Does your doodle walk well on a leash? And if so how did you get them that way?

[Alissa Edwards]

My vizsla used to drag me - a couple times even pulled over the stroller. I never walked with him as a result. I really want to walk this dog daily - once it warms up - and have my kids (at least my 7 yo) be able to do the same.

Tips? Harness? What kind? How did you do it? 

Thanks!

[Jen W]

I went through a few weeks of physical therapy for a rotator cuff impingement from walking my dog.  That's when I knew I had to get serious about training her on the leash.  I signed up for a leash walking class at my local dog training store (Zoom Room, I believe it's a national chain with franchises throughout the country).  She's still not perfect at it, but I know that's because I am not consistent with stopping whenever she pulls (sometimes I just really want to get home) and sometimes I commit the biggest sin a puppy owner can commit and forget to bring my treats when we go out.  But those things are on me, not her.  I highly recommend a class.

[Mindy White]

You bring up a really good point, I know there are a lot of trainers/classes that suggest treat training because it seems like an easy fix and it usually is, however in my experience there is one really big reason not to rely on treats.  Let's say you accidentally left your front door cracked while bringing in groceries and your dog gets out and starts running.  You see a car coming and your dog is having a blast not paying attention.  If you don't have a treat in your pocket and you need your dog to listen=treats are useless.  I have a command that I use and it drives my husband nuts, I say 'dog's name,' mere.  (I guess I got tired of saying here or come here at some point.)  I start with short leash and saying "mere" and pulling directly to me.  Next, long lead, same process.  Once they don't even think about it anymore and automatically come every time I go to off leash recall leading up to lots of distractions and still getting them to come to me.  It's not an easy process but to me well worth it : ) The good thing about this is you can practice inside, I know it's cold out there...65 degrees here today, brrrrr, lol. 

[Julie and Max]

Thank you Karen! It was really important to me that he be able to walk well as I'm diabetic and the walking is critical to my health, now hopefully over these last few too cold days he hasn't forgot anything!

John I do believe that state of mind is important, in letting the dog know that you are the calm leader. I saw this women walking her huge dog last week it was a great dane, american bull dog mix. The dog was lunging and pulling and she was screaming at the top of her lungs over and over "heel, heel" waving her free arm around like a maniac. The dog was completely ignoring her, and I was thinking to myself if only she would calm down her dog probably would too. Now I realize some dogs are more hyper and more difficult to walk but I really felt bad for that dog, it must have been really confused about what she wanted him to do. 

[John Wang]

You reminded me of a funny run-in we had with some neighbors (you meet a lot when  you go out for walks every hour!)

We were struggling to get Boomer to not eat bark (no longer a concerning issue) when we saw a couple walking their large dog down the road. She was completely calm, followed at their heels and perfectly content. My fiancee commented that she wished Boomer could be like that, so we hailed out to the owners a greeting, and asked how their dog was so well behaved.

The instant their attention was broken by responding to us, the dog broke out of her nice trance and turned into a helicopter of wagging tail, tap-dancing paws, and gravity-defying leash pulling. In the darkness of the night, she seemed to look like a five-dimensional mutant with multiple tails and far too many legs. She didn't bark, but her level of excitement far exceeded anything Boomer could (or is likely to) achieve in his entire life.

We all had a good laugh.

I'm coming to see that less talking is more effective. Random babbling to a dog without any context means nothing to them (aside from 'oh hush, human'), so I'm just going to assume that he's going to follow me (and with the harness, he will whether or not he wants to :P ) I always feel bad though because I feel like he'll resent me for taking him out with these types of walks, where whenever he tries to stop or deviate I have to tug him back in line.

[Julie and Max]

Mindy I think treat training has it's place, it just shouldn't be the only training. Like I used treats at first, and then slowly began to lessen how often he got them, like 1 in 2 then 1 in 5 then 1 in 10 and now he will do his commands regardless of whether he gets a treat or not, but it's a good way to get started and make training fun for them. I do also use toys and games and just petting as rewards, varying it all the time. 

John I agree that less talk is better. I also have a hard time with never letting them do their thing on a walk so I have somewhat compromised. One is he gets off leash time every day. Now I know not everyone can do that because you have to have a place that's safe. Two is I've taught him two commands, one is close, which I guess is like heel, where I expect him to be directly beside me, paying attention to me and not the ground or the squirrels or the leaves blowing in the wind. The second one is go sniff. That means he's allowed to roam on his leash and sniff things as long as he keeps moving and is not pulling. I find this works well for me, especially with a puppy because their attention span is not as long and they can get frustrated. This way we both get a very enjoyable walk.

I bet the person with the at first well behaved dog must have been frustrated when the dog turned into a whirlwind of excitement!

 

[Donna Bay & Buzz]

Gentle Leader!