Later next week, we will be able to take Red out on her first walk. I have bought her harness (yet to put on) which I will fit on her tomorrow and then let her wear a bit each day to get used to it. I'd love any advice please as to anything to do with walking outside e.g. pulling, greeting people, keeping attention on walk. I really don't want her jumping up on people and need info on how to avoid this or deal with it. Also how to speak to anybody who may approach her getting her excited.
The link below is how Fiona @snowbunny is teaching Luna to ignore people and dogs. Watch the video and it should help you Also, don't forget to give Red lots of lovely treats when you are desensitising her to her harness as lots of puppies/dogs really don't like them. Again Fiona has lots of video footage on her blog page. x https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/ignoring-people.18281/
My own pet dog Tatze is terrible for jumping on people, I have to lure her past people every time, 'tho she's fine with dogs. But my Guide Dog pups have all kept all four feet down when greeting, despite Tatze's poor example. The secret is to never, ever let the dog put his or her paws up. No paws on your knees, no 'give a paw' no high fives etc etc. If they put them up, gently put them down. All five have wiggled bums to greet and kept paws down. On recall follow Total Recall to the letter ---------> It works! I do lots of hiding in the early days so that the pups know to keep an eye on me and not go far. One of my pups, Bruce, came to me at 10 months old because he had no recall. I made sure he got lots of rewards and the lead put on then straight off many times during the walk so he didn't anticipate the end of the walk. I did the hiding with him too - that took some courage, but it worked - he didn't want to lose me. He was a GR and food wasn't a reward to him at all - so exciting games were his rewards. It worked within three days. They need to want to come to you every time. Mollie, 20 weeks, will come back even if heading towards an exciting looking puppy. ALL thanks to Total Recall. ...
Thank you for this Charlie. I have just watched Fiona's video. Need to get a clicker and some really small treats. Will use treats when desensitising to her harness - hadn't thought of that. Have looked a some of Fiona's blog and really like what I have seen so far
Thank you for this Charlie. I have just watched Fiona's video. Need to get a clicker and some really small treats. Will use treats when desensitising to her harness - hadn't thought of that. Have looked a some of Fiona's blog and really like what I have seen so far
Have you ever used a clicker with Red? If not here is a link to get you sarted https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/clicker-training-information-and-articles.2229/
Thank you Boogie - have just ordered `Total Recall'. Hope I get time to read it properly as so tired at the moment.
Aw, thanks for the share, Helen @charlie and I'm glad you liked it @Atemas. I use frankfurter, cheese, cooked meats etc for training treats. I cut them into sticks which I can break easily with my fingers or, if my hands are otherwise occupied, I hold in my mouth (because they're human food, yay) and bite little bits off to give the pup. I'm being a lot stricter with Luna than I was with my previous puppies about who she can say hi to, and it's making a huge difference to her engagement with me. She's not perfect - she's just a baby, after all - but she is doing really, really well. And that dog at the end of the video... the very next day, I got to the point where I was getting her to stack, sit and hand touch stood right in front of him, still jumping and shouting at us. Clicker training and the "Look At That!" technique are the best
