Puppy Always Pulling

[yyyenn]

Hi all,

I have a 12 week old puppy and I'm leash training her now. I've been doing it for a week now and it seems like she's not improving....

She pulls forward all the time and I've tried what people say how you stop and give her treats when she comes back to you but she doesn't want to eat the treats as she is always too excited with her surroundings (she quickly sniff them for 0.5secs and goes back pulling). I've used her favourite treat.

Or if she eats the treat (rarely), it seems like she gets it for the first 5 mins and goes back to pulling and leading the walk and not interested in them anymore. Especially when she sees people, she just wants them to pat her and goes towards them (she is very socialise which is great, but the pulling is not good).

I also tried stopping and only moving when she comes back and the leash becomes loose but it's not working either. I'm scared she is going to be 'wild' whenever we go out for a walk because she is always too excited which can be quite dangerous as there are cars and I also don't want to pull her all the time when I stop.

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong and any advice would be appreciated! I want both of us to enjoy our walk together :)

Thank you!!

[persephone]

Only a week , and she is 12 weeks old ? ;)

leash training ideally starts as soon as a puppy comes home :) Walk around the house /yard until all is happy and relaxed, THEN take it to the streets .

think of as a young learner driver - at age 16 they are put in a car and told to drive to the VIC market .

Much preparation and learning needs doing first :)

have a read here , and def. book in for classes :)

LINK

LINK

LINK

LINK

Edited July 13, 2016 by persephone

[Papillon Kisses]

What treats are you using? You might need to use something much higher in value like hotdogs, liverwurst, cheese, BBQ chicken, sausages (check ingredients). My dog likes kanga bangers (kangaroo sausages) chopped up into tiny cubes, they are really stinky. Dogs like stinky. :laugh: And make sure your puppy isn't too full from meals.

Also try getting the loose leash walking happening in a less distracting environment first like inside the house or in your on backyard. At the moment pulling towards what's exciting in his environment is just so much more rewarding than the treats you've got on offer.

I hear you though. I got my dog as an adult and had a lot of trouble with loose leash walking. He would ignore all treats and 'be a tree' and crazy walking did absolutely nothing. He only walked nicely sandwiched between two people. In his case it was partly because he was very anxious, and we needed to get his anxiety down and trial some different equipment. But that's another kettle of fish.

Good luck!

[persephone]

oh - also this pup is under a roof for about 80% of its day - of COURSE it will get excited when outdoors - where all of a sudden it can smell and see and feel the world ;)

A balcony is no substitute for the sensory information available in a backyard/on a walk ...

What training do you do apart from walks?

I think pup would greatly benefit from trick/obedience type stuff done inside - a few sessions each day - just 5 minutes each :)

This can also be done on common ground in your housing development .. no need to walk every time you step out the building .- sit & watch the world -

Also , make sure she has interactive toys - ones that release food/make noise/can be chewed - so she has something on which to use her brain .

All young things need to continually see/feel/do different things to get skills for life :)

Edited July 13, 2016 by persephone

[yyyenn]

Only a week , and she is 12 weeks old ? ;)

leash training ideally starts as soon as a puppy comes home :) Walk around the house /yard until all is happy and relaxed, THEN take it to the streets .

think of as a young learner driver - at age 16 they are put in a car and told to drive to the VIC market .

Much preparation and learning needs doing first :)

have a read here , and def. book in for classes :)

LINK

LINK

LINK

LINK

Thank you so much for the link!

I take her out to our apartment backyard first and then take her outside and she is very excited, I guess because there are more grass and people on the outside world.

I did do a bit of leash training when she was 9 weeks old but it wasn't much, I should've done more

She is going to class next week so we are all excited! :)

[yyyenn]

What treats are you using? You might need to use something much higher in value like hotdogs, liverwurst, cheese, BBQ chicken, sausages (check ingredients). My dog likes kanga bangers (kangaroo sausages) chopped up into tiny cubes, they are really stinky. Dogs like stinky. :laugh: And make sure your puppy isn't too full from meals.

Also try getting the loose leash walking happening in a less distracting environment first like inside the house or in your on backyard. At the moment pulling towards what's exciting in his environment is just so much more rewarding than the treats you've got on offer.

I hear you though. I got my dog as an adult and had a lot of trouble with loose leash walking. He would ignore all treats and 'be a tree' and crazy walking did absolutely nothing. He only walked nicely sandwiched between two people. In his case it was partly because he was very anxious, and we needed to get his anxiety down and trial some different equipment. But that's another kettle of fish.

Good luck!

I use boiled chicken or ham or turkey breast and cheese.

