Now that the weather has gotten nicer in our area, we have started to take our Oakley now just 10 months out on walks again. The first time we took him a few weeks ago, it was completely different than what had been a few months prior. He was pulling so hard on lead, lunging, barking it was awful at people, other dogs, he just wants to play. Nothing would get him to focus or listen. So we have been doing the LAT thing and he has been doing very well, we can walk pretty good down our street and back now and when there are people coming in the distance I can get him to focus on me sit and he does well. However, once we start to go past where we walked previous (we have been doing slightly longer distances every couple of days) he seems to be more distracted with all the new scents around and I can't seem to get him to focus on me as easily. I had to take him in to have his nails trimmed and although I know we have only been working on it for a couple of weeks, he didn't do as bad as that first time we took him out but I still had a hard time to get him to focus on me, if he did it was quick sit with a very brief eye contact and he was paying more attention to everything else going on. We have him registered for a calm, control class that will be starting in a month but am I doing something wrong? Oh and when he starts sniffing something, I can't get him to stop at all, I don't want to pull him but I try excitedly to get him to come or put a treat to his nose to try and get him to focus on me but it isn't working. Please help!
What type of area are you walking him in when the sniffing and focus problems arise? On open and seldom used roadways you say he does well? I would continue to practice on those so that he continues to heel the way you want him to and so he can continue to understand the reps you want him to do. For my pup, these roads are also where he also does best, because there is less to sniff. For sidewalks and trails, there is more for puppies to sniff. The scents are typically at the sides of these sidewalks and trails. In these situations, I let him sniff as a reward, since he sometimes values the sniffing more than the treats in these cases. I would keep him very close to me on the harness and directly in the middle of the sidewalk/trail so he doesn't have the chance to sniff until he is released as a reward. The harness will prevent him from being choked. If he has trouble heeling for long periods of time on these sidewalks/trails, you're going to have to do it in small increments. Have him heel a few steps and then say "yes, go sniff" and then release him to go sniff. It might take a few reps to understand that his sniff is the reward, but he should pick it up extremely quickly. When he is done sniffing, have him heel for a few more steps and repeat the process. Over time, he should heel longer and you won't have to give him as many release cues to sniff. But the key for me in these spots is to keep the dog very close to you until you release him to sniff. And if he continues to pull you should stop moving so that he realizes the fun stops when he pulls. Doing all of this isn't going to get you as far as you would like and is more of a training session than a walk. It's really a lot of work. For open field type situations, what worked for me is using a long line. If you are alone, you can practice "sit" and "stays" and give him your recall signal so that he comes to you from his sit stay position. Use extremely high value treats for when he listens to your recall. If you have a significant other you can practice with, you can both practice recall with him and just have him go back and forth to you guys and reward him for when he does. This helped my dog with his recall so much. Walk around on the field with him on the long line and see what he does. Does he wander off and sniff for a bit and then come back and check in with you?? If he does check in, say "yes" or click and give him a high value treat. If he doesn't check in with you and is ignoring you, play a game with him. Go up to him run around him and see if you can get his attention then run away from him and see if he follows. Once his focus goes on you, say "yes" and give him a treat or if you starts coming toward you say his recall word and then say "yes" and give him the high value treat. My dog does well on the long line because he has more freedom, yet he is still contained. Basically, you are rewarding every action that you want from him. Open fields with a long line shouldn't be as hard for him to focus as sidewalks/hiking trails, so high value treats should work wonders. If there is enough repetition and he's getting his value rewards on the open fields for doing what you want, eventually he's going to start wanting to walk near you and checking in more consistently. And obviously continue doing LAT training whenever you can. It seems like you need to back away from the distractions a little more however, until he is under the threshold and doesn't over react to the distractions. Do it at a distance where you can still get him to check in with you, even though he still notices the distraction. If he barking and lunging, you're too close to the distraction.
