We have a 14 month spade female Labrador and we are still having issues with loose lead walking to heel. If I am out walking with her on my own then she is generally good. If gets ahead, I only have to stop and without always having to signal her back to my side, she will walk back on her own although she will still cross over either in front of me or behind. There are still many moments when smells and sights of other dogs become her greatest attention unless I constantly treat her. I have frequently told my husband that when walking to the field, he is not to advance if pulling and that he is rewarding her by then allowing free running. He is generally the main walker when I'm at work. Our biggest issue is, that if we walk her together, she is all over the place. Pulling, crossing us and going behind us. Also, if we then part, she becomes very agitated, whining, barking and pulling. I have bought a 'walk your dog with love' lead which had instant results but I don't want to have to always walk with this lead. Please can anyone tell me/us how to correct this behaviour
It sounds like your lead is held too long, it needs to be held very short until the dog learns the right walking position. Dogs pull when pulling is rewarding. So the secret is to move forward only when they are not pulling. I find it best to have no destination in mind when lead walking - so that I can concentrate only on loose lead walking, nothing else. When the dog pulls, stop. Or get the dog to 'sit'. Or turn tail and go the other way. Never move if she's pulling and she WILL learn not to. You have to be more determined than he is - and that's very very determined!! Here is a great article - http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/
Thanks. Have started doing this and getting results. Now just have to teach the 'husband' to do the same without him complaining that I'm criticising
Good luck with the husband training. Mine has refused to do the "Never move if he's pulling", so Coco pulls him. He has recently invented the "apply enough pressure on the lead to stop Coco advancing, and wait until he catches Coco up", he calls it his "one lead length rule". He thinks this is helping. I can't really comment. I watch Coco crossing behind & in front, OH swapping lead hands all the time. I am lucky that Coco can differentiate between us. Coco so rarely crosses in front or behind me, he walks moderately well on a loose lead (we do have to stop a fair bit still).
Hmm I think am going to have the same. I do fairly well when I'm on my own with her too, although treating is still a big thing. Hoping will improve as grows out of the 'long puppy Labrador' age .
Treating will be a big thing for a long time. Don't worry about it; too many people see it as a failure to treat their dogs. It's just rewarding them for good behaviour. My dogs are two years old, and they still get loads of treats for walking nicely. It's something they're doing for me, going against everything they want to do, and I want them to know it's appreciated.
Well we've had Coco a year now, he's just over 2 years old. I still treat often for nice lead walking. I don't care what anyone else thinks. OH comes back with a full treat pouch and exclaims "Coco didn't do anything to get a treat".
Still working with loose lead walking but great improvement. Only have to stop and comes back either to my side or moves backwards to a loose lead. Now want to maintain a heel position. She already achieves it by luring or asking her to 'watch' me but when treated, takes the treat and pulls off again to whatever smell is about. Is it because the treat is not 'super' enough? Any advice welcome.
I didn't try to get anywhere when training loose lead heel. I drove to off-lead areas and put her on lead for short periods ( perhaps just a minute at first) interspersed with off lead games. I kept Molly's attention by talking to her 'Good walking, good girl, good walking Molly' , then treat (from pocket) as we continued to walk and I continued to talk. Gradually I made the gaps between treats longer and eventually walked on-lead in busier areas. We were quite slow at achieving this, because I didn't put in much time practising as we can drive to an off lead area in a couple of minutes. However it was stress-free for both of us and by the time she was 18months she could walk through a town centre without pulling, unless a motorbike roared past - that took a bit longer.
Thanks Joy. Maybe I'm expecting too much of her too soon. I have successfully managed to keep her at my side, off lead, with full attention at me walking past other dogs. Also, on lead by a busy road. The worst is when walking on lead on a bridle path that I can lose her attention in favour of 'smells'. I also have limited time when I can work with her, as I work in a school, so I should expect for it to take longer. My husband is generally the 'walker' and think prefers to see her 'running' and having a good time playing. Unfortunately, her off lead running has been suspended at the moment as she started limping over 2 weeks ago. She has been x-rayed for CCL and fortunately haven't found any problems. Hoping is just a muscle strain and with anti inflammatory medication, and forced lead walking only, we are just beginning to see an improvement.
