Loose leash walking...

[FuzzyPants 2]

And yes it is my fault for not following through with it like I did with all the other basic commands.

The problem is, I can't take Cassy to the dog park for off leash time anymore because of the number of people bringing large dogs into the small dog section and refusing to leave.

So I let her stop and sniff as much as she wants while on walks because I think exercising her nose is every bit as important as exercising her legs. But now I feel like a failure at loose leash training. She walks by my side as long as I dangle a treat and say look at me every few minutes but as soon as the treats are gone it is back to stop, sniff, explore...stop, sniff, explore. I am so undecided about whether to stress the loose leash walking which might stifle her desire to explore and sniff around or give up, leave walks as her time to have fun and then get a bike and put her in a bike basket when it is time for me to exercise.

Any thoughts or ideas?

[xr4man 7]

i pretty much do the same thing with hunter. i let him have the full leash as he wants it so he can stop and sniff and what not. but i also don't let him linger too long. if i do, he'll sit there smelling the same spot for an hour. so he gets a few seconds of sniff time as i walk by and the leash goes out, then when it gets to the end i tell him "come on" and give a slight tug. he usually then runs up to me or a head of me and the process starts all over. but it keeps me at a pretty constant pace.

now of course if his leg goes up, then i know he really wants to do something and i stop and wait.

that's all with spring loaded leash. if we go walking with a fixed leash, he pretty much stays right next to me, maybe not quite a loose leash, but usually not pulling too tight on it.

i'm planning on getting a basket or something for my bike too so i can take him with me for me to get some real exercise because i just don't find walking long distances that much fun.

[FuzzyPants 2]

I find walking fun...just not with Casbah because of the stop, sniff and go. I just don't get the exercise that I need even if she gets all that she needs. So the bike will be my time to exercise but I still can't shake the feeling that people will be looking at me as a bad trainer for not getting her to loose leash walk by my side.

[storyweaver 7]

Well, Fuzzypants, I have to say that you are not alone in this. I'm sorry I can't give any advice because Theodore is the same way. He would pull and sniff everything. I used to stress over it, but I did get to a point to just let him be. If stays too long in one spot, I just tug the leash a little, and say, "Let's go." Now there are times that he would heel, and that's okay with me.

[luvmybabies 165]

I will try to remember to post my solution to your problems after tomorrow when I pick my computer up with a new disk now installed. Of course you all know that the first time you get your computer back after a crash there will still be problems and things will now be missing of course. I am using my 13" MacBook now but for some reason it keeps crashing too. I get an ominous message, white letters on black background telling me to restart my computer and send a message to Apple to tell them what is happening. I had a message all ready to post when this happened tonight. I have to use my laptop keyboard to type on this one whereas my other is set up to use another more comfortable keyboard so I will do it when things are working on one or the other!! Darn computers seem to rule our lives now!! Sorry I'm cranky, one computer malfunctioning in a week is enough without my other one biting the dust too.

[FuzzyPants 2]

Thanks, luv. Will await your reply.

[luvmybabies 165]

Well, I tried answering this post as I said I would but I had it just about all done again and it disappeared to who knows where!? I have my new Lion Operating System on now and a new disk but no instructions on what it new and I accidentally bit something I shouldn't have I guess.

Anyway, I think I will post part of my answer and then edit it for more content as I go along.

Now first of all you need to get a bunch of treats and put them in a training pouch or on a table close to you that the dog can't help himself to them. Now you can use a clicker or just your voice. Click or tell the dog Good Dog and give him/her a treat. Do this for 10 - 20 times till the dog associates the click or voice with a treat. Now move on to the next step. Hold a treat up to your eyes and if the dog even gives you a quick glance in the eye click or say Good Dog and immediately treat. End the session after a short time. Start the next session out the same but only for a short time and then we build on what he already learned. After he is consistently looking at you in the eye as you hold the treat there name the behaviour Watch Me. Now as you hold the treat up say Watch Me and only say Good Boy if he looks you in the eye. WAIT for the proper behaviour before saying Good Boy and treating. It is very important that you wait till he looks at you or he will never figure it out himself. This will get your dog thinking and he himself will be in control of whether he gets a treat or not. DO NOT TREAT unless you get the behaviour you want. After you are getting consistent Watch Me's go to the next step which is to hold the treat out to the side a ways but he still has to Watch You (or look into your eyes) before he gets the Good Boy and a treat. Do this training in as many sessions as it takes. Some dogs learn faster than others. Move the treat further and further to the side and as the training progresses expect more of him all the time.