the issue arises in really any new area. So when I go for a walk by my house we go for a walk by our house we walk down the sidewalk, he doesn't really sniff and heels well or focus's on me and sits easily in the block he is familiar with Once we get down the road further he wants to stop and sniff. I get what you are saying and I will try that, but when I release him to sniff, do I let him sniff until he is done because once he is sniffing I can't get him to focus or heel until HE is ready. He isn't really pulling like he was and has been seeming to get as soon as there is tension on the leash when I stop he comes back to me and I can get him to heel or focus on me and he does but I don't necessarily make him do that every time he puts tension because most of the time as soon as there is he will turn and walk towards me and then I can start walking forward and he's good until the next but it isn't much. I'll try what you said but I just need to know how long to let him sniff and if only until I say he's done how to get his attention again until he's done. Hope that made sense
Well for me, it just depends. Sometimes my pup will finish sniffing before I give him my heel cue and we are back on the trail or sidewalk walking. But sometimes he does get fixated on sniffing so I will say “heel” and direct him towards the sidewalk with his harness and back to my side. If he responds well I give him a treat and keep going. Even if you have to use the harness to get him to where you want him, I would still give him a treat to help him realize what he needs to do after he sniffs. I don’t think there is a set amount of time for each stop. Sometimes he will heel and check in better than other times so for those times where he cooperates better, you can let him sniff a bit longer. But ultimately it is up to you on how long you want to let him sniff. Obviously, you don’t want to stop for two minutes for each stop though, so maybe 10-20 seconds. This is something I have been trying based on advice i read on here and it’s been working for me. So I’m sure others can add onto what I’m saying or offer different techniques you can try as well.
Hi @mom2labs and @Bud Light/Dilly Dilly If you create a diversion to get the dog to stop sniffing, then you are not teaching the dog to make a choice--to focus on you voluntarily. Try instead to let the dog sniff as long as he wants. Just hold the lead. He is not taking you for a walk so don't follow him around. Just let him sniff that particular spot.But the moment he looks up at you mark with Yes and reward that behaviour with a treat (he has paid you some attention and you wish to increase the likelihood of that occurring without you having to cue the behaviour). Then walk say two metres. If he does not pull, then let him go back to sniffing by giving him a release cue. Now no texting. Or gazing at the sky. You have to be ready to capture the very moment he stops sniffing and looks up at you. When he looks up be ready to mark and reinforce. By the way you are using the Premack Principle to teach loose lead walking in case you want to read more about the technique.
Awesome, thanks for the correction. My Bud’s heel walking has improved so much and he is pretty consistently giving me the attention after he sniffs by himself, but I will make sure to do what you suggested and always wait till he is done sniffing and wait for his look so I could mark his action and treat him.
It’s also kind of cool to give him the “go sniff” cue and have him head straight to the grass to sniff. He really picked up on that quickly and it’s improved his heel walking. It was your advice of course @Michael A Brooks
This is good to know as it is what I have been doing with Chewie! Our morning on lead walks are a dawdle. I let him sniff, then click when he gives me his attention/when we walk a short distance at heel. Then off to sniff he goes. Interspersed with some LAT for other dogs and birds too. My advice to the OP is start somewhere relatively boring and very slowly work up to more distracting places!
Thanks for the feedback, and kind words. I'm glad it has improved his loose lead walking. You will also need to become really so interesting (yes I know you are interesting but on walks can any of us compete?) that he finds you more interesting than the scents he tracks down outdoors. If you are interested in how one might do that, then consider Fenzi and Booth's book Focus and Engage!
Totally agree. But as always things are more complicated. We humans look at a landscape and if there are no rivers, lake or mountains say to ourselves boring. A dog looks at the same scene, sniffs and says to herself "Well three weeks ago, a wallaby was sitting here. And a possum scampered over there a week later". Boring to the dog? No. It's truly difficult for we humans to find a low-distracting place unless we start viewing the world as if we were a dog. If one wants to reduce the problem initially as you suggest--and I'm in complete agreement with you-- then one needs to work with the environment. If there has been a very heavy rain, then scents are not going to be much of an issue. In that case use your treat pouch as the distraction--put it down on the ground and walk towards it. If the dog pulls, then turn around comforted with the likely fact that the environment is not competing against you as you walk away from the reinforcer. As you get better at loose lead walking use the environment to reinforce your teaching. A very light rain will intensify the odour.. Then "go sniff" has real value to the dog.
