One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, or to the Side, or in a Circle.....

[Sandy]

We walk Toby three times a day. Each walk is about 1/2 hour long. Every walk is a training walk. He is always corrected for pulling, for not having a loose leash, must sit at street corners, must sit and accept praise if someone wants to meet him, and must meet other dogs politely. Some days all of this goes relatively well. Other days (like this morning, for instance) he pulls, gets corrected, pulls, gets corrected, over and over and over again. To the point that I am getting a sore shoulder. Don't mistake what I'm saying - I don't "yank" him....it is as we have been told in class - a series of light pops until he turns and carries on with us. It just makes walking such a chore! He is not quite 9 months old, but just wanted to vent a little, and hope others have perhaps gone through this AND come out the other end with a well behaved dog.

[Lynne B]

That is excellent advice, and by the way Turid Rugaas also has a video about how to speak dog (understand dog's body language) it's welll worth buying!

[Phyle Marietta]

I walk Emma several times a day. We are fortunate to live in a community which has a lot of walking trails. She does really good on the way but when we turn around to head for home, she starts to pull on the leash and goes into a wild stage of jumping up. As she is only 12 weeks old today, I think she is doing pretty good. I don't think you are venting at all, it seems every day something new comes up. Patience, patience, I have been told.

[sandy b]

Sandy, have you ever tried at the beginning of the walk to just let Toby do what he wants for 5-10 min then start training? Max is 9 mths old and I do this w/him. He gets so excited when we go out he just wants to pull & sniff and pick up "prizes" so I let him then we settle down to business and he's more willing to walk beside me. I have always used the gentle leader harness, we live on a busy street and when he was young I didn't want him pulling out of a collar. I also use the walks to put him in sit and down whenever walker/bicycles are near.
Our trainer had suggested this when he was 12 wks old and we have since continued this routine and it works.

[Sandy]

I actually just got in from a walk. I tried the "be a tree" technique. If he started pulling I just stopped in my tracks, and told him to relax. He generally ended up sitting down, and then we'd start walking again. I must say - it was a great walk! We went past a school, and just as we were going past, a whole class of kids came out to practise running and went right past us. I put Toby in a sit, and he stayed sitting until they were all past. A young boy wanted to pet him, and he sat and waited that out too. He did very, very well this morning. Now, of course, I have likely jinxed our afternoon walk..... :)

[Kathy Wilson]

Years ago I had a collie/german shepherd cross who I leash trained using a technique presented by dog trainer Matthew Margolies who now goes by "Uncle Matty". He said when the puppy starts to pull, stop and kneel down and call the puppy to you, then praise him/her alot. Repeat the process until the puppy no longer struggles with the leash. It was the best thing I ever did for my Jessy. I never had a problem with the leash after that. She got so trustworthy that mom and I finally took the leash off and just allowed her to walk beside us. Off leash wouldn't be good now because our area is much more built up and there are many more dogs in the area.