Hey all I know this is the most common question but I am having a terrible time with my boy. He's 15 months old now. We were making progress some time ago and everything went down the drain in the past 2 weeks. The main problems are: - He keeps walking with his nose down at all times unless there's treats. - If he sees another dog, he goes ballistic. I have tried everything under the sun and nothing seems to be working. Even a dog trainer hasn't corrected the issues. I contacted another trainer and he says to use a prong collar. I'm not to keen on this idea. Any thoughts? I have read every book, forum posts, advice from friends with labs, dog trainers. Some people say it's because he's young. Others say it's because he isn't neutered and neutering will correct everything. I am at a point where I don't enjoy walking him anymore. It's completely terrible. Any thoughts? Thanks
Hi @Johnny please don't use a prong collar, that may possibly have an effect to start with but it is cruel and won't solve the problem in the long term, from your post you sound a really caring owner so using something so negative as a prong collar would cause you distress too. I'd like to say there is a quick fix sadly there isn't. I'm just wondering what kind of trigger there was a couple of weeks ago that you feel things are just getting worse again. I do have terrible issues at times with my girl pulling on the lead, below is the list of things I do to address the pulling. Remember consistency is key, the other thing I have been trying to do is teach self control and if there is any danger she is going over the threshold I don't train as she is then unable to think straight. I use the clicker all the time, I'm addicted to it now. 1. When we set off for a walk if she pulls I stop, turn round and walk the other way. Often the pulling is in excitement to get somewhere fun (i.e off lead in the woods) If she still pulls I just stop and refuse to walk until the lead goes slack. I walk with my elbow close to my body and then as she pulls extend my arm out until she comes to a halt. Okay you may not go far, you may look odd and get comments, ignore people they won't know your reasons and choices you need to make. 2. I give her plenty of distance between other dogs if she is going to pull, maybe cross the road, turn round and walk back the other way. I use a clicker and C&T for focus on me without pulling. I will also introduce a little game if we are away from the road. I throw a little cheese (inches away) say find it, she runs to find it, turn the other way and she does the same. Now she is beginning to look at me for a little game rather than want to pull on the lead to say hello. I want her to acknowledge the other dog by looking but then focus back on me. Trying to make myself the most important, funniest most interesting thing on the planet to my dog is my mission. I also find when she has been off lead on a walk she is never bothered with other dogs on lead. It's as if she thinks I've had my fill of socialising for now. Regarding the nose down, that's my girl all over. I've not actually done anything about it as she was on restricted for 4 months so I needed slow sniffing walks, I'm sure someone else will have lots of tips on that. About the neutering I'm not sure it's not a bit of an excuse. I have a friend with an intact male and he walks perfectly on the lead, but yes your dog being young and excitable is definitely a reason he just needs training to learn to modify his behaviour. I wondered if you had read any of Turid Regaas's books. They are informative and quick and easy to read, they make a good staring point. Take a look at her book titled "My dog pulls what should I do" also take a look at Pippa's article if you haven't already http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/ Hopefully my suggestions are a starting point for you and others more experienced can offer further help. It's easy not to get disheartened, keep going you will get there.
That Thank you very much. I will look into that book. I will never use the prong collar. I refuse to work with a trainer that tells me that is his solution. The causes of pulling are mainly the following - sees another dog - sniffing around - walking in a new area The only thing that works are treats. Unfortunately he's a smart boy and when there's no treats he doesn't pay attention to me or anything around him other than sniffing. To answer about walking faster ... I tried. However if he decides to stop and sniffing something he will not move and is impossible to move him until he's done. So he pulls to get somewhere (a new area, a new smell, another dog), but also refuses to move until he's done sniffing. I know that neutering and calming a dog down is a weird assumption. Especially when I plan on keeping him intact.
It's simply because he's not been proofed against these things. So you have to approach LLW in these situations as if he hasn't been trained at all in other scenarios. The rule in training is, when you make one thing harder (in this case, the level of distraction), you need to make everything else easier. So, you'd start off by luring and streaming treats, gradually change this to a fake lure, treating from the other hand. Expecting only a pace or two at first, and building it up. Where he can't cope at all, increase the distance between you and the other dog/smell etc. I'm in England at the moment, and my boy, Shadow, is finding it terribly hard with all the green grass and smells of vast number of other dogs around. It's something he's not used to in the slightest. He's been acting as if he's not had a day's training in his life. That's fine - as far as this level of difficulty is concerned, he hasn't. So, back to square one and rewarding for the tiniest little success. Find out what motivates your boy best. At the moment, Shadow isn't being rewarded by food, which is a bit annoying. The thing he wants to do most is sniff, so that's what I'm using as a reward. I control the length of his lead so he can't sniff, but every few paces of good walking, I send him to "go sniff". It works really well.