I might check out kanga bangers! thank you so much for the tip! :)

[yyyenn]

oh - also this pup is under a roof for about 80% of its day - of COURSE it will get excited when outdoors - where all of a sudden it can smell and see and feel the world ;)

A balcony is no substitute for the sensory information available in a backyard/on a walk ...

What training do you do apart from walks?

I think pup would greatly benefit from trick/obedience type stuff done inside - a few sessions each day - just 5 minutes each :)

This can also be done on common ground in your housing development .. no need to walk every time you step out the building .- sit & watch the world -

Also , make sure she has interactive toys - ones that release food/make noise/can be chewed - so she has something on which to use her brain .

All young things need to continually see/feel/do different things to get skills for life :)

We do the basic 'sit', 'hand', 'down' and 'stay'. We do it 3-4 times a day for around 3-5 mins. Is that enough?

Yep, she's got the kong and we put treats inside; she loves that!

We also have the stufless toy that squeaks, small kong tennis ball and a rope toy.

We also just recently got a snuffle mat for her and she is loving it!!!

Should we have anything else? :)

Thank you so much for all of your help!!!

[Dogsfevr]

What are you doing wrong .

Keep in mind you have a spitz breed that can be independent & not always switched on for success like other breeds ,that doesn't mean there stupid but what makes them work may not be what fits other breeds .

Does your pup still sniff alot

The world is more interesting than you when outside,chances are you repeat the same thing over and over again without the dog actually doing the exercise or responding ,it gets rewarded with a treat for pulling & then goes on doing it again .So if your going to treat then it needs to be done during leash training & focus on you & it doesn't have to be food all the time,a fav toy .Food wise for my show dogs i use anything that s not noraml fish fingers ,i have dogs that go mental for bread anything that is exciting but first off voice is there .

When pup is in the house does it listen to your voice or more interested in other things

People often talk & waffle to the dog until it switches off from what you want & looks at whats more fun .

12 weeks is an easy age to lead train but you are in charge of the machine ,you are the operator so you need to make walking fun ^ pup needs to work for it .

My large breed show puppies don't get treated for just walking ,i will use my voice over food any day & i will make being out with me on lead the focus of my voice .I will talk & encourage ,i wll just stop using my voice to tell them how awesome they are .They love the fact that my voice & reward pleases me & they love the world but adore my direction .

I don't let my dogs stop & talk to people on walks,walks is for walking.If i wont people to interact then that is done at a different time .

Edited July 13, 2016 by showdog

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

We do the basic 'sit', 'hand', 'down' and 'stay'. We do it 3-4 times a day for around 3-5 mins. Is that enough?

Is probably more than enough - I would do 2 minutes sessions with play between. Fast and exciting.

But if basic sit / stay etc is easy - start making it a little bit more difficult - by adding distractions. Can your dog respond to cues if you're sitting too? What if you're standing on a chair? Or hiding behind the chair? What if there is a balloon over there? Or ball? Or bowl of food (maybe with a lid on first few times).

I'd also want to increase the number of tricks as the puppy becomes really good at the basics (with distractions)... can you fake the dog into breaking the stay... fun game... but keep it short short.

collar grab and its yer choice are two games I'd add. And "Give" and "geddit" and a release word ie "stay" needs "go" as well.

And maybe crate games.

For loose lead walking - really important to not go forward when the dog pulls and probably best to wait standing still until the puppy is calm enough to pay attention to you and eat something really yummy (but tiny) or play a very quick game of tug.

I've just had a fun week training a terrier puppy that has not had any rules applied while out walking... freight train puller - fortunately only 7kg. Hey sled dog - whatcha doing? Cos I'm not moving until you calm down.

With my dog - she has to do a nice calm sit at the door - at the moment - she likes going for a walk but hasn't quite grasped she's not getting out the door until I put the collar and lead on... but she does know once that's sorted she has to hold a calm sit at the front door until I say "go". If she moves her butt or hackles up or barks before I get the door open - I shut the door and we start over. If she hackles up or starts barking or pulling after we get outside - we go back inside until she calms down.

With a puppy - 10 minutes of this will be worth 30 minutes of the old style sled dog walk because it really works the brain. And it will not take more than a couple of days for most dogs (even puppies) to figure out what they need to do to get to the good stuff. Before this - you've been rewarding the pulling (makes pulling more) by going on with the walk anyway.

for a 12 week old puppy - rule of thumb is about five mins of exercise for each month of age - so you probably don't need to do more than 15 minutes at this age. And you can break the door games up into 2 minute sessions... ie ask for the nice calm sit, go out (no pulling) come back in, play tug/give/geddit etc.