Willow is nearly 12 weeks now and has been walking round the block about a 10 min round trip. She will walk nicely then pull back so I offer her a treat then she walks willing a few more steps then pulls back. She is used to the cars now and ignores them passing. She knows when we heading back home as she pulls to the house. All new puppy owners go through this and in time she will learn to love walks any tips to help would be apreciated. If she sees anyone or dogs she is happy to say hello she puts her tail between her legs when she meets dogs and is submissive I am happy to say the dogs she has met so far have been very good with her.
When she hangs back, you are doing the right thing to use a treat to encourage her - as long as this doesn't become a behaviour chain where she learns to hang back because it makes you produce a treat... Be sure not to pull on the leash at all - especially when she hangs back. When we pull on the leash, the dog will pull back the other way. Therefore if you want her to walk forwards and the leash is taut with you 'encouraging' her forwards, her opposition reflex will lead to her pulling even more back the opposite way. This kind of thing is very common with puppies and they all grow out of it as they get accustomed to leashes, so don't worry. It might be a good idea to attend a puppy training class, where she will get to meet a wide range of other puppies. IT sounds like she is a bit afraid, if she puts her tail down and is 'submissive' when meeting the other dog. This might mean absolutely nothing at all, but it also might be a sign of slight worry around other dogs and it would be good to address that now whilst she is still within the socialisation period and malleable. Puppy School classes involve supervised off-leash play at the end of each class, if you are in the UK: http://www.puppyschool.co.uk
We live in a small town and I don't have access to a car all the puppy classes are in the surrounding villages. The only one in the town starts training from 5 months. When I said she puts her tail between her legs she does this on aproaching a dog she then plays and wags her tail I think she is just showing she is not a threat to the dog until she is sure it's not going to hurt her. She has only been going out a few times.
I don't know what country you live in. Are you with a dog able to travel on a bus? Puppy classes usually start well before 5 months. It sounds to me as if you are attempting to enrol in an obedience class. You need instead a puppy class or pre-obedience class.
The puppy classes are in the villages there are no regular busses to the villages around here. The puppy classes are from 7pm I live in the UK in Northants it's full of small villages it's not like living in the city. I use to live in Derby puppy classes was all on bus routs or walking distance. The obedience class is the only one with an hours walk from my home. So even that is going to awkward in bad weather.
Hi @WillowA Thanks for the clarification. Your circumstances make it very difficult to socialise your puppy to other dogs. Perhaps you can call the local vet and find out whether someone nearby to your place who has a young puppy who may want a soclalisation partner. Or talk to the people who do have a small dog and if the dog is friendly, then that is a potential route to socialisation. The socialisation window closes around week 16. But you can certainly socialise your dog to all the sights and sounds of your local village. Make sure your puppy has a good time. Let your dog back off if she is experiencing anxiety.
She does meet dogs out on walks like I said she aporches them with her tail between her legs then she wags and wants to play she is checking then out to make sure they are not a threat. One jack Russel was taken in the other direction as it was not friendly. She meets other dogs every time we go out.
Ideally, you want to start before 5 months. Also (trying to say this in the right way!) a puppy class which only starts at 5 months, is unlikely to be a good, modern, kind and effective type of class. It sometimes requires a bit of determination to find a good class, and it's pretty unlikely (statistically!) that the one you happen to have in your local village is going to be a good one. When we first got a dog, we also didn't have a car. Whilst we lived in a city (Brighton), there were no good classes that I'd consider taking our puppy to there at the time. (There are now - I later started School for Dogs there and sold it to Debbie Peters when I left ) So, I had to get extremely creative with public transport. We used to get the train 40mins from Brighton to Eastbourne for puppy playgroup with Wendy Hanson and then moved onto her puppy classes and further classes. We got the train the other direction 20mins to Gill White in Shoreham, for her clicker training classes. I got the bus to Southampton once, to enter an Open Show. (That was interesting as it involved walking miles along dual carriageways!). All this was great socialisation on public transport, so I didn't really see it as too much of a drawback. But if other classes really aren't accessible to you, then you may well be better off following a structured training programme online. These days we are really lucky that there are brilliant online training courses by some of the world's best trainers, just a click away. For an all-around puppy training course, take a look at Grisha Stewart's course Empowered Puppy Raising.
The puppy class from 5 months is the only one available in my town. The same people have a puppy class in one one of the villages and they are small classes and get booked up really quick so no places left. They are dog behaviour specalists and trainers they are highly recommended but only have the 5 months available. There is another class in another village a bus ride away drops you on the main road and then there is a 2 mile walk along a country lane and is totally not happening in the dark. I got the list from the vets and most are mlies away. Even with busses the walk from the stops are not pratical. I will look online I have also got the puppy books. If I run into problems I can always look here for help. We are going to have holidays in the uk and we will meet lots of other dogs on the dog beach in St Ives.
I just would take all of that with a pinch of salt. I've seen truly awful classes which are fully booked (because the trainers are charging £3 a class, probably) and I've seen so-called 'behaviour specialists' who don't know which end of a dog is which and are actually bullies. It's always best to go and watch a class before taking your puppy, so even if they don't have room available now, I'd recommend asking if you can go and watch. Then you'll know if this class is even worth waiting for or planning on... Vets are not the best source for classes or for training or behavioural help. Take a look at: http:/www.apdt.co.uk http://imdt.uk.com http://www.puppyschool.co.uk Any one of which will get you started right. (And equally, be very wary of anywhere that's not listed on any of those...).
Willow is not keen to go out atm she is reluctant to walk forward and as soon as she knows it's on the way home she gallops on the lead to get home. I don't want to take her anywhere when she is not confident I don't want to scare her. I will train her at home the last puppy class I went to with my Spaniel was rubbish and I paid a lot of money for them to come out and hand me the lead back and tell me never let her off the lead. The vet didn't recomend the classes it was just a print off of classes in the area. The Jackador classes was recomended on a local fb page. Willow sits and stays walks on the lead with ecouragment barks on demand she is easy to train she also met a large boxer today the size didn't scare her.
