Too young to crack the whip?

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Abby is 16 weeks old. When I take her for a walk she has no walking etiquette. She pulls like a sled dog. She zig zags back and forth infront of me constantly. I correct her half-arsed at best because I think "she is still a puppy - too young to crack the whip, etc..." But a friend I ran into who is an excellent dog mommy/trainer to her 2 yr old lab (who is amazingly well trained) told me it is definitely time to be more forceful, consistent and tenacious about training. She said now is the age to start "heel" and other walking manners.

Thoughts?

[Adina P]

My thoughts on Cesar Milan is that he is talented, charismatic and has a strong influence over dogs. BUT...he's no dog trainer. The people he teaches to gain control over their dogs don't necessarily ever train their dogs to commands...they just learn how to sort of correct and control. Neither is bad in and of itself, but personally, I'm a fan of training.

Doodles are smart dogs so they can learn things very quickly...but learning how to do something and to associate a word with a behavior is the teaching phase. I don't consider a dog trained until that dog will perform on cue/command in just about any situation (Home Depot, Park, class, downtown, inside, outside, near other dogs, etc).

An analogy I'm thinking of is someone learning to play the piano. The teacher may teach the student a piece and the student may 'get it' and understand how to play it but until that student has practiced...and practiced...and practiced...that student is NOT ready to perform an excellent rendition of what he/she has learned. Training is in the practice. You can also think of a young boy learning to play basketball and shoot hoops. He might get the concept, but not necessarily have the movements ironed out for a good performance. But when kids learn sports moves they typically have to practice LOTS before a real competitive game. And when the real game comes mistakes are likely to happen because there's so much going on. Same with the child at a piano recital...suddenly there is the distraction of a stage and audience and nerves. A piano teacher or basketball coach would never just demo a new thing, have the child try it once and then throw them into a performance.

Training a dog means to walk in heel or at least "nicely by your side" means EVERY SINGLE WALK has to be a training walk. You can't go from a short lesson of 'here is how you heel Abby" to a 3 mile walk where Abby is expected to perform for 3 miles. You practice the heel, and practice the heel...over and over in short bursts...then longer bursts. Then you try it in new locations reducing the time every time you add something new.

These walks need to be training walks and you must let go of any pre-conceived notions about what a walk should be like (i.e. me and my well behaved doggy walking for miles without a hitch). This is training time...not exercise time. If you happen to get lucky and get some distance in...GREAT. But don't expect distance before Abby has had a lot of practice.

In the meantime when you just want to walk, try a Gentle Leader or other pull-preventive device that keeps your dog from pulling so that you can just go and work on the heeling another time. She will differentiate between collars and that will be okay.

As to the choke chain, I have no moral issue with it. All three of my dogs were at least started in obedience training using a method that uses a choke chain. But the key with any special training collar is you need a GOOD method to use it. Merely putting in on the dog and yanking away isn't as effective as other methods. My favorite correction based method is the David Dikeman Command Performance video series (see the Reviews section for my review of it)...but you'd need to wait for Abby to reach 6 months as it is far too intensive and attention-requiring for a puppy her age.

[Mommy2Max]

"My thoughts on Cesar Milan is that he is talented, charismatic and has a strong influence over dogs. BUT...he's no dog trainer. The people he teaches to gain control over their dogs don't necessarily ever train their dogs to commands...they just learn how to sort of correct and control. Neither is bad in and of itself, but personally, I'm a fan of training."

That makes me just want to walk up to you and tap you on your neck with two fingers and scream "SHHH!" ;) j/k

~Danielle

[Doodle Kisses]

Watch out Danielle! I just might bite you! ROFL

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Thanks! Both you and Jane gave me a bunch to chew on (no pun intended).
I will get to work!