I have exactly the same issue every time I take Mabel somewhere new, it is always the same. She is incredibly well travelled, I've now proofed in all sorts of places it's just a pity dogs can't generalise then we wouldn't need to go through the task of proofing each time. I found it tough the first couple of times but once you can get your head round the concept it's fine.
I don't think having your boy neutered would make much difference, although I do think it's true that the boys are more desperate to access the environment and other smells than the girls and getting them to start off being sensible seems like it needs an extra bit of work. New ground is difficult for them so I'm a big fan of walking in circles. You can make new ground old ground by walking over it often enough. My boy used to be beyond terrible. He is an excitable, easily distracted dog at the best of times, and there was a period where he was on extended rest. So he was young, excitable and under exercised and bored. Nightmare. I walked in circles wherever I went. Even outside my own house at first. I'd just walk 25m down the street, cross over, walk 25m back up the street and repeat. And repeat. Until we could walk that 25m square without pulling. Then I'd make it 30m. Then 40m. Until I could walk down my street and back. I still do this in new places and he is 3.5 years old. I get out of the car and walk round the car park until Charlie calms down enough to remember he doesn't pull on his lead. When he was younger, I'd achieve nothing but that and then put him back in the car and go home and the next time try for a little bit more.
just want to say neutering is NOT the answer. My boy is neutered and behaves the same as yours. Train, train & train.
I do understand your frustration. I went back to basics everytime I went anywhere on lead. I spent 3 months training every day to be able to get her to walk from my house to the local shop (10 min walk max). We done as Julie says above......walk in circles, stop, treat every step, then every other etc. I did get a lot of funny looks, but it worked. Harley is now 3 and we still have to stop on occasions to get her to walk nicely. New places are still exciting to her. It does take time and can't be trained in a day or two, it takes consistency and time.
I had a lovely walk yesterday morning, around a 3-sided block (2 narrow, rural roads and one "busy" main road - busy for the Isle of Man anyway). Coco walked perfectly on a loose lead for the 2 rural roads (I was pleasantly surprised!), but once on the main road (in view of the car drivers), he kept reaching the end of his lead. I just stopped EVERY TIME and waited for slack. 4 weeks ago we couldn't manage the rural roads without tension (they were "new") - we've been maybe 3 times now. Slowly slowly.
I took Charlie to a super exciting field yesterday - this particular field is extremely smelly with birds and animals around. He pulled like a steam train to get through the gate! He was ok once he'd been allowed to explore and came back then managed to be sensible on his lead, but he was awful at first. I think a huge slug of loose lead walking is not only the particular behaviour of keeping a lead loose, but impulse control and the ability to focus (both of which Charlie is pretty much terrible at in new places). I do think working on those too helps loose lead walking generally.
Not masses to add to the good advice above. But my girl Jessie is very similar to your dog,you are not alone. We've been practicing loose lead walking since her first time on a lead and she is only now really starting to get it and she's a year old! She's great on familiar walks until she sees another dog. And in a new setting she's back to square 1! You just have to keep going being consistent and trying to make yourself the most fun thing around! Always have treats. Preferably really, really yummy treats! And change the treats so he doesn't get bored. I have also started walking with a squeaky ball in my pocket which I can use to get her attention when we see another dog. I use it to signify something fun, like a game or we start to run, which she loves. Good luck!
Goodness me. Every comment on this thread could be about Saba who is also 15 months old and intact. His nose is always down when we walk, and he wants to play with nearly every new dog we meet! I haven't tried walking in circles with him, so will give that a go. If he's really bouncy when we leave home, I walk him around the perimeter of our local recreation ground which is familiar territory for him. I use click and treat, which also gets odd looks from passers-by, but hey it's working! Good luck x
Libby has done so well with the rest of her training but this loose lead walking is a struggle. Way too many distractions. Part of the problem is that I get in a hurry because I'm generally taking my lunch break to walk her so today I really took my time with her. We stopped a LOT and did plenty of click-treat-'watch me' stuff so things went much better...until...... we got about 1/2 done and she just went wild on her leash, jumping, lunging, biting me, etc. I'm not sure what was up with that. I just finally stopped altogether and waited awhile until she calmed down. Then we proceeded with our walk home. It was a bit of a slow trip today but I know I have to keep at this.
