Teenage Dogs & Loose-leash Walking

[nanna]

I'm a big fan of the articles/resources available on the Clicker Solutions site, and have used the tips in this article on loose-leash walking when training my own dog, Shiva.

I thought the explanations and strategies for the different development phases were really useful, but am interested in what others think about this statement from the article...

If you have an adolescent dog, you must have a place where they can exercise themselves. A walk at human speed ain't gonna cut, and you're going to fight a losing battle against a pulling dog. Expecting an adolescent dog to pay attention and walk nicely BEFORE he has had a chance to work off some of his energy is setting you both up for failure.

Certainly with my teenage kelpie I have felt at times that I'm fighting a losing battle in teaching loose-lead walking (using the "be a tree" method). Even though I'm pretty sure she knows what I want her to do, sometimes it seems like she just can't contain her excitement and energy

For others with teenage dogs (or who have been through the teenage phase with their dogs), what are your thoughts? How did you manage loose-lead walking, and does anyone have any suggestions for how to work off some energy before-hand (without letting her off-lead)?

[poodlefan]

I see the exercise as a potentially double edged sword. What might tire some dogs out can also serve to arouse others..

However, no matter what your dog's state of mind, it should be able to walk on a loose lead.

[TangerineDream]

I walk Tango on a 10' lead made from a lunge line. We do some intensive heel work from the moment we are out the front door all the way up the street (he's 2 years and 9 mos btw) - lots of about turns, both left and right, sits, downs, stands, stays etc..when he's completely focussed on me I let him wander at will with the proviso 'don't pull' - he understands this to mean don't go to the end of the lead so far that it tightens....he's actually able to work out exactly how far he can be from me..... If I don't start the walk with the obedience and focussing exercises, 'don't pull' doesn't work....

efs

Edited June 12, 2008 by TangerineDream

[dee lee]

Nanna, my 18 mo staffy kelpie x has attitude and energy to burn and also has fear aggression issues, so like it or not she is stuck on the end of a leash.

Its not my preferred situation but she gets a jog with my OH a couple of times a week and an hour walk with me the other days. She copes fine= she has no choice.

Being young and silly she has been a huge pain in the butt on leash but she is making tiny improvements and after many many months she will wont "pull", just walk faster til she feels resistance then comes back "here" to me (while Im being a tree! ) .

Dont ask about when there is a cat or dog around though! :D

Oh actually one thing I have found helped immensely lately has been the "here" command. When she gets ahead of me (im pretty strict) I stop let the leash go taut and while pointing to my knee direct her "here" . The visual cue just seems to have been the trigger. I have got a lot to learn!

If you need some loose lead walking tips I posted a thread on it some months back- just search under pulling on leash and my name.

Good luck!

[nanna]

Thanks for your replies and advice.

This morning I took Shiva over to the school car park near my house and did a bit of focus work (with lots of changes of directions) as 'TangerineDream' suggested. This seemed to work well and I can see how it takes the edge off their initial excitement as they need to concentrate on you and get into 'work' mode.

I'm going to look at purchasing a longer lead and keep doing the same focus work for 10 or so minutes before each walk. I'll let you know how it goes....