[Cassidy's Mom]

This assumes that the dog cares whether or not the walk progresses forward. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep Shasta moving forward when she wants to pull to the side. When what she's interested in is to the side, stopping actually rewards the pulling behavior.

Try backing up instead of just stopping, whatever you need to do to get her even further away from where she wants to go. Over and over and over again until she's walking politely. If she wants to stop and sniff something off to the side, make her do something first and then give her permission by releasing her to check it out. I make my dogs sit and look at me, and then I say "okay, go sniff". I give them some extra leash and let them wander around a bit, and then say "let's go", and we begin walking again.

And as Ruthie said - constantly reinforce correct position.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

And would I just drag her then?

Yes! Gently though, no need to yank her off her feet, just stop walking forward and start backing up. I did this over and over and over with Halo, and it got to the point where she started coming back on her own because she knew it was going to happen anyway. I just decided what my criteria was (any part of her body from her head to about mid rib cage could be next to me, but as soon as her back leg was lined up with my leg, that was too far ahead), and I stuck to it. For a while we walked a lot without going much of anywhere, but it did eventually pay off.

In the meantime, around the house in a low distraction area I worked on the "silky leash" technique described on this site (there's video too): http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/leash-walking/

The walking backwards technique she refers to as the Canine Cha-cha. I also did what could be described as the wedding march - a single step forward, stop and sit (lure if necessary). "Let's go", and another single step forward, stop and sit. Over and over again. If she realizes that you're only going to talk one step and stop there's no reason for her to keep pulling ahead or anywhere else. This can take some time though, and is best practiced around the house without a lot of distractions. Graduate to two steps, stop and sit, three steps, stop and sit, then vary the number of steps. Work up to an automatic sit when you stop if that's what you want her to do (stop cuing it each time, simply wait for it then mark and reward) and cue her to start walking with you again. I also did the marking and rewarding for spontaeous eye contact, both around the house and on walks, as she describes.

These techniques WORK!

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Nor would she be interested in any treat I've tried, which is a variety of purchased treats, boiled chicken, cheddar cheese and freeze-dried liver.

Is she just too distracted out in the big wide world to care about treats, or is she not a good eater in general? If she's got a good appetite at home, use her kibble as training treats and set up a little time around meals to work on training. Get behaviors pretty solid before upping the distraction level - start by working in a different room in your house each day, try the garage if you've got one, and then the backyard, inside the house with the front door open, and then right outside your front door.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I agree with Amy, it will be easier to work with her around distractions after you've got a good foundation in a low distraction area. As you said - back to the basics. Silky Leash is designed to be done indoors, in a small room. Start there. Work on teaching her to relieve leash pressure rather than pulling into it.

With Dena, she was PERFECT at home, but I totally lost her when we tried going for a walk. I completely ceased to exist for her. That's when our trainer suggested the interim steps of inside the front door with the door open, and then once that was solid, just outside the door. It took awhile before I was able to actually walk her up and down the street with decent focus and polite leash skills, but it would have taken a lot longer if I hadn't built that foundation first.

That was 6 years ago, and MY skills are so much better now, which made it so much easier when I started working with Halo. I was super committed to teaching her to walk nicely on leash and I was armed with some great techniques that were very effective.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Paula, if you'd like a little inspiration, here's a video my sister did of me and Halo at the lake where I take her for training walks:

It's short, but you can see how nicely she walks with me. This took LOTS of patience, time, and practice, but we get compliments all the time now, and people often ask me how I taught her to do it.

I'll tell you a little secret: I've NEVER had a dog that walked anywhere near this good on leash before! Not even close. And LLW and heeling were without a doubt my worst skills. There are a few things that I'm pretty confident in my ability to train, but walking on leash has never been one of them. But I was bound and determined to teach Halo, and as you can see - it's possible if you set your mind to it.

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

I should also mention that the first time I took her there I parked on the street outside the entrance and it took at least 20 minutes to get her the half block from the car into the park. Back and forth and back and forth, stop if she pulls, turn around and go the other direction, back up and start over....... :hammer: