walking?

[Brian&Elise]

How old should a rottie be when u teach him to walk..my rottie is a little over 4 months but its not fun when i try to take him and i dont want to be pulling him down the road..any ideas?

[4titus]

I STARTING WALKING MY ROTTIE IN THE BACK YARD ON THE LEASH OF COURSE SHE HATED IT AND CHEW THROUGH A COUPLE OF LEADS . SHE JUST TURN 8MON AND WALKS GREAT ON THE LEASH SHE ALSO SITS WHEN I STOP.KEEP WORKING WITH YOUR DOG AND DONT GET DISCOURAGED.

[4titus]

Sorry I didn't mention when I started walking her . It was about 3mon. I wish I had started sooner.

[Burnsway]

It takes longer with some but just take her often. My Rott mix hated the leash first time I took her, she was only 10 weeks old when I put leash on her and she went bonkers!!!!!!! Still to this day at 7 months old she tries to fight it some till we actually get out and walk. Just keep at it he will get use to it.... :D

[Carina43]

I never expect any of my dogs to "heel" on default even as adults. However they learn from a VERY early age not to pull on the leash. This is how I do it (regular buckle collar on a small pup.)

Start walking. The instant puppy hits the end of the leash & starts pulling, snap the leash while doing a FAST U-turn, saying Good dog GOOD puppy, lets go! Repeat as necessary. Keep it fun & positive because you want your dog to enjoy paying attention to you, not get stressed & confused. To work this must be done very quickly when the pup starts pulling, otherwise he won't "get" the connection. The aim is to keep the dog aware of you even peripherally when he's on a loose leash.

You could also keep some good treats on hand...every time your pup pays attention to you, tell him how wonderful & give him a treat. Every dog I've had has been trained to automatically stop at every crosswalk or curb, even as little puppies. I reserve the treats for a good "wait" when he stops, & have a command for crossing the street. ("Cross street." :))

Also I am a big fan of puppy/basic obedience classes!

[luvarott]

With a young pup I use a buckle collar and lots of treats. I want puppy to walk within an imaginary 3 foot circle of me, so I do not wait until a leash goes tight to get pup back in that circle. If pup is "within" the circle it gets a treat from me, if it goes "outside" the circle, 99% of the time this means ahead of me, then I simply stop walking ("Be a Tree"). Pup will come back to me of its' own choice and I reward and the walk continues. If the pup does not pick up on this idea or is highly determined to pull, then I will use "penalty yards". Pup pulls out ahead of the circle and I turn around and walk as many yards back as pup was forward. Pup learns that to get somewhere he wants to go that the leash has to be loose or he will have to retrace his steps multiple times over.
Collar corrections are not fair, IMHO, for a young pup that has no idea what you want. The trick is to be ABSOLUTELY consistent.

[Emily]

My ten week old rottie walks beautifuly on a leash. I think the trick was taking her on walks with another dog where she saw the second dog behaving on the leash and not being scared or pulling. I have also used this method to convince a lab puppy that leashes weren't bad. You may want to try going on walks with another well behaved dog to show yours what to do. :)

[luvarott]

Originally posted by Brian&Elise:
<STRONG>hey..thanks for the advice...tyson has his own mind sometimes..i find even when hes outside playing in the backyard(off a leash)he will not listen to me and ignore me saying "come on" any tips on that? </STRONG>

Dogs/puppies do what they have been trained to do. Refusing a recall has nothing to do with the dog "ignoring" you and everything to do with a lack of training. Consistent and reliable recalls don't happen overnight and they certainly don't happen with 16 week old puppies. Every time you call him and he doesn't respond you are training him that that is an acceptable choice/response.
Off to obedience school you two should go ;)