Puppy walking

[Bigeye74]

Apart from nearly choking to death with his head stuck in the garden gate, he's coming on nicely. He's 5 months old, how long before I can expect him to be good on the lead? Every walk is a training walk and involves lots of biscuits and he's at classes everyh week.

[paddywak]

With both my GSDs, Che & now Max I started walking them on a very light lead up and down the the garden almost from the day I fetched them home, consequently when they were old enough to show them off after their final injections they were both quite used to the lead. Max was a bit more curious then Che and tended to pull a little but a few days with a Halti cured that for the most part and by the time the were about 6 months old they were both good on the lead, but dont forget that even though he should soon be used to the lead at 5 -6 months he is still only babies and the world is a big new place for him, full of strange exiting smells and sights and he's going to get carried away every now and then but be patient and you'll get there

[lankeela]

The easy answer is never allow them to pull in the first place, We train our show dogs from the moment we get them, or even earlier if we breed them. We trot them up and down on a loose lead and praise and/or reward them if they respond. They are checked very lightly if they pull forward or back, followed by more praise, and they have no reason to pull if we make it more interesting to pay attention to us. Most show dogs go in the ring at six months old, and have been attending ringcraft classes for a few weeks beforehand, so we don't have dogs that pull.

If you get a rescue or rehomed dog then you need to start from scratch, but the biggest problem is people allow their dogs to pull them without doing anything about it. | saw a tiny Cavalier puppy on Saturday with a very large gentleman, it was pulling and choking itself and he was not doing or saying anything, just letting it tow him along.

They are not born knowing what to do, so you have to teach them. One of our customers has a ten week old Border Terrier, and they brought him to us carrying him, because they were scared to put him down. We got them to put him on the floor and put a lead on him, just following him where he wanted to go and then encouraging him back with a treat so he was quite happy to follow and didn't even realise he was on a lead.

[paraffin]

Hi Bigeye:

I'd suggest that you're throwing your money away by taking your dog to these so called training classes. I know that lots of people kid themselves on that they're effective but you're only throwing good money after bad.

You can easily teach your dog to be sociable simply by taking him to parks/fields etc where other dogs are exercised. And, if you read what the other respondents have said, they've admitted that there's no magical solution to teaching him to walk nicely on the lead. It's all down to bribery by "rewarding" him with "treats" for not pulling. They soon get the idea, some people don't give dogs credit for basic instincts.

Just use your common sense, it'll save you a small fortune. Good luck.

[lankeela]

I have to disagree, I think training classes are worth every penny as they enable dogs to meet and mix in close proximity to other dogs, and learn that other dogs are ok and don't need to be barked at, or pulled towards. Sure the training can be done at home, but the owners also learn a lot from seeing how the other dogs and their owners interact. Of course it depends on the trainer and the type of class, but these days there are lots of way to find the right trainer, try one who belongs to the APDT as they have very strict guidelines about how they train (not saying they are strict in their training lol) and it is all reward based.

[lankeela]

http://www.apdt.co.uk/local_dog_trainers.asp

[Bigeye74]

The training classes are very cheap and run by volunteers with all all funds going back into the community centre.
He is checked and praised etc but his attention span is short, even when tempted by the tastiest treats.

[kita1]

I agree with lankeela - classes are good and definately not a waste of money. I have known of people who run classes finding another class to take their own pups to - they simply cannot find a better way to socialise their dogs in a controlled manner.

"his attention span is short"

Yes because he is an adolescent (teenager) and like most teenagers the attention span is virtually zero!!! You have to keep training sessions short and VERY interesting. His hormones are running riot at the moment and he wants to do everything NOW!!


These articles explain in more detail how to deal with the adolescent dog:

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2008/ adolescence.htm

http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?arti d=2

[horselady]

I have to agree that some training classes are a waste of money. I had a rescue GSD at one time and she was very hard to hadle at first. Took her to a local class and when she played up the trainer said "don't let her do that" I thought I had gone there to be shown how to stop her misbehaving, I needed their guidance. I found a one-to-one trainer who cost a bit but his advice and help was worth every penny and she had a wonderful 12 years with us and turned out to be the most loving dog I've ever owned.

[wolf63]

Bigeye - I was amused at the antics of your dog going through the garden gate without opening it.

I used to walk my dog up a lane, there was a door in the lane leaing to a back garden. Initially there was a small hole in the door but one day, as I walked past, a massive (actually it was a Mastiff) head popped through - he actually headbutted the door until he fitted through. It was a weird sight. My stupid mutt kept trying to find the rest of the dog - Labrador brains?!?

Best of luck with your dog.

[woofgang]

I too went to training classes that were worse than useless and cost a complete fortune. IMO it does vary from breed to breed what they will pick up quickly and what takes longer.
My dogs are GSP/weimaraner cross, they have a long puppyhood and tend not to "get" lead walking until they are through it. These are not my first HPR dogs, we have always had weimaraners before, and they have all taken time to get to understand loose lead walking.
The best advice I got was from a chap I used to see walking his two GSPs on a brace lead. I had seen his wife as well, they are both bitches, beautifully behaved, one looked an adult, the other younger. Anyway I managed to meet him in the supermarket car park one day so I asked him how he had achieved such good control. "Simple" he said "persevere, don't give up!"
My two treated leads and collars as works of the devil at first then when collar and lead became the door to car ride and puppy socialisation, everything changed :)
Food treats don't work with them, they are much more interested in the flight of a bird or a blown piece of paper. I swear that sometimes they forget that I am on the other end of the lead even!
Plus side is that from the get-go, they would both return to a whistle, and I mean in the garden at eight weeks (we got them at seven weeks) and quickly learned to do a return sit in front once they were out loose in the forest.
....and i'm persevering!