will start jumping up as well.

At this stage I am not concerned with a perfect heel, I just want her not to pull to the point of gagging. Any tips?

[Zumie05]

Around this age is when I got my puppy the martingale collar and started using mild corrections to help deal with pulling. Eventually I had him walking perfectly with me for a whole 20 min walk. No pulling at all! Now I won't say he was in a perfect heel glued at my side and watching me the whole time, but he learned quickly not to pull out to the end of the leash anymore.

In combination with the occasional change of direction and/or stopping for a few seconds and taking a few steps backwards whenever he pulled, I would also give a light correction to help get his focus back on me. He had this look like "oh yeah, theres a human on the other end of the leash" lol! Then I'd use treats and praise if he loosened up on the leash and walked nice with me. I swear by the end of the week he had the idea and didn't pull on walks anymore, even at this young age.

By 6.5 months the martingale wasn't working anymore. Gary decided he didn't care about walking nice with it on anymore, so I had to upgrade to the prong . Even though I didn't want to have to resort to it, I must say it is one of the most amazing tools I have ever used. I used to be a halti/gentle leader advocate, but now I am liking this tool better as the dog doesn't have to "get used" to wearing it. I still like the gentle leader and use it for my shepherdx! It is great if your dog doesn't mind having a strap over his nose.

[speedy78]

I took gypsy at 5 mths to the trainer, who uses the old fashion method of choke chain then martingale then cloth collar to leash free. it took gypsy 3 times of trying to run outside the training center and choking her self till she stood next to me. I now take her to the park for extra training and walks and she doesnt stay right at my leg but just a bit in front and she doesnt pull even when someone walks by her. just a slight tug and she knows if she isnt obeying. I tried to do my best at 12-14 weeks and she was learning sit but not the rest. she is starting her next set of training classes, can hardly wait.

[Nishasmom]

In our first puppy class our trainer taught us to "reward the slack". Are you familiar with clicker training? If not let me know and I will explain further.

Basically you start with the leash taut...stand still and click AS SOON as your dog moves forward to you...(i.e. releases the tension in the lead). As your dog starts to understand this system you can start walking. As soon as there is tension in the lead again stop, and wait for him to "release the tension" by moving closer to you...as soon as he does, click and reward.

The whole direction change thing "punishes" them for something they do not yet know. It makes more sense IMO to teach them how to walk through positive reinforcement. (i.e. rewarding the "slack"). Once they know how to walk, and what is expected of them, you can use a martingale, or prong for fine tuning (if needed).

This technique worked great for us...good luck ! Oh...and let me know if you don't know how to use a clicker!

[lengel]

We have doing clicker training as well. Zo is four months now. We click and treat whenever she is behaving in a way that we like, even without putting words to it. It has worked beautifully on lead walking and on something I like to call "patience training" - she sits or lies down quietly while I'm doing something other than paying attention to her and she gets clicked and treated regularly.

[lengel]

We have been doing clicker training as well. Zo is four months now. We click and treat whenever she is behaving in a way that we like, even without putting words to it. It has worked beautifully on lead walking and on something I like to call "patience training" - she sits or lies down quietly while I'm doing something other than paying attention to her and she gets clicked and treated regularly.

[mamamia1]

I did use clicker training with our last rott, and it does work very well. The trainer that we used to have that used the clicker method was amazing but is no longer in town. :( I live in a small town and there really aren't too many options for trainers. I chose the trainer we have now because she has all of the agility equipment and I would really love to get in to that when Kali is old enough. Right now she gets a chance to get used to all of the equipment and use some of the things that don't involve jumping, like the tunnel which she loves. :)

Anyways, thanks for the reminder about the clicker. A great training tool that I had all but forgotten about. I'll be going out today to get a new one.

[Diva Satanica]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

In our first puppy class our trainer taught us to "reward the slack". Are you familiar with clicker training? If not let me know and I will explain further.

Basically you start with the leash taut...stand still and click AS SOON as your dog moves forward to you...(i.e. releases the tension in the lead). As your dog starts to understand this system you can start walking. As soon as there is tension in the lead again stop, and wait for him to "release the tension" by moving closer to you...as soon as he does, click and reward.

The whole direction change thing "punishes" them for something they do not yet know. It makes more sense IMO to teach them how to walk through positive reinforcement. (i.e. rewarding the "slack"). Once they know how to walk, and what is expected of them, you can use a martingale, or prong for fine tuning (if needed).

This technique worked great for us...good luck ! Oh...and let me know if you don't know how to use a clicker!

This is exactly the method I use with Brinks. At 16 weeks he loose leash walks amazingly.