Hello All, I am here , Yet again with this problem which i dont know what to do about . The problem lies not only with Bruno , Its also Simba to some extend . Bruno being just over 6 months is still learning to walk on leash , Bein 27kgs now make my life on the other end of the leash very difficult . If i keep him on short leash he's ok , not the best though . But if i let him have the full length of the leash , thats it for me , i would be running behind him . Hes got a massive force to pull , suprisingly i havent seen a puppy pull with that force . If i stop walking he stops and then starts again once we move on . If i put him on short leash he keeps looking at me to treat him . Please Advise , I do the stop if pulling etc but I need to got to work once i have walked them so am usually in a rush . Now the other problem being Simba , I let him be on the full length of the leash cause he doesnt pull and listens to me if i ask him to move on . But i feel Simba n Bruno derive energy from each other and if one is pulling me the other wants to as well , its getting difficult to walk 2 dogs together . I will try to drain brunos energy a little before going out , but i dont think that would help . He just has too much energy . Simba does the occasional whinning and jumps like a wild horse on 2 legs when he sees another dog , But hes manageable now . Cheers
Re: Walking Bruno Myself, I would keep Bruno on a short leash at all times. So in his mind he's either 'on' or 'off' lead. On lead I'd expect him not to pull at all, giving treats but counting paces between treats and taking more paces as he progresses. I would walk one at once for a long time until they both get the message. If possible going an off lead run with both once a day where no leads are needed, maybe get a dog walker to do that for you if you are at work? We have harnesses which fasten at the front, these also cause less pulling as, if they do pull, they pull towards you - not away, so they can't put their weight behind it. here is a photo -
Re: Walking Bruno That is no good. I am sure that walks are not very enjoyable for you at the moment! When you have Bruno on the short leash is there still a lot of tension on the lead? I know that it's a coping strategy but unfortunately that is a good way of teaching a dog to pull on the lead. The lead is always tight and they are always getting to where they want to go....so they learn that pulling is the normal thing and good to do. Also, because the lead is short and tight they never get the chance to walk on a loose lead so they never learn how - they never have the option to make the right choice to walk nicely, if that makes sense. I would do as Boogie suggests and walk the dogs separately (even if that puts a dent in your schedule for a while) and use a front fastening harness (which is not a magic cure but which can give you a bit more control and also break the pulling cycle long enough for you to train a better walking style). If you do not have a very sturdy and easy to hold lead (a thick and comfortable lead) I would get one of those too. And wear sturdy shoes. And really work super hard on only progressing forwards if the lead is loose - even if you end up only going 5 metres in half an hour. And also work on showing him the right walking position using treats to lure him into the right spot until he gets the idea.
Re: Walking Bruno I know how you feel as we have 2 dogs Hattie and our rescue boy Charlie. When Charlie came to live with us he used to crawl along the ground on a lead so it was impossible to walk them together so we walk them separately and have trained Charlie on a front fastening harness not to pull and now he is on a flat collar. It is a pain, I know to do separate walks but in the end you will save time. Good luck x
Re: Walking Bruno Hi Vish, walking on a loose lead is something that lots of people struggle with. As the others have said, it is not really possible to train a dog to do this effectively whilst you have another dog with you. You might find this article helpful to get you started.
Re: Walking Bruno [quote author=buzzvishwanath link=topic=6410.msg84980#msg84980 date=1401859423] If i stop walking he stops and then starts again once we move on . If i put him on short leash he keeps looking at me to treat him . Please Advise , I do the stop if pulling etc but I need to got to work once i have walked them so am usually in a rush . [/quote] Much sympathy - I had a bit of a journey with my boy. With two, it must be difficult. I agree that keeping a dog on a very short leash is a difficult way to teach loose lead - I think it's better to have a longer lead, and teach a "turn towards me" cue. When my dog is pulling, I give the "turn towards me" cue, as soon as the dog responds, I walk the other way. I also taught a "return to my left leg" cue, separately from walking on lead (I did this in the kitchen, with a clicker). If my dog pulls, and I can walk in another direction, I use the first technique. If I can't (because I've got to go somewhere) I make him return back to my leg before we go forward. This broke the pull - stop - wait - pull - stop - wait - pull routine that he was getting into and made it more obvious to him that we move forward when he is not out in front. You seem to have some practical difficulties here - you have to walk two dogs and get to work so it sounds difficult for you to train on your morning walk. I'm not a fan, but it does sound like front fastening harnesses (you still have to teach them to walk nicely on them though) might be a stop gap solution while you work on the training at other times of the day.