Something I keep telling wifey is we need to be consistent with Zeke, walking, commands, treats, everything, especially when we are not all together. Sometimes I think she just doesn't get it, her excuse is she doesn't have the patience for it all the time. It's like raising kids, the kid will learn to play one off the other if the parents aren't consistent.
I have this problem with my OH - he allows pulling and swapping sides because he says he doesn't have the patience. It's not turning out too bad - Coco is MUCH better for me when I walk him, I think he knows what is allowed with each person on the other end of the lead. Maybe Zeke is the same. But I feel your frustration, maybe our training would be coming along at a better pace if OH could follow the rules. <sigh> we can only work with what we have...
After a week and a half of lead walks only with Xena, I realised I'd been giving her too much freedom/length with the lead. So I snapped the lead around my waist and we're now walking hands free (love it) at a much shorter length. I'm really noticing an improvement. She self-corrects when she gets to the end of the lead much faster now, and there's much less lunging all over the place at smells. Problem is when she lunges going downhill and I stumble forwards and stand on her paw
I arranged a house visit from a dog trainer last week, and she really helped with Ted on the lead. He was already walking to heel 80% of the time, but would often lurch into the undergrowth, or turn back the way we came, or stop once treated. What the trainer pointed out was that as Ted and I were walking together and it was going well, Ted would frequently "check" with me by looking up at me. She said that I was often missing this "offer" of good behaviour, and advised me to praise him at that time, and occasionally treat him (not every time as they need to be phased out eventually). Ted is 100% better. His walks round the block or to the park are so much quicker - he could be in the show ring! The trainer also taught me to be more assertive and determined than Ted, recognising that he is a very strong willed chap. So any pulling on the lead now results in my walking backwards and only restarting once he's returned to me. It works. He is still very defiant when another dog has walked past us and gives as good as he gets in the power struggle between man and beast. The trainer also taught me how to use the 6' training lead I already had, more effectively. It now gets hooked onto both collar and harness to shorten it when we are in an area with multiple distractions, and attached only to the harness when trying out long lead training - recall exercises mainly. It's all progress, and Ted seems altogether calmer and more cooperative. Importantly, it is also helping my confidence in training him because walks are so much less stressful.
@TraceyW You sound as if you're doing really well, and I can see my advice was no help as you're past that stage. I think though that it must be very boring for a dog to have to walk at heel all the time (oops I'm a bit like your husband ) and wonder that if she has to be on lead all the time while she recovers from injury, whether every so often you should deliberately let her stop to sniff and wander a bit?
Wifey almost, almost, saw the light one afternoon when Zeke found a stick he liked, got excited and nearly pulled her arm out of the socket causing her to fall when he went to run away with the stick. I can only imagine he thought he was near the creek where I take him to play with a stick in the water, he loves it. If he gets excited with me, a firm SIT and 99% of the time he drops on the spot.
I sometimes have the lead around my back also as helps with the strength she has. Haven't tried attaching it but will try as the general lead we use is long enough. I've also bought the 'walk your dog with love' lead which worked instantly and am going to revert back to for when walking streets only. I had to laugh at your being pulled over as I remember it well. Last winter, she had me over so many times when walking in muddy fields.
I agree, she's been very bored just being on lead and when wants to sniff have been allowing her to do so. However, she just get's too excited and pulls me everywhere lol. Her limping seems to have gone so looks like was just a muscle strain. She is being allowed off lead again (although am pleading with OH not to overdo it) so hoping lead walking will improve.
Good news that the limp wasn't serious. Hope the lead walking improves now she can let off some steam!
