More loose leash questions

[KevTheDog]

Hi everyone! We're continuing to work on Kevin's (who is 7 months today!) leash walking skills, and we've slowed waaaaay down. I did a couple weeks with lots of leash training both at home and out in the world, and Kevin was successfully able to occasionally mentally click in to "oh, now if I walk right by your side, then I will get treat, treat, treat, treat." At times this has gone very well. But I have two issues: 1. I can't reliably get him to tap into that mode every time we go for a walk, or throughout the entire walk. Often he will be by my side for one or two treats very attentively and then he will surge ahead, or stop to sniff, and ignore my "keep up!" or "slow down!". Issue no. 2. I don't actually want or need him to be walking in a tight heel, constantly staring up at me for a treat (especially the latter part). I'm ok with him in a close heel like that, but what I would prefer is for him to be a few feet ahead of me, loosely, without pulling like a mad man. I praise him when he gets into that desired position, but it's a difficult position to treat since he's ahead of me at that point.

I feel like we're at a plateau now. Sometimes he's very successful, if perhaps overly attentive and right by my side, getting treated, and other times I'm not able to get his attention at all. It's kind of one extreme or the other.

So last Fridayish I decided to back up and I started working with the instructions in this article:

https://www.clickertraining.com/loose-leash-walking-part-two

It talks about first working on getting lots of eye contact, then getting a good "leash stand", then clicking 1 step forward, then 2 steps forward, then 10 steps etc., then adding in distractions.

We can fairly easily walk across our distraction-free courtyard, much of the time, on a loose-ish leash (though he is still overly attentive in the courtyard as long as he knows I have a treat in my hand, which I basically always do). But the instant we step outside onto the still fairly quiet street outside our building, it's way harder to get him to keep his attention on me because the smells are so smelly and the people are so exciting, etc.

So how do I bridge this gap? Obviously I've not reached the part in the article of throwing in controlled distractions because I don't feel like I can always successfully get his attention back on me in the courtyard, so I don't think we're quite there yet. But I'm also not fully convinced that slowing down to this extent is definitely necessary, since he can at times walk close to me on leash. I.e., it feels silly to take 2 steps forward and click him for those 2 steps when I know he can do 10  (and in a moment when he can do 2, then he can also do 10. It's when he can't do 2 that he can't do 10.) I feel like we have taken what ought to be a chronological series of events, thrown them into a bucket and lost all sense of order, and have successfully achieved some while totally missing others. But I can't tell what the missing pieces are.

Thoughts? Ideas? Advice?

 

 

 

[D'Elle]

Keep your training sessions limited to places where the distractions are minimal. This is very important, because every time he surges ahead it is self-rewarding. If keeping distractions to a minimum means you don't go very many places, that is OK for now. the training is more important. Work for a few weeks in a low-distraction place and then re-evaluate and see if you think he is solid enough to take out to a place where there are more people. Until you have the training solid in the courtyard, you cannot expect him to do it under distracting circumstances.

By the way, training is not always chronological. You do go through steps, but as soon as you change venue to one more distracting you have to go back at least one if not more than one step and work forward again. This is standard with dog training. So, get it solid in the courtyard, however long that takes, and then eventually (at least 2 weeks from now) take him outside for only a couple of minutes. If he lunges forward, go back inside the courtyard. And work there again, reminding him of what you want. Then you can take him out again for a couple of minutes. Repeat. He will learn, but you need to take it one very tiny step at a time. You are moving a bit too fast and that is why you are not having the success you want.

Best of luck!

[Mandy1961]

Our puppy is 10 months old and is doing better each month. On an hours walk, he still pulls for the first 10 minutes. He does understand walk slowly. The middle walk he is just ahead of me and the last part he constantly looks to me for a treat. He also gets a treat when we get home if he has walked well. He still constantly sniffs everywhere and wees loads, marking as he goes. I don’t have a problem with him doing this as it is normal, but I do have to give him a nudge to move along.

