Ever wish your doodle wasn't so cute?

[Christy&Riley]

A very sweet neighbor pulls over her car this morning while I'm taking Riley for a quick potty break before I go to work. She rolls down the window and calls Riley by name. Of course, my way over friendly doodle bounds at her car with me in tow on the end of the leash. Just went to the chiropractor yesterday...UGH...that money is down the drain now. I yank Riley back and make her sit, partly because she took off while on a leash and jerked my neck and partly because I didn't want her to scratch the car. The neighbor says something like sorry for interrupting your quiet time. It's not quiet time. I'm trying to manage this dog without blowing my neck out. How do you not see that calling this dog by name is going to get a reaction?

Then a couple months ago a neighbor threw a styrofoam toy and Riley took off after it while on a leash. The lady thought it was great fun. Me...not so much. Particularly because I'm now trying to hold her back and pull the piece of crap out of her mouth before she swallows it. Another time a neighbor pulls over the car and let's his little rat dog bark at Riley from his lap. The barking didn't phase Riley. It was when the owner called Riley over that it jerked my neck.

While I appreciate the friendliness, how do these people not see that I have a hard time holding her back when they get her riled up? All are dog owners but their dogs weigh about 10 pounds max. The first has even played with Riley so she knows this is her weak spot in training. I know I need to just ask these people not to address Riley because it gets her too excited. And it is also my fault for having a dig with my neck issue. But for now I just needed to vent after this morning. Thanks for listening...

[Christy&Riley]

Thanks for the suggestion. Riley got a PetSmart gift card for Christmas so maybe we'll spend it on that. I'm sure that's exactly what she wanted. LOL

[Wynnie & Jim]

I agree with Karen. The Easy Walk Harness is great but I continually practice with Wynnie about polite walking. I walk Wynnie on a very busy road and she must be well behaved. I have taught her to just look at squirrels and deer. I have been working on that since she was very little. Her little first grade friends are another story, especially when they get off the school bus. I am not sure that control from Wynnie is worth the effort, since I get so much pleasure watching the kids and Wynnie's outpouring of love. The lesson: nobody is perfect "even Wynnie" but I will keep trying with her.

[Adina P]

She'd probably hurt herself more pulling with a choke chain than a prong. But like others have said, those are merely tools.  The dog doesn't learn to use them correctly, you have to learn how to use them correctly.  In other words, choke chains and prongs don't generally work best by just putting them on the dog and hoping they don't like to pull.  It takes a certain method/technique so that the correction is quick rather than prolonged by a dog choking for 20 seconds straight.  With the training method I use, there would have been a correction, before the dog reached the end of the leash or I would have turned and walked a different way (early on anyway, before commands were well obeyed).  For times when my dog should know better, I would have put the dog in a heel command and then corrected for an improper heel rather than 'for pulling' or attempting to pull.

[Christy&Riley]

The quick correction is how our trainer taught us to use the choke collar. I found this works well to correct pulling while on a walk (assuming it doesn't get tangled in her coat). However, I haven't figured out how to give a quick correction when she is standing beside me just fine and out of the blue she lunges towards someone. She is at the end of the leash before I could even try to issue a correction. It's like 0 to 80 in 1 second. She'll be sitting (maybe with a little wiggle) then all of a sudden an explosion of pent up energy. I've practiced having her sit as people walk by from different distances. This has worked pretty well. It's when we get up close that I have trouble preventing the out of the blue lurch. Particularly when they call her name. How would you handle that one? Thanks!

[Adina P]

On another note, I agree 100%, calling a dog (name or no name) when he's on a leash is just rude.

[Leslie J]

It sounds like your neighbors have no idea what problems they're causing! I'm sure your neck injury is very aggravated by those sudden jerks by naughty Riley!

Perhaps you should bring high value treats with you, and whenever someone approaches or calls Riley give him a treat and walk the other way. You can give the neighbor an apologetic smile as you walk away and say "sorry, dog training time..." . Cocoa was an over enthusiastic greeter on our walks, and the only way I could stop her was to not allow her to greet anyone for a while. This was no small task- I live in Los Angeles where everyone is out walking their dogs all year 'round.

