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Walks and Jumping

3K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Freyja 
#1 · (Edited)
So my pup is almost 20 weeks old. I took her to the park a lot before all her shots and let her get away with a little too much pulling since it was so open(most the time I'd just let her run off leash)

On short walks in the neighborhood she pulls. Should I just keep turning around to walk the other direction and praising/treats when she follows? When I do this we just keep having to turn the opposite way and eventually she just lays down in someones yard and can't get her to move at all! FWIW sometimes when she pulls I will also just stand in place coaxing her back to me to sit for a treat, but that is working less and less at the moment.

Besides treats any tips to motivate her to keep walking when she does just stop?

I also can't get her to stop jumping when she meets people. She does well when I take her to stores like lowes, doesn't really pull and will keep walking past people until they ask to pet her. Usually after some jumps she will sit/down. Also teaching "calm", but I can't stop the initial jumping.
 
#2 ·
This is a common problem that everyone goes through. Do you have a good trainer? (NOT Petco or Petsmart). Work on the heel command, dont feed her before her walks ever. (Bad for the stomach and bad for motivation). Ration out half her food for the walks or at home time and work on the "heel" command. I would recommend a Herm Sprenger prong collar, but it's advised to be used when the pup is at least 6 months old.
 
#6 ·
I do, but probably won't be going back for the next set of classes for another month or two. In the house/backyard I work on heel as walking right on my side. Typing this I'm realizing I need to take a step back, and on walks say heel as soon as I turn and not give her the chance to make the leash tight. The trainer did talk about the benefits to a prong at that age. I will work on heel a lot and see what happens with the classes.

You can be prepared for the initial jump and pop the leash down and sideways or just step on it.For pulling,standing still will work if you keep at it.No forward movement EVER if the leash tightens.She's gotten away with it for quite awhile so it won't be a quick fix.
I will try to anticipate the first jump better. So if she is pulling and I stop, once she sits down is when I continue walking?
 
#3 ·
We utilised a front clip harness for Rollo. So if he pulled, he would get dragged to the side which he HATED, so pulling = non existent now. A front clip harness in conjunction with obedience training/heeling works wonderfully if you're finding it difficult to address.
 
#4 ·
You can be prepared for the initial jump and pop the leash down and sideways or just step on it.For pulling,standing still will work if you keep at it.No forward movement EVER if the leash tightens.She's gotten away with it for quite awhile so it won't be a quick fix.
 
#8 ·
My boy is about 6.5 months, and on a flat collar my trainer has pretty much has us doing what dogma said. Brisk paced walk, a lot of change in direction! My boy was getting to used to our walking routine and he'd start to pull ahead. Now I just change directions a lot so he's not expecting what's going to happen and has to pay more attention to where I'm walking. It almost felt like a small work out for myself lol I started that about a month ago and his walking is considerably better. Now we can walk straight for awhile, but if he tightens the leash I stop every single time, now he'll just walk back to me refocus on me and I'll move forward again.
 
#10 ·
Also teaching "calm",
When your dog jumps on people, she simply wants them to be shorter - to have her head to be at the same level as theirs. Instead, there should be a ritual. Can you ask her to sit before the person came too close? Ask the person to squat before your dog? You shouldn't allow anyone to touch your dog if you didn't plan it, i.e. every case should be taken as a training session.
 
#12 ·
Personally, I would never ask a stranger to squat in from of my dog to make them face to face. That's asking for trouble.
That is what I do with many different dogs over years. You are training your dog to sit, to give paw and to receive a treat from the stranger. The person should not bend over the dog stretching his hand from above - never! That means attack, confrontation in a doggy language.
 
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