Cazza

Thanks TD. I discovered what works is to use a closed fist instead of open fingers. If I have open fingers, he wants to lick. A closed fist and he'll touch with his nose. Now on to targetting objects...

Shadow's pretty good at catching food thrown straight at him, even the teeny little morsels that the IAMS puppy food comes in! Guess I'll move to a cue word and toys soon

I use a squeaky toy when I'm on a walk & there's a really strong distraction. Sometimes a soft squeeze is enough to get his attention, sometimes it needs a really hard press. The noise gets him to turn his head to me, then I click. Then he comes to me for a treat.

Wow. This has been really interesting and informative. It's good to know that what matters most is how your dog reacts to the food. I think that no matter what kind of kibble we give him, we aren't going to stop with the chicken bones - he has really nice white teeth.

I've got this problem right now. I'm trying to get him to keep his mouth closed, but even with my fingers 5cm away he wants to lick instead. Any tips?

Thanks for all the info. I guess we'll see how much difference the premium food makes in few weeks . I thought it was funny looking at the expression on her face when I told the rep that Shadow got ham on walks. He loves it and dry food - not even liver snacks - doesn't even register on his dial on a walk. The rep was appalled as she believes that kibble is all a dog needs. Just as well I didn't mention he gets 2 chicken wings per day plus a bone or peanut butter-stuffed kong!

We went to Petbarn yesterday, to buy a big kong. It was fun looking at all the things they have - I didn't realise it would be so big! While we were there, we thought we'd get more dog food. We were thinking about getting some SuperCoat for Shadow, when a lady who was a rep for IAM convinced us to try IAM as they were having a two-for-one offer. In her spiel, she said that premium dog foods (eukanuba, science diet, IAM), are better than "supermarket" food and will make dogs have better poo. Is that true? What's the difference between all the brands?

Before the dog trainer set us on a one-month no-free-food policy, we were feeding him once a day, at dinner. He still gets the bones or a kong to chew on during the day while we're out.

Thanks for the fast replies!

I've been searching here on "walking on loose lead" and quite often the phrase "this is not the same as heeling" comes up. What does "heel" mean?

This is not an insult to you, it's merely a point. You haven't developed an effective technique yet. When you do, you're dog will know that pulling is no longer an option Well yeah, I kind of worked that out... Being a first-time dog owner & being unable to get into obedience classes until next year I'd appreciate some tips in how to get a better technique.

So what do you all think would be a good method for me to teach my dog how to walk on a loose lead, given he is already 10 months old and quite strong. Giving the lead a yank and an 'ah ah' when he walks too fast isn't working for me - I'm just getting a sore arm!