We are now 12 weeks, fully vaccinated and have ventured into the outside world. She is booked into classes but they don't start till after Christmas. I have to say it has gone better than I expected. We've done a little practice both on and off the lead in the house and garden. I know that this is a good time to teach my dog NOT to pull. If she starts pulling I stop and she is beginning to get the idea that pulling means you get nowhere. But, surely the walk is for her benefit, to introduce the to the many sights, sounds and smells of the wider environment. How do I achieve this whilst training her to walk? She does NOT like traffic. Not really surprising as she has spent the first 12 weeks of her life in a house or a garden. How am I supposed to deal with this? At the moment I just stand still whilst this Bucking Bronco of a dog pulls on it's lead and tries to get away. She obviously has to learn to cope with it. I don't want to set up a problem for both of us. I don't think she actually enjoys walks and that would be a great shame This morning she managed to yank the lead out of my hand and set off home at a hell of a pace, bright red lead dangling behind her. I set off in hot pursuit, yelling her name. We were in a country lane, but we had crossed a road to get there. I saw a large vehicle turn into the lane, I had visions of Molly perishing under its wheels. I am now running, yelling and waving arms. Vehicle stops, man tries to grab puppy, fails. Dog dashes across, fortunately empty road. Lovely lady jogger bends down and entices Molly to her. The driver was a Farm Hand who returned my squirming puppy to me. Scared the life out of me. From this I have learnt. Hold on tighter. The recall doesn't work that well away from home. Oh yes, and at 66 I can still sprint 300 yards uphill yelling and waving my arms and still have the breath to thank my saviours. Not bad for a pensioner! Little *** in now asleep on mat looking totally innocent.
Re: Puppy walking Hi from another 66 year old Oh those first walks , they can be lovely , anxious and frustrating all rolled into one . Your escapade sounded horrendous , thank goodness for kind and considerate people My Sam , now two and a half, was also a puller , there were times I doubted that he would ever walk nicely but what I did was to teach him the Sit . The moment he started pulling , when I felt tension down the lead , I would stop and tell him to Sit , then good lad, treat and set off again . Another thing to try is to stop and then slowly walk backwards , looks silly I know but the dog is then behind you and isnt pulling . Some people find a harness helps , I didnt , Sam hated them, so it was just persistance and when he was walking nicely , he got masses of praise, but stop the moment they pull . Re traffic , one of my rescue dogs was traffic reactive , you must be careful not to saturate her with something she is afraid of, but just a gentle introduction . Never tell her Good Girl when she reacts because she will then assume that she was a good girl for reacting I used to sit on the bench at the end of my lane, its fairly quiet with the odd tractor or car , and again, when I saw a vehicle aproaching , I would make her sit , distract with a treat until the vehicle had gone out of sight, its a case of gentle desensitisation rather than being too full on , good luck
Re: Puppy walking Well done you! I'm glad you recovered the little minx without harm done. It was quite a journey for me teaching Charlie to behave on a lead - and we still have to concentrate on it on every walk and we still have our challenges. Not mugging people eating outside cafes is one. Not diving through the open door to the fish and chip shop every time we pass is another. And so on. When he was younger (and even now if the circumstances are going to be very challenging), I used a back fastening harness if the walk was going to be either too long for him to concentrate the whole time, or we were in a hurry so just had to get from A to B without stopping, turning round, or clicker training. The point of this was a) it was safer if he was lunging towards other dogs or jumping around - both for his neck, and he couldn't wriggle out of a harness b) he didn't associate messing around with his collar which I later used to mean "we are walking nicely now". We're in London, but Charlie was born in the country, so Charlie had to get used to lots of traffic, very busy streets, trains and tubes. For tubes, which might work as well for traffic for you, he first got held and cuddled on a bench outside a station, then inside, then we stood at the top of the steps while a tube came into the platform below, then half way down the steps, then on the platform, then we got on a tube etc. All the while C&T for calm. Took about 10 sessions, taking it very slowly. That said, nothing much fazes Charlie - that might be because I've fussed about these things, or he might have been absolutely fine anyway.
Re: Puppy walking Might also be worth saying that the more relaxed you are, the more relaxed puppy will be , they do sense tension down the lead I`m sure so , nice and relaxed , happy encouraging voice too , all helps
Re: Puppy walking Glad you are both ok and safe. I use a back harness as it is easier for me and Harley responds better with it on. I am in the process of walking to heel - we start with sit and a treat then 'walk nicely' which I say to her, then every 5 steps give a treat and say walk nicely, I repeat this throughout our walk til we get to the park and have off lead time. I have built the steps up to 20 then a treat and it works well. I have her lead across my body and hold the treat in the hand closest to her so she can see it at all times. Have a look at Pippas article on heel walking - this is roughly the same as I do. When we are on a busy road I get her to sit and stay, with a treat and keep her attention on me - now it hardly even bothers her no matter the amount of traffic Good luck and I hope you are not too sore later