Now, when you go for a walk with your dog it is HIS/HER walk and he should be allowed some sniff time and goof off time unless it is extreme. You do not want him to pull your arms off though. The loose leash walking, which I will explain later should help with the pulling. If you have him on a flexi make sure that you are enough in control that you can get your dog back to you right away if say another dog appears on the scene or your dog dashes out into the street.

For loose leash walking you start off with your dog sitting nicely beside you. Tell him to Watch Me (which he should now understand) and show him the treat. Start walking and expect those eyes to be on you even if for only a foot or two. Break it off and treat him and praise. Keep doing this and increase the time you expect him to watch you. Treat often. Eventually he will go a number of feet and keep his eyes on you. Always treat him after he does good. Now the next step is to have him sit on command after he has gone a short distance and then increase the time between sits. You are now expecting him to keep his eyes on you and sit on command (eventually he'll sit automatically when you stop!). If he only does a lacklustre job don't chastise him or get mad. Just don't treat. He'll learn that he must do as you ask if he expects a treat.

If you do this consistently you will soon have a dog that will behave wherever you go and you will be building a bond with your dog. In case you are wondering, you will slowly wean your dog off all treats and he will still behave if you have diligently followed the plan. It won't happen in a few days, a couple of weeks or even a month or two but it will happen, I promise! I forgot to mentions....if you are teaching a command, say sit, don't say Sit, Sit, Sit, etc. Say it once and mean it. If someone asked you to sit or stand or whatever over and over you would soon wonder which was the time that he meant it. Your dog will wonder too and not be too concerned which one he obey. Okay I'll cut out the teacher antics. Hope this helps someone.

Until you reach the stage where your dog is willing to walk nicely beside you I guess you'll have to get a bike or go for a power walk by yourself lol.

Edited March 25, 2012 by luvmybabies

[storyweaver 7]

Thanks, Joyce! I'm going to print this.

[GMA 981]

So far Bosco has been walking beside us with no pulling. I do have to try the Watch me training because he takes a while to look at me to give a command. Thank you for all the great info.

[luvmybabies 165]

You would all laugh at me trying to train my Anabelle (my 3 lb. maltese). She just recently passed the 3 lb. mark and I had all sorts of eating problems with her. She is soooo tiny. So I am afraid to put a collar on her. I didn't want to chance collapsing her trachea. I finally had to get a harness from Cloak and Dawgie online that was made of mesh as all the leather and nylon harnesses would hurt her under the arms. So using that she would go potty when I was away from home. She seemed to have no problem with that. But.....try to get her to heel on harness, forget it. I had to drag her. Now I have had to start a dog or two by dragging them at first but after a few steps they would give in and come along. Not Annie. I never met such a stubborn little gal. I now have a wider collar and am starting to get her to do some. She will usually sit when commanded. She is so funny. I was walking her out in front of our home tonight. When we were walking away from home she would hang back and I'd have to tug her. When we were going back towards home she'd gallop ahead!! It got so that she wouldn't sit when we were going home. So I tried another approach. Usually dogs who pull you you are to stop and wait for the dog to let up on the leash OR you can turn in the opposite direction and go that way. It makes the dog think about what you are doing and also tells them it is going to be your way not theirs. She learned pretty fast when I combined these training tricks. She's so funny as she will sit, stand, down, stay and come but she HATES being on a leash. I know it will come. First of all she wouldn't sit for anything. Then one day she sat and that battle was won. Next it was the down and etc. etc. with all the other commands. It is like she is trying to tell me she is going to have something to say about how she is trained. LOL. As she will probably be my last dog (I know I've said that many times, lol!) I am being a little more lenient with her and it's like having kids, the baby is always "the baby". Doesn't that say it all?

[GMA 981]

I am so glad I came back to read these posts. Joyce your instructions sounded just like the trainer at PetSmart. We used a clicker and treats. I must confess I slacked on the practicing some and keep forgetting the clicker but I'm going to get back to working with him especially the loose leash training. He pretty much has the watch me without a treat down but it is only for short periods so I will be working on expanding that.

One question, if we tell them to sit one time and they don't, what should we do then? I think I missed the class when the instructor told us.