Hi guys I've read this article: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/walking-your-labrador-on-a-loose-lead/ And although Luna does not tear my arm out I want her to be able to walk at ease with my 6 year old. It also makes for much more pleasant walks as I am currently doing about 8-10 Km daily with her (Luna that is, not my daughter). Who incidentally loves Luna and relishes any opportunity to take her for walks (so long as they're not one of Daddy's long adventures). Victoria (daughter of aforementioned dog owner) can get Luna to stop, wait and cross a road with little or no fuss. It took us about a week in a harness and a long double ended lead. Luna's getting much more responsive and considering she spent the first 10 months of her life living in an apartment I'm really impressed with how much progress she has made in such a short time. So, here's the next phase and I'm wondering if anyone has any additional thoughts or experiences... A neighbour very kindly gave us a long lead. I mean like 10 metres long. I was thinking of using this and following the instructions in the above article and perhaps even involving my daughter as she so loves being a part of Luna's training. I just have to remind her that only one of us can give the commands while Luna is training. Any thoughts, suggestions...? PS: Luna is a rescue dog but pure bred yellow lab.
Do be careful letting Victoria hold Luna on the lead. Even the best-trained dog can sometimes lose the plot when a cat or squirrel is spotted... It doesn't bear thinking about, if your six-year-old were on the other end of the lead from Luna... I'm actually not a huge fan of long leads, as I think they can be dangerous and I prefer to train recall and heel walking without one, though I can see the value particularly when you have a rescue who you are trying to train.
I agree with Karen's comments. A 10m lead is too long for training loose lead walking. A good book to help with loose lead training is "My dog pulls: what do I do?" by Turgid Rugass. She recommends a lead of 2 - 3m in the book which is ample for loose lead but easy enough to reduce if necessary for close walking.
I use a long lead, and have found it very useful - I use both a "long line" and an extendable lead. I used to think extendable leads were the work of the devil, but actually find it more useful than a long line. (A long line has more applications than an extendable lead). I've used an extendable when my dog has been recovering from injury, sometimes when other people have to walk him, and for the start of some training scenarios (particularly around golf courses - my dog is ball obsessed ). I always use both a long line and an extendable lead with a harness, and I wouldn't use an extendable lead with a dog that couldn't keep a short lead loose. Charlie is very good on an extendable lead, and walking him in city parks, I find it very, very useful on occasion. I prefer my OH to walk Charlie using an extendable lead in particular, because then he can't let Charlie make a load of mistakes and ruin my training! I wouldn't use an extendable lead with a 10 month old dog still learning to keep a short lead loose in all circumstances though, you can't have a dog that pulls on an extendable lead, it would be a nightmare.
I've had Luna for about 10 days now and if we walk with no distractions she's really pleasant. Right by my side and I get that satisfying jungle of the clips as the line's not tight. It's a double ended 2 metre lead so if Victoria has Luna I always say to her just let go if she pulls to hard and I have the other end. Fortunately Luna listens to Victoria. Might take a few times and a sharp tug or three but she listens. 10 days ago it was just pointless. I had to drag her everywhere. It's such a shame she was not trained before we got her but that'll just make her all the more a part of the family once she is. Early hours of this morning she woke me up licking my feet (Luna that is) so I took her out and wow, she did her business but every now and then, about once a day she'll relieve herself in the house, always the same spot. There's 5 of us here but even if we catch her and tell her to stop she still continues. Any thoughts on that...? I'm walking her 3-5 times a day, sometimes more and almost always she does something. There's also a safe area for her on the roof terrace which she occasionally uses and it's always open but it is 4 flights of steps up. I'm wondering if there's a method I can use to encourage her to go there if needed...
Hello there, There is an article here on toilet training an older dog: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/housetraining-an-older-dog/ It's simple, really - reward the dog for going where you want her to go, and supervise when not. She probably has no idea what you mean when you "tell her to stop" going to the toilet in the house. There are alternatives to using lead jerks to train a dog to walk on a loose lead. Some people (myself included), but not all people, think punishment in the form of lead jerks is not the best way. The reasons for this are described here: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/punishment-in-dog-training/ And some alternative techniques are described here: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/walking-your-labrador-on-a-loose-lead/
I can't really add to the advice you've had already but I wanted to share that my three year old loves walking our dogs. They have a long lead which she holds and a shorter one that I hold. If they're behaving both leads are loose but mine will tighten first
Things are getting better. Slowly... Luna's behaving much better on the lead and we have fewer problems in the house with wet patches. The hardest part I think is me getting used to her hours and when she's ready to go. Sometimes there's no sign at all but most times she gets up and starts wandering looking for somewhere so that's a really good sign for me.
