Walking on a leash

[sueb45 0]

Okay the deal is Odie walks me not the other way around! I pictured getting a dog that would be

a walking companion for me to help me get more moving in! Not my Odie. He pulls, stops every 2-3 steps to smell, plants himself when scared, you name it he does it. What can I do. I have watched Dog Whisperer, It's me or the Dog. I am dealing with a rescue that was probably never trained for the leash, and I have never had a dog other than the outside farm dogs that don't even wear collars. I would

be grateful for any and all advice. I really want to have a walking partner and he needs to be in less control. He does wear a harness.

[RedyreRotties 1]

Get a harness that has the place to clip the leash on the front of the harness.

WHen you use these, each time the dog pulls, it just pulls him back towards you.

Step 2, STOP allowing a tight lead. It takes two to pull. Your job is to see to it he can NOT get the lead tight so he can lean on it. Each time the lead is tight, pull the dog in a gentle motion to where he is back by your side, and then immediately dump slack in the leash. This is very hard for people to learn. It is apparently instinctive for people to want to keep tension on the leash, so you will have to train yourself as well as the dog in order to stop doing this.

Each time you pull the dog back to your side, feed him a tasty high value treat. Make sure you give the treat when the dog is directly beside your leg, with a LOOSE LEASH.

Generally when I start working this with a dog, I end up pulling the dog back into position several times, sometimes quite often. Use a gentle smooth motion to put the dog back into position, DUMP SLACK INTO THE LEAD IMMEDIATELY, and food reward him in the proper position.

You can do the same thing when he wants to stop and sniff. It is a good thing to teach the dog a release command that lets him know he is free to go do a little sniffing and "window shopping". I say OK, go pee pee! or go sniff. Then when you are ready, you can say "Let's go". Eventually he will learn what these verbal cues mean.

Since you are using a harness, if the dog plants himself, I would just keep moving. Same with the sniffing. When he comes back into place, use the food reward again.

Here is a link to the harness, it's called an Easy Walk harness.

http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-collars-do...ll-harness.html

[tunisianswife 0]

I do feel you, and I can tell you that since I got dog #3 last week who had never been on a leash, he is my best walker. I have him on a double lead w/the lhasa and he has really helped train the lhasa to stop every few feet to sniff and hike the leg.

I was reading on another board that when a dog stops to sniff all the time, to pull the lead back(similar theory to what red is saying) and say, "leave it!" I have to say this works! yesterday we were out and they both were wanting to sniff and I would do the above, after a few times of doing it, they stopped and walked! I made them walk for a bit then stopped and told them, "ok, go pee" and let them sniff, and praised. boy, I can tell you that tip worked for me.

Here is a link to the harness, it's called an Easy Walk harness.

http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-collars-do...ll-harness.html

Red, I saw these and have heard others have such good success with them. I was thinking of getting one(or two) but read some reviews that on dogs with short legs, they don't always work the best and some short-legged dogs actually did a summersault, and they would flip out of them. I've been trying to figure out how they work(where all the leashing is, and how it attaches) to see how this would happen on a short-legged dog. The reviews I read were on Amazon, and it seemed that there were several of the above mentioned problems in the reviews of people trying to use them on short-legged dogs.

anyone have any experience using this on their short kids?

[sueb45 0]

Thanks for the link. When I saw the front hook for the lease it made sense. WHo's leading who.... I will put in practice your advice and the leave it commands. HE is smart and catches on fast. I take him in to see my mom at the home every day and he just plants himself in the hallway sometimes. One of the ladies that works there says " poor baby just pick him up". I will try patience and wait for him to move and give him a reward. Only thing is I only have 2 hands! :blush-anim-cl: