nicole89

Thanks for the replies i think its definitely my fault. i stopped with clicker and treats, almost by accident cause i didn't buy her treats for a couple of weeks and got lazy and fell out of routine. Also when i was feeding her treats on the walks id come back with red fingers from her chomping them out of my hand so hard ( she wasnt starving either) so that may have turned me off also so i switched to just "good girl" and thought the walk was self rewarding. Anyway i guess I'm going back with clicker n treats. i better get myself a treat pouch for my waist.

Hi again Its 3 weeks later and I've reduced the leash walks to 15 mins, 7 mins one way 7 mins back and my pup is showing me she can easily handle it. My partner comes with us and she loves walks so much now and is almost overly confident when we are all together. Her training goes out the window, she veers left right and will wrap me in the leash. I shorten it, and she pulls like a bull. I am tolerating her walking ahead and sniffing but just not tolerating pulling and veering all over the place. So when she pulls I stop in my tracks and wait for a loose leash and will then continue. Most of the time she has no idea what's going on and will just continue charging ahead. For her age she has a very strong pull and she is going to be 3 times this size in the future with a much stronger pull. If i walk her by myself without my partner, she is very reluctant to go ahead, and if he walks her without me, its the same. She knows there's someone missing. Why is she gluey to us? She does not seem to be learning or responding and linking pulling with stopping. I never knew loose leash walking would be this hard. I don't want to accept a crazy pulling dog. I've worked at a boarding kennel in the past and 90% of the dogs had no leash manners and would take you for a walk , it was not enjoyable for either of us! Is there anything else i can do that will work? Am i doing something majorly wrong? Thankyou for any comments or suggestions :-)

Thankyou everyone for your replies, I'm glad i posted here because i was unsure and did not want to carry on further if i was doing something wrong. I will not be taking her for walks like that again, ill keep them very short until she gets older. Her other training sessions i kept very short 5 mins and made them heaps of fun so dont worry her whole life isn't stressful! Just didn't kno about the walking. i know running a lot is a big no no for pups with their developing joints n muscles. Thankyou again ill also relax on the eye contact n sniffing, i read a book that said to reward for that but as yous say, walks should be relaxing and fun.

Hi, I have a 15 week old german shepherd pup. My partner and I have had her since 8 Wks old. We began loose leash walks at 8 wks old by walking her around our property and to the end of our driveway and back. I am using small frankfurt slices to treat her as she walks by my left side and gives me eye contact. I have also been using a clicker..This was working pretty well. For a while now i have been taking her for longer walks however she does not seem ti be enjoying them very much anymore..I live on 200acres n there is heaps of forest trails to walk on. I usually keep the walj about 30 mins long or so. The past 10 or so walks i take her by myself and my partner stays home because 2 people seem to be too distracting. Now on the way she lags behind, scratches at my legs and shows no enthusiasm to move forward . I continue treating when she heels. I take her to a creek where i let her run thru the shallow water for a bit of fun n she finds it ok but is very anxious and nervous still. When we start walking home she tries to lead the way and pulls on the leash and cant wait to get home. I .tell my partner to totally ignore her when she gets back so there is no reward for pulling to rush home. So this has been going on for a while yet she still hates walks. What have i done wrong? How do i get her to like venturing new places? Its a bit upsetting for me as i love walking but its not enjoyable if she hates it. Any advice? Am i teaching loose leash walking totally wrong ? Also when she charges ahead, I've tried changing direction over abd over but she still ends up pulling when i go forward again. thanks for any help. Ps I'm after constructive criticism, not abuse. Thanks :)