5 month old Goldendoodle goes crazy on early morning walks

[Peter Romano]

I have a 5 month old Goldendoodle.  We have had her for a month.  Overall she is a typical puppy.  Potty Training has become much better although she occasionally will have an accident.  We live in NYC, and give our dog at least 2 walks for a total of 45-60 minutes before my wife, two boys (ages 5 and 10), and I leave around 8AM.  She is crated during the day, with a dog walker coming at Noon for a 30 minute walk.  Then my wife and kids come home around 4:30PM and she gets many walks before we turn in at 11PM.

On  our morning walks in the park, our dog sometimes goes bananas, particulary when seeing other dogs.  She jumps and twists/flails in the air, snarls, play bites, and is hard to control.  We are using a normal leash on our, so any recommendations on a leash or harness would be appreciated, as well as thoughts on how to control this behavior.  I plan on joining a puppy training group class, we already have had one private session.

 

Thank you!

[Cathy w/Shiloh~Cody]

I had good results from "The Gentle Leader", the dog will resist it at first -but put it on very

gently over the nose area, and make sure it connects high up behind the dogs ears

in the back. It helps many ways-it stops the pulling, you can give slight tug to correct if dog is

weaving all over or staring down other dogs, give a slight tug if dog is snarling to correct,

you can stop the puppies head from going down on sidewalk so he is not eating everything in sight.

The dog will try to rub it off but after awhile gets use to it. I never leave it on after walk-its just for when you are training.

Good luck!! 

 

[Peter Romano]

Thank you so much for your response.  I will look into the Gentle Leader.

[Adina P]

The Gentle Leader may help, but I would suggest taking a week or so to acclimate him to it according to the video that comes with it.  Otherwise you'll just have a bucking bronco on a nose loop. 

 

Have you taken your pup to obedience classes?  The classes won't 'fix' him but they will get YOU started in how to train him to walk politely on leash.  That's one of the main things that will help anything and will do FAR more than any collar can on its own: Obedience Training.  I use a program that is very effective and uses a choke chain: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/now-accepting-calendar-pho...

 

I think using a flexi leash for recalls is a very good idea.  It is also the ONLY way I'd ever recommend using a flexi leash--never for walking a dog.

 

Finally, when you take him to the park...are you referring to a dog park or a regular park?  I recommend NOT letting him off leash at a regular people park or anywhere that is not completely fence and you can't influence his behavior with guidance.  Off leash is really only appropriate at a dog park and if that is where you are...go ahead and let him loose.  But keep in mind that every time you give a command and he has the opportunity to ignore it you are training him that commands are optional.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Adina, I think you probably wanted to include a different link....

[Peter Romano]

Thank you for your response.  Yes, I do plan on taking her to Puppy Training class.  I had one private session, but this was in our home, and we worked on basic hand signals/commands.  I think having her in a group session where her excited state with other dogs is displayed, and learn how to deal with this state.  I live in Manhattan, and there are some good training programs, just need to fit into schedule.

 

Yes, the flexi leash would only be used for recalls.

[Adina P]

Sorry about the wrong link.  But nevermind it if you have training plans. I would go BEYOND puppy class after puppy class is over. Most puppy classes don't take you far in obedience and the results are minimal because they focus on puppy things more than obedience and obedience around distractions.

[Amanda & Riley]

Hey Adina, I would be interested in the program you use with the choke chain. Can you send me the link?

[Becka]

Sadie never really got used to the gentle leader, but she has done very well with the easy walk harness (from the same company). The puppy class will help a lot, too.

[Leslie & Axl Sacks]

Puppy class will be great so she can interact with other spirited puppies.  We had good success with Axl in a halter until he recently turned old enough for the pinch collar which is MAGIC!!!!  The regular collar on a leash can cause damage to their trachea if they pull too hard which was our problem for a while with Axl.  We also always carry treats for good behavior so you could try making her sit when you first get to the park, reward her with a few treats, put her back into a sit-stay if she goes bonkers, reward her again.... walk her a little bit, make her sit, etc... We learned that in our puppy class and are still working on "proper" leash walking in the basic obedience class. Hope that helps.

[Peter Romano]

Thank you for your response.

[Cathy w/Shiloh~Cody]

I want to add one note about "The Gentle Leader", the piece that snaps behind the head

and behind the ears needs jiggled up and down each time you put it on-the Doodles have

so much hair that the hair can get caught easily there and it will pull and be uncomfortable.

Has anyone ever tried the "Illusion Collar" that the Dog Whisperer has on his show?

Its suppose to stop the pulling..but its expensive and kinda ugly. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I did use the Illusion Collar with Murph for a while.  I had trouble with a regular choke chain staying high up on his neck, and the Illusion Collar was a real good alternative for him.  I used this through most of his heel training.  I later switched to a Gentle Leader for walks where he was likely to encounter a lot of dog distractions.  For some reason the GL seemed to calm him.  I could control his head with it and have him look away from the dog and at me which prevented him from fixating on the other dog.  The Illusion Collar works much the same as a choke chain, and your corrections are almost identical.