How Do You Walk Your Dog?

[W Sibs]

Ours all walk beside me, Cesar Milan style. They aren't allowed to pull/sniff/mark. I stop in two places on the walk to let them wee. It's all a bit military style, but our pack was out of control and it took quite stringent rules to get them into line.

Same.

[Simply Grand]

Why do you have two logins Aidan? That's just confusing..

It's stupid, but I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong with my password on my laptop. I made both logins substantially similar, no deception. Although if I ever say anything really stupid I'll blame it on the other Aidan.

I'm glad you asked that BM, I've been wondering

[Jetty]

Our dogs pull and drag me along :rolleyes:

Jet's actually really good at walking ahead but not pulling when we are alone but when I add Jessie to the walk it can get a bit hectic. I am starting to teach Jessie how to walk loosly. She is 9 years old so it seems to take a bit longer than it does with Jet.

[huski]

I don't care where my dogs walk as long as they aren't pulling. I don't mind if they sniff (I do own a scent hound after all) but I also expect that when I give a command (i.e. look or heel) that they will comply. I also don't like excessive marking and when I stop or say wait or hold the leash tight I expect them to stop and wait for my ok to continue.

[Trisven13]

I don't care where my dogs walk as long as they aren't pulling. I don't mind if they sniff (I do own a scent hound after all) but I also expect that when I give a command (i.e. look or heel) that they will comply. I also don't like excessive marking and when I stop or say wait or hold the leash tight I expect them to stop and wait for my ok to continue.

Yeah this is me too.

If they start to pull they are corrected and they then settle back. If they pull for a while they are kept on a short loose lead which they don't enjoy at all.

They know the commands "wait" and "okay' for when we're walking and that is all I've taught them at the moment but it seems to be enough. "Wait" has been a very important one, particularly for when I'm picking up poo :rolleyes:

[wuffles]

I don't care where my dogs walk as long as they aren't pulling. I don't mind if they sniff (I do own a scent hound after all) but I also expect that when I give a command (i.e. look or heel) that they will comply. I also don't like excessive marking and when I stop or say wait or hold the leash tight I expect them to stop and wait for my ok to continue.

Same :rolleyes: I like my dogs to enjoy their walks, which they don't seem to do if I am too tough with them. However, I also like to enjoy my walks, so no pulling, even if they are out in front.

[mish13]

Ours all walk beside me, Cesar Milan style. They aren't allowed to pull/sniff/mark. I stop in two places on the walk to let them wee. It's all a bit military style, but our pack was out of control and it took quite stringent rules to get them into line.

I am like you, I walk 4 dogs by myself so they have to stay beside me at all times. My pack was also out of control so I have tried to follow Cesar's rule that says I am the pack leader and they cant pass me. I walk the two big ones on one lead on my left and the two little dogs together on my right. I only have to manage two leads and have also managed to run occasionally and they will all stay in that position.

It has helped me heaps to work my way back up to the top of the ladder

[Black Bronson]

Aidan, that video just seems like a food lure and essentially, the dog's all over the place, lunging at the camera man etc etc. I don't really understand what is being taught in relation to loose leash walking???

I don't see any examples of food being deliberately used as a lure (although she does become interested in the food in my hand at times), but I do see change in the dog's behaviour. At the beginning she doesn't have much clue about where she should be, at the end she has a very good idea. The response I was looking for was being increased through +R, i.e we got more of the response we were reinforcing. Every time she got to the end of the leash she brought herself back. In the early stages I don't really care where they are so much so long as they learn very strongly to come back from a tight leash without thinking about it. Believe me, Tess had had no shortage of more traditional training before this.

This is Tess' third 10 minute session. The camera person has a small dog, Tess is dog aggressive and has picked up and shaken a small dog before. She actually looks pretty happy to see the dog in this clip, not threatened at all - and why would she? It's a positive, non-threatening environment with only good outcomes. Pavlov is always on your shoulder.

What you need to take note of is what exactly is the dog doing at the time of the click? At first it looks like I'm teaching her to sniff the ground! She figures out pretty quickly I'm clicking for something else. She starts to prance there for a bit, so I click when her feet hit the ground. If you're not paying attention it looks like I'm rewarding her for prancing, but the clicker makes it very clear to Tess, it happened precisely when her feet hit the ground. I click for her head in all sorts of positions, she gets clicked for eye contact a lot, but I also deliberately click when she's in position but not looking at me. This is not heeling, after all. I also click before she hits the end of the leash at one point, probably looks like I'm reinforcing lunging but again, you have to take a snapshot of exactly what happens at the time of the click. It can be hard to get your head around at first, and I'm sure even a lot of clicker trainers will have questions about what I'm doing here (and maybe they would be right, too, I think I make a lot of mistakes in the clip).

In the last few classes we had Tess was walking on a loose leash past other (reactive) dogs in close proximity. We also had her heeling around other dogs dragging a long line. It's probably not something you are used to seeing and early on, as you point out, it looks like she is all over the place. How long is the clip, a couple of minutes? And does she look the same at the end as in the beginning? If you'd seen her on a check chain you'd think even the first 10 seconds was an improvement Admittedly, despite all the classes, her owner was not competent with a check chain but the point is she became competent with my method very quickly and her dog started to enjoy being good.

Thanks for the explanation Aidan, I understand what you are doing now. Personally, I would be confident to say the behaviour could be easily fixed on a prong collar in about 20 minutes, but having not seen the dog and the extent of the behaviour as you have, it's hard to see in short video. Ultimately, if she is working out and behaviour improved, you have done a good job

Edited May 13, 2010 by Black Bronson

[Nekhbet]

No dog I have on a lead is ever allowed to be in front. I do have a 'go' command which means go sniff, and a pee command. How can your dog follow if it is out ahead of you? It cannot. You cannot control it effectively nor have it paying attention to what you are doing.