I am also a big fan of the Easywalk harness Karen recommended.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Because you can't train neighbors, friends and relatives you can not overstate the importance of training your dog.  There is no such thing as an overtrained dog.  We used to have Great Danes and had one litter.  A Vet Tech that we adored talked her husband into letting her have one, she being a petite woman.  Before the dog was even six months old she allowed him to drag her down the road for walks and thought it was funny when people reacted to the size of her dog.  Her husband asked me to please talk to her and this is the key to my belief, if I want to impress someone with my dog, no matter the size, I want them to see the great leash manners when out in public, way more impressive than a cute dog is a well mannered dog.  My girls are required to walk well, as we come to each corner, as we get there, they are prepared to sit and stay until I move forward to cross the street (we often see people point out their car window) and if anyone approaches they have to go into a sit before they are allowed to be greeted by who ever approaches.  That training will safe your poor neck and spine and your dog will become calmer and respectful on your walks.  Hope this smoothes out for you soon

[Christy&Riley]

I'm mortified when she doesn't behave so it's not because I don't care how she acts. I'm just still learning how to keep control at all times. We also make her sit if anyone approaches but I can't get her to STAY in the sit. Or if she does stay sitting, she will wrap her paws around their arms when they reach down to pet her and then uses this as leverage to stand on her back legs. TALK ABOUT BEING MORTIFIED! I just wish I knew how to make her stay calm. I guess I need to try using treats again. I just didn't like the idea because it seems like she is only doing it for the food not because I'm in charge. What happens when the treats go away. Just feeling a bit discouraged.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I'm going to let someone else answer the treat question you just posted, but I will add that the Easy Walker is the best for getting good control and training.  

I have two 60# doodles and they each have one on still as I need control of 120# of dogs for those squirrel and other distractions that are just too sudden for me to give a command before  they get excited. That is rare though and a good firm "Leave it" usually solves that issue as well. (Which btw, took a LOT of treats in the beginning, now hardly ever given).

I certainly don't worry about appearing rude when it comes to training or safety.  They will either get the message or have to get over it, but at least I'm not dealing with out of control dogs, neck injury or worse, and someone else possibly getting hurt.  I'm sure with the info here on DK you will be pleased by the results and remember, she feels whats happening on the other end of the leash, so staying calm is key. Hard to do when they are pulling your arm out of it's socket tho. lol

[Christy&Riley]

Good point on the staying calm. I've worked on that in other situations but you are right that when she jerks, my instinct is not to stay calm. Usually, "NO!" with other frustrated comments like "dang it Riley!" I've never hit her but I will nudge her on the hind quarters to get her attention. The trainer taught me that (like when we come to a corner and she doesn't instantly sit, he says nudge her with your knee to remind her) and it does seem to snap her out of it. She's probably feeding off the escalation in my voice. Good reminder!

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

As far as treats go, my trainer said the idea behind it is making them work for food. What's the harm in that?
She also said, you can ween them off by only treating only perfect responses once they know what they are supposed to do. But, if it came to pulling you or sitting calmly, I think I'd rather rely on the treats if need be.
We have the easy walk, but then switched to the sense-sation no pull harness. It's the same principal, but lighter (less metal rings), easier to put on, and it's got a soft nylon so that it rubs them less and is more comfortable. It really makes a difference having the no pull harness because it turns them back to you and is not on their esophagus. Plus, I have back issues. When Gracie just has the collar, she can pull me anyway she wants. I'm guessing she's at least 80 lbs. but, when she has the harness, I don't go anywhere.

My problem is with my other family members that she sees. They feed her treats that are not on my approved list. It's my in-laws. My husband takes her down to see them often since they live right down the road. He will sheepishly tell me that they fed her this or that. Then, I get irritated. I know they think that she's just a dog, but ugh if someone asked me not to do something, I would not do it anymore!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I agree Lyndy, that would be an issue for me as well. Especially when training with treats and then mine getting treats and not working for them. Then the quality of treats would be a big issue since, like you, we are more educated as to what is good and not so good for them.

One thing I forgot to mention, Christy, is what I learned on here when it came to training. When you tell your dog to do something, his only thought is "what's in it for me?"  So everything they learn has to have some meaningful reward for them to want to do it and to keep doing it.  For most dogs, that is treats, some it's happy petting and play time. You will find what works best.