since my last post the leash got wrapped around my ring finger of my dominant hand and my 56 lb puppy dove onto another dog to greet him and the pull of the leash broke my finger badly and now can barely type. I am reading Total Recall and had just started working on recall when it occurred to me that I had been putting up with a lot of pulling on leash-especially when my dog greets other dogs and people. How do I practice leashing and unleashing my dog to teach him recall when I cant get him to walk properly on a leash? Do I have to teach him not to pull before teaching recall on walks? Does this mean I can't take him on walks at all? Only to an exercise park? There are no parks around here that dont require a bit of a short walk to get into them and he will have to be leashed for that! How long does it take to teach not to pull? With all of the proofing it seems like it will take a long time. I also have to devote part of the training day into teaching him to go into his crate again as he has decided not to do that anymore Feeling very overwhelmed and a bit sorry for myself. Thanks for reading!!
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Hi there, so sorry to hear about your finger That sounds very painful. It is difficult to 'manage' a puppy on a lead before he is heel trained and in between training sessions. Have a look at this article which addresses the principles and issues involved and has links to more information. Let me know what is missing and how/if we can improve the information to be more helpful to you.
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! I had a finger broken by a dog suddenly lunging, could hear the crack Puppies are overwhelming but I promise the time will come when you will barely remember what a difficult time it is at the moment! I taught my pup heel off the lead first, food in right hand, pup on the left and took one step with the pup beside me and rewarded, then I would do two steps and reward and eventually was doing ten steps and rewarding, I did this every day before his breakfast. You then get the pup to have the 'habit' of walking in that position. There are many ways to teach walking to heel on the lead and not lunging, after the finger breaking with a previous dog, I made sure that this pup wouldn't lunge. Pippa's link will solve your problem I am sure.
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Oh dear, can't really add anything myself to what Pippa has linked you too, just wanted to say hope the finger gets better soon. No fun when things like that happen. Feels pretty disheartening.....it WILL get better though. Just got to hang in there and be patient and consistent. Good luck, and positive healing vibes from us.
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Ouch doesn't really cover it! I hope your finger heals well and soon Pups are a bit over whelming but it will soon come together. Jac is so right patience and consistency with a big dollop of perseverance will see you through. Good luck!
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! thanks so much for everyones support. Pippa i did read most of the heal links but will go back and re-read to see how I am going to navigate this. Stacia me and the guy next to me heard my finger crack. I have an auto-immune condition so I dont take pain pills. Oy! will keep u posted. Did I mention how much I love my guy?
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Poor you - ouch Definitely wish I had taught off lead heel work first, it would have saved a lot of corrective work later on. Thank goodness for this site, my next puppy will be trained to perfection
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Oh I'm just trying to catch up on news and posts ouch,ouch,ouch,couch ....I can almost hear the crack myself .....I hope you are feeling a bit better? X Don't 'put up' with pulling on the lead.....the more you tolerate,the worse it will become,I speak from experience ;D it was my total lack of experience that created problems for us,I have had a real battle with my boy Dexter to get to a point where we can enjoy a lead walk together..........and even now he needs a lot of reminders ;D I will slip the lead back onto his front fastening harness when he really forgets his manners or if we are coming up to an area that excites his interest eg.......the bush where the cats all hang out! I went right back to the beginning with Pippas articles and with patience and perseverance a total novice has made progress,I'm sure I would have got competent quicker if Dex hadn't been our first dog x
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! thanks so much. we r up to circling around the garage. Step by step. i really appreciate the encouragement. also up to taking one step inside the crate again. Hope all of this pays of!!
Re: Suddenly overwhelmed as to what to train first!! Oh dear....that hurts!! I know what you mean about being overwhelmed over what to train first...the list seems never-ending, here. I do think I'm going to have to come up with a rough schedule so that I at least am hitting all of the things I want to work on at least a couple times a week..... Good luck with the heel work. I have to admit that this is NOT one of the things I'm working on....although Simba doesn't heel he also doesn't pull, so I call us even on that one....