No pull harnesses on an Akita are as effective as a mild breeze. If you're dog is weaving, it is tracking and highly distracted which leads to excitement. I would get a check chain, when your dog shoots ahead do a 180 degree turn, let the dog self correct then call the dog to follow, reward highly for coming to your side. If it shoots ahead again repeat. YOU set the pace, not the dog. Praise the dog for giving you focus, loose leash and staying by your side. They learn very quickly and focus becomes natural, not an exercise you have to work on separately.

[huski]

No dog I have on a lead is ever allowed to be in front. I do have a 'go' command which means go sniff, and a pee command. How can your dog follow if it is out ahead of you? It cannot. You cannot control it effectively nor have it paying attention to what you are doing.

My dogs don't walk far in front of me, and they stop when I stop, look to me for direction, respond if I call them into heel position or ask them to 'look'. I have no desire to be so strict on my walks that they must walk precisely by my side the entire time, and owning a scent hound, putting her nose down for a sniff is a default instinct - who cares if she sniffs when she's a on walk, as long as she is not pulling and listens to me when I ask her to? My dogs aren't stupid, they are able to remain responsive whilst walking a little bit in front of me.

Edited May 13, 2010 by huski

[Black Bronson]

No dog I have on a lead is ever allowed to be in front. I do have a 'go' command which means go sniff, and a pee command. How can your dog follow if it is out ahead of you? It cannot. You cannot control it effectively nor have it paying attention to what you are doing.

My dogs don't walk far in front of me, and they stop when I stop, look to me for direction, respond if I call them into heel position or ask them to 'look'. I have no desire to be so strict on my walks that they must walk precisely by my side the entire time, and owning a scent hound, putting her nose down for a sniff is a default instinct - who cares if she sniffs when she's a on walk, as long as she is not pulling and listens to me when I ask her to? My dogs aren't stupid, they are able to remain responsive whilst walking a little bit in front of me.

Obviously Nekhbet has high drive powerful working dogs which are a different ball game Huski for the requirement of strictness. It doesn't take a lot of mis-focus to end up on your bum and the dog dragging you down the path if you get it wrong. Strong working dogs need strict obedience with a handler that has full control at all times. You can't afford to have these types of dogs doing their own thing........they must obey and behave

[huski]

I just don't see how dogs being in front of you mean you have no or little control, I can think of plenty of instances where working dogs need to be in front - sled dogs, tracking/SAR dogs, police dogs, PP dogs would all work in front of the handler at some stage but the handler still has control.

[Kavik]

I don't mind where my dogs walk as long as they don't pull. I prefer either beside me or ahead of me, easier to see what they are doing, watch their body language etc. If there are other people or dogs coming past I have them beside me.

[KumaAkita]

Thanks everyone.

I've been practicing the "Cesar Millan" style... my hubby can get him to do that no worries. I find he gets really aggravated if he's in at heel the whole time. This morning it was like I was walking another dog. He stayed loosely at my side, and only pulled when we saw another human in the distance. Managed to get him to stop pulling at that time.

Here's hoping it continues tomorrow! We start the next lot of puppy classes on Sunday, so I'm sure that will help.

He experienced the first frost of the winter yesterday, so that was an interesting time. He was so confused as to what this white stuff was, he didn't quite know where to pee! God help him in the dead of a Canberra winter!!

Right now he's snoring away at my feet. So cute, you want to snuggle in next to him!

[Aidan]

Obviously Nekhbet has high drive powerful working dogs which are a different ball game Huski for the requirement of strictness.

So do I. I see what Nekhbet is saying but it depends on a lot more than just where they walk. Some people and dog combinations will do better with this style though.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Aidan

[Diva]

Mine walk next to me on the left side when on footpaths or the road, and anywhere they like as long as they aren't pulling in the parks and open areas. It's just logistics for me, two Borzoi in front on a footpath I find too hard to manage, they are too big for me to get comfortable with it. They have no trouble understanding the different expectations at different parts of the walk.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Diva

[corvus]

How can your dog follow if it is out ahead of you?

Verbal directions? I talk to mine all the time. This way, come on, quick, this side, stop, wait, hold up, hang about, leave it, no playing on leash!, cross the road.... I didn't even reward most of it. Some of it has translated moderately to off leash walking as well, that which is useful. It's not bomb proof by any means and it all disappears if a cat runs past, but then we have other things for those situations that do work.

[Black Bronson]

I just don't see how dogs being in front of you mean you have no or little control, I can think of plenty of instances where working dogs need to be in front - sled dogs, tracking/SAR dogs, police dogs, PP dogs would all work in front of the handler at some stage but the handler still has control.

Walking by your side is achieved in the leash training process and the dog learns to walk that way with handler focus. When training them to walk on leash, they get out in front and loose focus upon the handler is when they bolt towards a distraction. Walking in front is more a freestyle walk with too much temptation for the dog to focus upon things it shouldn't. Leash trained in this fashion, the dog walks with you at all times. If you stop, slow down, speed up, run, change direction, the dog does the same on or off leash. A 7 month old working dog, GSD, Malinios of high drive are extremely strong and a sudden bolt doesn't make for pleasant walks.........I have the scars from early mishaps

[huski]

BB I understand being stricter with dogs who are pushier or more dominant or a dog you are having problems with but Nekhbets post was referring to dogs in general. She said if you don't have your dog by your side you have little or not control at all, I was simply pointing out IMO that is not always the case.

If I want 110% focus and precision I will call my dog into heel position. I have no desire to have her walk like that all the time.

[Kavik]

If I want 110% focus and precision I will call my dog into heel position. I have no desire to have her walk like that all the time.