Loose leash walking

[blackcat]

Okay I have had all three of my dogs plus my brothers dog in enrolled at petsmart training classes for a combined total of 9 classes and I still can't get any of my dogs to walk on a loose leash. How do all of you do it? The method I learned is when the dog pulls I stand like a tree untill the dog comes back to my side then I start walking again. The other method I learned is when the dog starts to pull I give a pop on leash and stop untill the dog stops pulling and then I start walking again. I can do this for miles upon miles and the only thing I get from it is frustrated. When I'm in public the problem only gets worse. Can someone please tell me the real secret of the pros.

 

[houndlove]

This is a video that someone on Dogster made because it seemed like every third question on the training forum there was about loose leash walking (believe me, this is not a skill that many dogs pick up easily, you are not alone): http://www.dogster.com/video/418007/Loose_leash_walking

A lot of people have reported back that they've been really happy with the results of this method. Keep in mind that the dog she's using as her demo here is already trained, so she's demonstrating a couple weeks worth of training in just a couple minutes because her dog already knows the "game".

 

[adojrts]

One thing that I believe to be true, is that the handler must become ultra aware of the leash. For a dog to pull they have to have something to pull against. The handler is so use to hanging onto their dog with a tight leash, that they don't realize just how much they are holding their dog all the time.
Even when the dog is sitting quietly beside the handler, the handler often has a tight leash. The dogs don't pull us, we teach our dogs to pull (or someone has )
One of the most important parts of learning loose leash walking is to have a pair of eyes watching you. The more the handler is watched, the more a person can nicely point out that they are holding or pulling on their dog.
Absolutely when the slack is taken up, stop and bring the dog back to heel, go to a loose leash and then proceed. Tip: don't wait until your dog is already pulling at the end of a leash, stop and bring them back to heel when they start to move forward beyond the handlers leg. Of course very large dogs have huge strides and one stride can put them out in front of us, but try to 'catch' a dog before it gets to that point.

 

[Me and London]

what a great video!!

 

[smkie]

I do not like the video not one bit. I do not think obedience should ever require treats. I do not think that loose leash heeling requires prongs or chokes or yanks either. Just try this. Every dog i have done this with has figured it out quickly. TURn around every time the dog starts to pull. EVERY TIME. You will get a bit dizzy, but it WORKS! The first time is the hardest and it is all downhill after that. Even Victor got it in one lesson. At the pets for life party we had a contest where you had to hold an egg in a cat pooper scooper in your leash hand...as a relay race. I am speaking from expereince, THIS WORKS> What in the world do you do if your dog is not food motivated? Give up? Vic sure wouldn't have given a flying fiddler's fart for treats outdoors. If i relied on treats we wouldn't be able to do anything.

I like to walk figure 8's just for fun every once in a while, it is like dancing. Vic knows to be intune with each of my movements.

 

[Paige]

^That works and I have never taught a dog to heel. I had to use that method with my neighbors 100 pound lab. He nearly pulled me into a ditch. The three minute walk to his house he was walking on a loose lead.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I do not like the video not one bit. I do not think obedience should ever require treats.

No, obedience does not require treats. But good dog training does require some kind of reinforcement for good behavior. Even if that means that the choke (or whatever aversive) stops, that's still a reinforcement. You don't have to use treats to reward, you can use praise, petting, toys, chasing a bird, whatever your dog likes. If you use what your dog likes best, you will get a dog that loves working for you - my dog likes treats, I use treats. If your dog is crazy about toys, reward with toys, and he'll learn to love working for you. Right now I'm teaching my dog to bring me her water bowl when it's empty. What is my reward? A lot of praise and a bowl of water. There's pretty much no other time when a bowl of water is rewarding to her, but it works in this case.

 

[blackcat]

Okay I'm going to give it an hour with each one maybe longer maybe shorter depending on how the dog responds I'll report back on how it works. And I'd also like to add that I am very carfull about putting tension on the leash. I only do it when I am correcting but it seems to be all the time as Adi always has her nose on the ground. She knows leave it but I think I'll add work on that to her homework this week.

 

[blackcat]

Another question when I do the turn around method do I pull her to come along with me or do I just give her leash and turn and walk the other way?

 

[Zoom]

The method Smkie posted is the one I use and about the only thing that has begun to make a dent in Molly's head when it comes to loose lead walking. We're working on some clicker training to get her to keep in the sweet spot, but mostly it's just lots of circle circle circle circle and praise. For her, getting to go forward and outdoors is the best reward in the world. I use treats in most of my other training, but getting outdoors and going potty can be a massive reward as well.

Yes, when you turn bring the dog along with you and praise and/or treat when they have slack in the lead. When they start to pass you so the slack is taken up, that's when you turn around. As they start to get the hang of it, you can begin to turn quicker and quicker, so that when their shoulder gets ahead of you, you turn, so they learn to keep their eye on you and in position.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I only do it when I am correcting but it seems to be all the time as Adi always has her nose on the ground.

Yes, leave it is very good to practice, but remember that the walk should be for her enjoyment as well as yours. Dogs get the majority of their information from the environment through their sense of smell, and not allowing her to sniff the ground will make the walk much less enjoyable for her. At the same time, though, she does need to learn not to pull while she's sniffing, so make sure that she has enough leash for her nose to reach the ground, but not a whole lot more than that. For the pulling, you can also turn around but turn into your dog. So, if your dog is on the left, you turn to your left. This is very ackward at first, but once you both get the hang of it, I think this works much better to get your dog's attention.

 

[Zoom]

Set up designated "sniff spots" so that she will learn that if she walks nicely to a certain point, she can sniff all she wants. I've done with with dogs that were obessed with marking on a walk....they got a handful of public things to sniff and mark and then we were walking. When I started this one dog his mom said their walks took an hour because he would stop to mark 15+ times and she let him. I got us down to a very brisk 30 minute walk and 5 "mark spots"...he lost weight when I was walking him because we weren't ambling from bush to bush and stopping to pee all the time.

Translated that means make sniffing a reward for walking nicely and that it can be done.