[Debbie and Thomas]

Wow-I just read all of the comments. Such good advice. Our GD walked along so calmly and never pulled at his leash from his early puppy days-BUT he was small. Now at 7 mths old-he still walks along like a perfect gentleman. No pulling-and we are working on STOP, which he does on command. So, up until now I figure we have just been lucky.The problem is that he weighs over 60 lbs. now(and very strong) and I keep thinking about him seeing a squirrel or something that he will want to take off and chase. If he did do this-with his leash attached to his collar, there is no way I could hold on to him. So when I take him out by myself, I put a harness on him- a gentle leader. I HOPE and pray that if something enticed him and he did want to pull, I could handle the force of his strength to keep him with me. Having said that-after reading these comments-I think we will do more walking training so we can avoid any disasters. Our neighbours "PUG" got away from her last week and was hit by a car-he did not survive.

[Stella]

Wow, Debbie, you are lucky to have had a non-puller from day one!! I think though that I read somewhere that a Gentle Leader isn't good for a dog that might leap off after something as when you 'correct' with the leash his head will go one way and his body the other potentially causing neck injury. It doesn't sound like you are having any problems of this kind with him, just something to consider.

[Stella]

It's never too soon to start training!! If you aren't sure, it is best to join a puppy class. A goo trainer will help you to learn, and to teach Abby (!!), at a level appropriate for her age. We were a little unsure with our first dog (now 16 months old) and in most things he is great, but it is definitely harder to change/ unlearn the wrong thing and try to re-teach it as they get older - we didn't practice the recall enough with him and it is patchy at best in public amongst distractions (amazingly, he is 100% every time in class - very frustrating!!) , we are now having to work really really hard to correct this. Learning from our mistakes, we began training our new puppy as soon as we got him (9 weeks old). He is now four and a half months and can walk to heel, do a consistent watch me (even when walking past kids playing basketball), sit, down, stay, and recall amongst many distractions. Her brain is like a sponge at this age - make to most of it!!

[Lynne B]

I don't have this problem with Beck, my 16 week labradoodle, he's a mellow guy and just walks beside me very nicely- but I went through this with my Aussie and I think we tried about everything until I finally found a trainer who solved it for us with three words "be a tree". She said everytime that Kira forges ahead, just stop moving 'be a tree' only walk again when she comes back to your side. It wasn't an instant fix, but after awhile she got the idea =)

[nonnie browne]

"Be a Tree". LOL Love that. Simple, direct, impactful That is what I do with Buddy but never heard it called that....cant wait to share it at class.

Dont forget that puppies regress and get goofy at different stages too. Things they do when they are in the very young puppy adoration stage, get tested and sometimes go away (hence my posting on crazy adolescent doodles). Like teenagers, they still "know" what is expected, but just might not "feel like it" and retest boundaries. My nice walker has started pulling again, so we are spending a lot of time outdoors and I have to "be a tree" quite a lot and have gone back to treating for correct position. I think some is age, some is teenage energy, and some is the great weather we are having which makes him so enthusiastic! In any case, we went from top of our class at obedience school to bottom in one short week. Cant wait to see whether Jeckyll or Hyde will show up this week !

[Marilyn Sucher Cohn]

I feel really bad about my expectations of Gracie today. I took her on a busy biking path and got upset that she was scared. I just read your comments and they remind me that I need to take her on a short quieter path and just work on walking skulls. I have so much to learn and right now I don't feel very competent.

[Lori, Quincy & Frankie]

I did much of the very earlier training by walking around the dining room table! start, stop, start, back, LOL but a very calm and controlled environment where he got the basics down -  the good old days.  

[Wynnie & Jim]

Please don't crack the whip on your doodle. I have an 8 month old goldendoodle who has been in group training for 3 months. We use positive reinforcement clicker training -- click and treat on correct behavior. My puppy responds and now walks nice on command, sits when I stop. She looks at me every 10 or 20 seconds so she and I both know that we are in tune with one another. Currently, we are working on "greeting politely" so that when people or dogs walk by, she stays seated and when approached she stays seated until I give the command to say hello.

I should mention that I do give her plenty of "sniff time" and plenty of time to be a playful puppy. She is a sweet little girl.

I started clicker training when she was 9 weeks old and she is a delight. Find a trainer or a school in your area that emphasizes this positive reinforcement method. You will be happy and so will your puppy.