Re: Walking Bruno Ah Vish,big sympathies too,I've lived ( and survived ;D) through it with one dog.......2 must be a pretty big challenge ??? I used Pippas training article that she's already directed you to together with this: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/establishing-a-heel-position-for-your-labrador/ My 'Heel' command in the walking on lead situation was totally contaminated so I started from scratch and here you have my sympathy because it was so time consuming ( but I'm a novice dog owner so my ineptitude comes into it big time :) the one thing that still stays with me and is really hard to manage was Pippa ,writing that you need to go 'cold turkey' on the pulling.....ie from the point you start working on this you do not allow your dog to pull....ever!this is a challenge when you don't have unlimited time and you want to have your dog excercised.Im lucky to have the time but I still drove Dexter to as much off lead walks as I could,if he had to walk on his lead he was on a gentle leader head collar for a while image by dexterpops02, on Flickr He didn't love it but he tolerated it well enough for our walks to be manageable ,when he pulled ,it lowers his head and the pulling stopped....we moved on from this to the front fastening harness ,all the while using the clicker to reward the correct position ....I'm not bothered about being right by my leg as long as the lead is loose. Point to mention is,when we walk alone,Dexter is pretty much great!there will be the odd lunge to a cat/dog/ smell occasionally .I still find it hard to walk on lead with friends,Dexter pulls again in company and I've not worked on this as well as I should ,probably because it doesn't happen that much for us,we are usually off lead in company but I think you are right,they do feed off each other's energy and I think there is also an element of one of them wanting to always be ahead....my friend mentioned that once.Very good luck with this,you can fix it but I found it a challenge for sure x
Re: Walking Bruno Thank you all for your valuable inputs . Yes it is a uphill battle really , fighting against time and 2 dogs , Simba is a gentle leader or halti type head collars. It was good this morning , I had to carry some roast chicken to make them come towards me . I agree that a short leash will not help in teaching a loose leash . I shall try to do some loose leash , but bruno just goes off like a rocket , especially around grass or some long grown grass or some paper or something shining on the ground or .... ok basically anything But as i said today was good , but now it makes me think cause it make sense that short leash wont teach them loose leash .I wub happy if hes like Simba who walks ahead and doesnt pull in lets go anything if asked to . Will try the harnesses perhaps . Will keep u guys posted , Thank you again for your thoughts. Cheers
Re: Walking Bruno [quote author=buzzvishwanath link=topic=6410.msg85351#msg85351 date=1401933750] but bruno just goes off like a rocket , especially around long grown grass or some paper or something shining on the ground or .... ok basically anything [/quote] ..or a leaf,or a carrier bag,or a water bottle ,or a bird,or an elastic band ;D ;D ;D How old is he now?Dexter grew out of it all and Bruno will get better.Dexter was on his lead this morning and flushed a bird out of a bush while his nose was down hunting something else ....he didn't even look at it!there was a time when I would have just been a pair of legs and bright pink trainers sticking up in the air ;D Let's us know how you go,roast chicken is a great motivator!
Re: Walking Bruno Hes 6.5 months old . I did a individual walk sessions with both of them after work . Bruno was like a perfect show dog , no pulls no jumps . Simba was ok as well but not as good as Bruno Both were well behaved . So i have some hope : Cheers
Re: Walking Bruno [quote author=Oberon link=topic=6410.msg85453#msg85453 date=1401966007] Well done, that's fantastic [/quote] Thank you all , I dont know how i would have survived without you guys 8)
Re: Walking Bruno Lovely you could enjoy walking them rather than just survive walking them You ve got a good start point there,they just need to stop egging each other on ;D
