Jeremy86 Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Hey Everyone. I've been allowing my leash skiddish pup to adjust to the terrors of the leash by allowing her to drag it around in the house and now outside of the house some as well. I've been letting her drag it around for about 15 min. twice a day inside, as well as, occasionally when she eats. Now my question.....what is the best way to introduce the "restraining" aspect of the leash. My vet mentioned attaching it to a piece of furniture first so she does not associate the restraint with me, but rather the leash itself...then introduce myself holding the leash later.....Any thoughts or comments? P.S. thanks for the help the suggestions for part 1 of her leash training have worked very well. -Jeremy & Lily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.DaisyDuke Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I think attaching the leash to a piece of furniture wouldn't be a bad idea as long as she doing really good with the leash on her loose, like you've been doing and that you don't let her get so freaked out that she has to start over! Perhaps giving her something to chew on or a toy so that it's still associated with good. I almost always had a leash on Daisy when I first got her (always supervised) to get her accustomed to it, but she was never angry at it! You could also try attaching it to your waist band when you are doing house hold things, if she's going to follow you anyway, it may not be such a bad thing. One thing I would mention, is to make sure the leash is attached to something very, very sturdy, like the leg on your couch, you don't want to go shopping for a new kitchen table if she's stronger than you think or worse, get hurt! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Personally, I probably wouldn't go with tethering her to furniture as the next step. That may end up being a flooding experience for her which could result in building greater fear of the leash. If she is comfortable dragging the leash, I would walk over to her, pick it up - no pressure yet - drop it and give her a reward. I would continue with that literally until she was rushing up to me trying to get me to pick it up. At that point, I would pick it up and lure her to walk with me a step. Reward, drop the leash. What I would be looking to teach is that the rewards come when I have the leash and they stop when the leash is dropped. Once I got to the point where she was comfortable with me picking it up, and walking together for a few steps, and reward, I would put just the tiniest bit of pressure on the collar from the leash, immediately release the pressure, reward. I would gradually build that, and I would probably go ahead and teach slight pressure on the leash as a cue to turn toward it. I would build slowly from there to having her go outside on the leash. I probably wouldn't tether a dog who had a fear of the leash until I was pretty sure that he or she was loving having the leash on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexie Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I agree with Root Beer about not tethering until she feels better. What we do with foals initially is let them drag a lead around so they learn about pressure and release from stepping on it themselves. It makes it a LOT easier to deal with them when we handle the lead. So if your pup isn't already having incidents of stepping on his lead, consider putting a piece of cloth or something on it to increase the size and make that happen more often. As for you and the leash, I think Root Beer has recommended an excellent plan. You also want to make sure that you release pressure whenever the pup shows the SLIGHTEST sign of giving in to it. Build up slowly with lots of praise and treats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmoose82 Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 If you have 2 people one of the things my wife and I do is have one of us walk up front a little bit and we make sure that Moose does not pass the lead person. He usually tries pass the first couple of times but a couple minutes into the walk he stops and walks alongside the back person and just follows the lead person. The dog will feel like they are in a safe place between the 2 people and they will pull less. Just a suggestion and good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobcmom Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I would also caution about fastening a leash to furniture, since broken table legs, and chewed furniture & base board can result. Tethering, fastening the leash to your belt, and letting the dog drag the leash are all good options. Every new dog we have is started this way. It works well for the dog and owner. You might be prepared for a few chewed up leashes, but a cheap leash is a small price to pay for developing the relationship with the bc and intact furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy86 Posted July 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 Awesome suggestions all around..which make so much sense....I'm glad I didn't try tethering before checking with the board members.....I like my couch intact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanillalove Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I'd say to try Kristine's (Root Beer) method. I pretty much can't say much but repeat her. Good luck with your little one and have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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