As in the title....any fun ideas? I actually think our off lead walks are kind of helping in our lead walking but it can get quite unfun (not a word but you know what I mean) doing training for loose lead walking.
Yep, loose lead training can be so boring for both human and dog so a few ideas to make it more fun 1. change direction - turn through 180 or 90 degrees. You can use a word/s to begin with and then drop as your dog pays more attention waiting for the 'fun' turn. 2. Stop pause start walking at random 3. Change walking pace. Increasing pace can make it so much easier for your dog 4. Instead of walking in straight (!!) lines spell out words - your dog's name , your name etc. All of the above help to improve engagement with you as your dog learns these new games, and yes loose lead training should be a game Don't forget to reward well and often - for both of you.
You're right, off-lead walking is one of the best ways to practice on-lead walking in my opinion With no lead to potentially jerk on the dog (even accidentally), it's easy to keep it 100% positive. Lose your inhibitions, change pace and direction frequently. So, maybe two paces really slowly, then break into a sprint for ten, stop dead, turn 90 degrees, sprint that way, stop, walk normal pace for five paces, spin in a circle. All the time lavishing praise on your dog when he is at your side and laughing when you "win" and he doesn't stop or turn in time. Loads of verbal encouragement if he falls behind. Lots of treats, for sure, but if your dog is like my youngest and enjoys interacting with you, then the game itself is more rewarding than food. If your dog likes to play tug, use that as a reward after a minute or so. Or maybe a ball (although tug would be my preferred if your dog likes them both, as it keeps him close). You can also play "magic hand", where you keep your hand full of treats in a position where, if you drop the treats from between your fingers, your dog can catch them. This is best practiced standing still to start with, then gradually add some movement. Throw a party when your dog manages to catch one - aim for his nose to start with, but in time you can expect him to start adjusting to the right position. Get him used to being close to your legs through other games. Middle and leg weaves are a good place to start with that, and all mine love these behaviours, which are like games for them - Willow was a bit hesitant at first, but making it really rewarding means she finds them fun now. Making near your legs a good place to be will definitely leak over to LLW. Keep sessions SHORT and fun, so he's left wanting more. You can play these games a few times in a walk, but keep them no more than a couple of minutes each so they don't become boring. Keep the energy high for both of you, and it'll be a real game rather than just a drill. During my dog training journey to date, I have gone from using basic positive reinforcement (using a lot of treats to reward the behaviours I like and repeating ad infinitum) to using a real games-based approach where we "train" in these really short bursts of very high energy; where there's less repetition but more fun and the rewards are brilliant - the whole process of interacting becomes hugely rewarding for both of us, so they want to come back for more. With Shadow and Luna (and now slowly getting there with Willow, as her confidence increases), I don't have to avoid "failure" because it's part of a game and we laugh about it together when they don't quite get it. Of course, I then make it clearer what I'm actually after, but I can still give attention for getting it "wrong". Case in point, Shadow with leg weaving. He has a very strong "middle", which he loves - but he always does middle by wrapping my left leg (I need to add in middle round the other leg, too). So, during leg weaves, when he got to my left side, he'd pop into middle instead. Instead of ignoring this, or withholding a reward, I'd laugh, give him a cuddle and say something along the lines of "Well, that's a beautiful middle, but it's not quite what I was after", which is all white noise but he still likes the attention. Then, I'd make it clearer what I wanted the next time, make it ultimately achievable and then throw him a huge party (and a pine cone) for getting it right. Making things high-energy games like this and all interaction really positive (as opposed to just posting treats in his mouth) means you get a dog with really snappy behaviour, who loves to interact with you and be by your side... which is pretty much the whole subject of loose leash walking and recall I've gone a bit off-track, sorry, but it's been a real revelation to me how, as much as I was using R+ and all the "normal" methods, I was being really dull previously. Now I keep energy high and sessions short, I've seen huge improvements and it's so much more fun for both me and my dogs. Once your pup has learnt the games off-lead, you can clip the lead on and do the same thing - even in off-lead areas. This has the added bonus that he'll get used to the lead being associated with great games, so will come to you when you get it out, rather than it signifying the end of the walk. Of course, sometimes we want to lower the arousal rather than raise it; when we have to get from A to B on the lead, or maybe there's a person or animal that has excited him in the street. In these occasions, if his arousal is too high for magic hand to work, I'd use figure-8 walking to lower arousal and increase focus. I've just started doing this with all three of mine (figure-8s with three dogs is fun! ) but it really works brilliantly to bring calm to an exciting situation and get the attention on you. You just walk in that 8-shape, really slowly. Really slowly. Your dog's heart rate will lower, it will calm you, too. It's really therapeutic
I think all your comments and suggestions are great @snowbunny. Lots of your posts have been really helpful to me with Ripple - just wish he didn't spend all his walks with his nose stuck on the ground looking for something to munch . I can get him to do weaves and figure of eight but everything is so short lived because of his eating. He's never been interested in tug games indoors but I might have a go on his walks. Guess I have to keep persevering looking for the miracle cure for his constant eating. Sorry to @Me and my dog for hijacking your thread .
The change of pace thing is very successful for us. We do fast pace/slow pace/normal pace. I always announce which we're doing - Coco is learning what they mean and I have noted that if we're doing a string of these down the road, he walks much closer at any of the paces. Lots of little games keep Coco watching for the next game, so he keeps close in. If he starts to drift with sniffs when I don't want him to a quick "LOOK" brings him right back to me and I can throw another game.