The only problem we have is that he now goes mad when we come across a cat. He barks, jumps and generally is a pain. He also gets a bit too excited when we meet other dogs. I try and make him say a quick hello and then keep walking. My brother walked him yesterday and he said how he had improved with his walking, so I am very pleased, as you don’t see it yourself walking them everyday.

 

[KevTheDog]

Good advice, I appreciate it! We will recommit to our courtyard practice for a couple weeks here - I think the "one tiny step at a time" reminder is a good one. 

[D'Elle]

It is hard to remember. These dogs are so smart and quick to learn that all of us make the mistake of going too fast sometimes.  But slow tiny steps always do the job best. 

[KevTheDog]

Yes! I am also very excited to have my walk-all-over-town-with-me buddy, and I have to remind myself that even though he's starting to look like a big boy, he's definitely not yet - he's not even lifting his leg yet! So I know I have to slow my roll. Which Joey reminds me on the daily too, ha We've added practicing with the 3 of us in the courtyard as well, because Kevin seems to think that if all three of us are on a walk together, then he  must joyfully announce it to the neighbors and the rest of the world in no uncertain terms - "It's all of us! Bark! What a joy! Bark!"

The super intensive courtyard practice fortnight has commenced!

[urge to herd]

6 hours ago, KevTheDog said:

Kevin seems to think that if all three of us are on a walk together, then he  must joyfully announce it to the neighbors and the rest of the world in no uncertain terms - "It's all of us! Bark! What a joy! Bark!"

Gibbs find it necessary to tell the neighbors that it's time for a walk. Even from inside my home, he starts the announcement. Between the yodels and the howls, I've not been able to keep a straight face long enough to change that behavior.

R & G

[GentleLake]

On 4/3/2019 at 7:22 AM, KevTheDog said:

I have two issues: 1. I can't reliably get him to tap into that mode every time we go for a walk, or throughout the entire walk.

I think it's unreasonable to expect any dog, especially a puppy, to maintain heel position for an entire walk.

When I train a heel I'm looking to be able eventually to have my dog in heel position only at certain times when it's necessary, such as in high traffic (pedestrian or otherwise), crossing streets, when there are other dogs or animals around and just generally when I need more control. I expect the rest of the walk to be more relaxed, giving the dog more freedom and opportunities to investigate things as long as she's not pulling on the leash.

When training I follow a similar pattern of short heel exercises interspersed between more free ranging opportunities for the pup. It makes the whole walk more satisfying for both of us and I believe it shortens the overall length of time it takes to achieve a decent heel because it's not uninterrupted tedium and tight control that the pup understandably rebels against.

And yeah, training's often one step forward, two steps back, three steps forward, than another regression, rinse and repeat. But it does get better until one day, if you're patient and consistent, you realize it's working.

It's important too to decipher your pup's learning style. I had one dog who when training on our sheep, especially something new, would work for a little bit then things would just fall apart and it seemed like nothing was getting through to her. I'd get frustrated and end the session, but when I'd take her out the next day or a few days later to work again she could do whatever it was I'd been feeling she wasn't getting. It was like she had to sleep on it to process it fully. So I learned to recognize when she was just beginning to have a meltdown and do some simple task she understood well and then call it quits for the day. Things always went better the next time out and she progressed quickly.

Good luck. It does sound like you're making progress.

[esantorella]

We tried everything to teach our dog to work on a loose leash. She always wanted to charge forward and nothing we could offer her was as good as going forward. The only thing that worked was turning around and walking in the opposite direction every single time she pulled on the leash, then resuming our original course after she made eye contact while on a loose leash. It took months, but it worked.

[D'Elle]

On 4/5/2019 at 9:47 AM, urge to herd said:

Gibbs find it necessary to tell the neighbors that it's time for a walk. Even from inside my home, he starts the announcement. Between the yodels and the howls, I've not been able to keep a straight face long enough to change that behavior.

R & G

One of mine does the same thing. I don't even care to change it. I love the enthusiasm.