Really need help with leash training!
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Anonymous
I'm the 22:35 poster. What strategies do you suggest for training a dog to not pull at squirrels? My daughter is dying to walk our dog now that she's better behaved on the leash but I'm ant let here bc the dog goes full steam ahead when she sees a squirrel. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
You are going to see Work-In-Progress with a lot of breeds for this level of obedience and style of obedience and it depends on how much training time OP is willing to put in, and of course it depends on the breed and the dog. With my beagle, I don't think I would ever be able to achieve this level of obedience and sheer lack of attention to squirrels. Beagles are bred to chase squirrels and they are so scent- and nose-driven that it is difficult to imagine that my dog could give a casual glance to a squirrel and fall back "into formation." On the other hand, I think if I worked with her intensively on pulling she could certainly do much better about pulling. But not every breed is going to be constitutionally capable of that level and style of inattention to prey. I'm not sure that I would want to "correct" it out of my beagle because it goes hand in hand with her being protective of our home while not being aggressive and being a good watchdog. |
Anonymous
"A dog that pulls [or any dog] can slip their head out of a regular collar. Try a martingale collar for walks. Walk the dog in the house and your yard for training prior to taking to the street and be successful at that before taking her with the stroller. You walk 4 ft-she walks you stop tell her to sit. She sits then you say walk ....... Carry treats she loves-try dried beef liver tiny pieces. Our dog loves greenies so I chopped up teenie greenies ....and get a cotton webbed 4 ft leash. Nylon gives rope burn. http://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Training-Swivel-Locki...1-14&keywords=cotton+dog+leash Do knots in it where your left hand rests also some to shorten the leash. " My posts above. Those 4 feet walks can be done shorter and use circles etc. No sit/no down physically put the dog in the sit or down. Take a stroller inside and in the yard minus the child. Then on the street minus the child. When successful take an older child on the street with you both holding the leash - your left hand on a knot - dog on left-kid on right gently holding the loop around your right wrist as you control the dog. |
Anonymous
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We had this same issue.
Worked with a trainer who said its very simple - just teach that next to you is a good place to be (praise and give treats). Trainer also said that the leash is for safety, not control. It can become a power struggle if you're pulling and the dog is pulling. My dog still occasionally pulls but all I need to do is give a tug on the leash and say "easy" and she relaxes. If she's walking nicely and I say "good" she quickly slows to be right next to me because she knows that's the "treat spot". Also, use a harness (front ring type is best to prevent pulling although that's not what we currently have) rather then a collar. My dog chokes herself on her collar, plus she can get out of it if she really wants to. |
Anonymous
For some breeds a perk up and look is just a preamble to aggression. You can absolutely train them to utterly ignore other dogs by using treats, reverse walking, etc. But you have to nip it as soon as the ears go up. WRT to prey. Forget it! Many if not most dogs are prey driven and although it would be possible to overcome, the amount of training involved would probably be excessive of the average person. |
Anonymous
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Is there a well behaved dog that your dog can take a walk with? It might help to keep your dog focused.
Or at least that's how I train my puppies to walk. |
Anonymous
| Our dog is very prey driven and not treat motivated. She is a med sized dog about 40 lbs but strong and pulled at every squirrel, cat, bird or rabbit she saw. We tried numerous training methods but she was right back to where we started no matter how much we worked with her. She cared neither for treats nor for praise. Hard to train. SO what worked for us was to get a short thick webbed leash with 2 handles and a gentle leader. The gentle leader won't "train" the dog not to pull, but it did take the pressure off her neck and my arms. Next with the two handles on the leash I could pull her next to me when we saw a squirrel or rabbit. Keeping her next to me, ideally in a sit,helped to work on her focus to me, not the prey. We've now had her for 2 years and while she will still try hard to get whatever is prey she is much better. As others have mentioned I would do this without the stroller - our dog is afraid of trash cans, shopping carts and strollers - even my son's bike in the beginning. You need to get comfortable with each other. I also found with her high level of energy that finding a place she could safely run off leash helped reduce her energy, then I could try a walk on leash for better results. My DS is almost 12 and only now is just beginning to be able to handle her strength - so I would be careful with your child wanting to walk the dog. When he was younger he got pulled after a rabbit- dog had no intention of stopping and kid had no intention of letting go. Thankfully both survived but we all agreed the dog needs an adult to walk her. |
Anonymous
| Try a gentle leader. |