siberian_wolf Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 After having some tips from Smeagle about my boys pulling I decided to give it a go and though you all may like to know how its going, so I thought I would use the idea Richard had when his giving up smoking and keep a diary type thing to keep you all updated. Name: Gizmo Age: nearly 13 months Positive word using: Good Gizmo Started: Monday 9th February 2009 Method: Staying in a calm, positive, dominant state of mind. Changing direction as soon as Gizmo pulls the lead tight and when he walks on a loose leash I give him his positive word "Good Gizmo" with fuss and treat. Date: Monday 9th February As I had to work all day Monday they only had 2 small walks. Went out for 10 mins in the morning and then about 30 mins in evening when I got home. Monday morning we never really went far and the whole 10 mins was taken up walking backwards and forwards past the house but for last few minutes Gizmo had started to walk a little further on a loose leash, already which was amazing as I wasn't expecting him to pick it up that soon! As I am mainly wanting just to walk on a loose leash at the moment, instead of next to me (Although that would be great) I am just rewarding him when he walks on the loose leash for now and get him doing that first and then I hope to expand it to him walking next to me (and the same for Marley and Bandit). When I got home that evening (about 6pm) I had my tea and then took Gizmo out again for about 30 mins. Again didn't really get very far but we got further than we did in the morning. Not much further but still I was amazed at how well he is picking it up. Still early days now but hopefully as long as I learn to control my emotions and not get too stressed out with them they will soon pick it up and we will be on pleasent walks soon. What I am also doing is when we are home with the dogs, if I get stressed or angry I am leaving the room and going to the spare bedroom, where the dogs don't go, until I feel calm again. I am hoping by doing this I will be reducing the stress in the home and helping my boys out by not showing that emotion to themn so they don't pick up on it! Date: Tuesday 10th February I had day off work today as we were going to visit my dad for a bit. As this was the case, I was able to take them out a little longer than when I have to work and they all had about 1hr and half each. So I took Gizmo out first and kept myself in the positive state of mind I needed. The first hour was taken up by walking backwards and forwards making about 1 meters progress, but better make some progress than none at all I kept thinking (However annoying it may have been). The last 30 mins were great! Each time I changed direction Gizmo would catch up and walk slightly in front but no pulls on the lead for longer than before (he was getting better, woohoo!!!). I was so proud of him and gave him fuss and tried to give him a treat but he didn't want one, offered it to him anyway. Then a few people were walking towards us and that took Gizmo's mind off it and he started to pull towards the people so intead of turning around and walking in front of them I crossed the road and walked him over there but he kept trying to pull accross the road to them. Instead of getting stressed out with him, like I normally would, I just ignored the people walking by and kept changing direction hoping it would help take Gizmo's mind off wanting to cross over to them. *soz gotta pause here, gotta shoot out quickly, will update when back* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 OMG SW, good on you, you sound like you are doing SO well already! I am so glad you are making great progress with Gizmo Sibes are very bright dogs so they pick things up pretty quickly! You are going to have three huskies walking on a loose leash in no time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Oh SW fantastic idea!! Things seem to be going great, keep it up and keep us posted!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Thanks guys, all makes it worth whiles hearing compliments Continuing from where I was to: Gizmo kept trying to cross the road as they were walking past but I still kept to it and they were soon out of sight again so he started to focus again, which was nice as he usually still tries when they are gone. Im so proud of the progress he has made in these very early days (and the same with Marley and Bandit) I bought them some fresh bones and chicken for their tea. Date: Wednesday 11th February As I stayed at dads tuesday night and was at dads most of the day, I didn't get much chance to do much training but Paul (Jamies dad) took them out in the morning and complemented how much better they were. He didn't do any training with them but said they were brilliant on the lead! They did pull him but he said Gizmo pulled very slightly and soon stopped! Fantastic I thought!!! I took them out later in the evening when I got home and they didn't pounce on me and jump around like they usually do before walks and they were sat down very calmly Took Gizmo out and there was no pulling towards the door and we made it around the small block. Still had to the chage of direction quite a few times but not as often as when we started! They are really starting to show how intelligent they can be when directed the right way. Although the small block usually takes around 5-10 mins to walk it did take 30 mins to walk Gizmo around it changing direction but the last time I only got part of the way around. I am going through treats like no tomorrow, but it's definately worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 awww well done sibewolf sounds gr8 keep at it n let us all no how its going i no wot u mean bout the treats lol blaze is alot more intrested if u give him treats rather than fuss lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Fantastic, let me know what treats you use and I will buy some shares lol lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistyrayn Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 well done sounds like you are doin great.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 Date: Thursday 12th February Today, we have made the decision of changing my boys to the BARF diet as they are showing no interest in food at all, so change of treats as well. Went to pets at home last night and bought some Natures Menu treats ( http://naturesmenu.co.uk/products/Real_Meat_Treats_for_Dogs/Real_Meat_Treats_for_Dogs/ ) in Chicken and beef flavour. Took Gizmo out for his walk yesterday morning and there were alot of school children about, which I used as an advantage in helping Gizmo to not try to say hello to everyone he sees and to concentrate on walking. As nearly every child that went past was like "Awww, is that a husky?" and then go to stroke him, it was difficult to just change direction as we were surrounded by children. So what I did was spoke to the children before they went over to Gizmo and said that he was training and not to go over to him if he pulls over to them and they are to ignore him and turn their back to him until he sits down calmly. Which they did and they were really helpful in doing this for me. and when the children had said hello to him and started walking of to school I would walk in the opposite direction with Gizmo and he was brilliant! He was happy with being petted and then carried on with his walk. Perfect! Im now going try and go out with Gizmo (Marley and Bandit) during this time when all the school children are about and focus on getting them to sit calmly before they get attention. I gave Gizmo his positive word and a treat when he sat down and then repeated this again when he stayed in a sit as the children petted him. Mid day, we had a plumber come over to the house (found out we need new tank), and usually they go absolutely crazy when someone comes to the house, which they did do but not so over powering as they usually are and soon calmed down! Fortuanetly for us, the plumber was a pupil who passed his bike test with us, so he knew how crazy they could be. Last night, I felt like crap and threw up everywhere (not that you wanted to know that) so I didn't take them out but jamie did. Considering Jamie said that it was a waste of time, he said he was suprised at how much better they were He said he didn't get any pulling and they were well behaved and not looking like hooligans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 That sucks that you have been sick SW I'm not sure how high your Sibes food drive is but I always find anything soft and smelly is great for training! I just bought a cheap and totally disgusting luncheon roll from the supermarket today, I don't know if you have them in the UK, but the dogs go wild for it. Cooked or roast chicken is good, as is sausage or kabana, cheese and any left over cooked meat you have in the fridge. I also make sure that the treats I use in training are treats that they get at no other time. Also, if you find their food drive decreasing, you can try skipping the meal before training so that they get really hungry. I feed my main meal in the morning and then train in the afternoon, and the dogs are nice and hungry by this time. However, if I wanted to increase food drive, I would skip the morning meal and keep them hungry until training time to increase their drive - or train in the morning before their meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 Thanks smeagle. They do like their ham. Im going to try and get a treat pouch today or I think we have something similar around the house so I can carry small chuncks of meat and ham with me but as we have just started the BARF diet I just got some of the Natures Menu treat for now until I can get down to the superstore and get some ham, etc to use. Plus our butcher feeds his dogs on the BARF diet and knows what they need so he said he will get together a recipie he uses for treats which will be nice. Marley and Bandit has a really high food drive not matter what (especially Marley) but I notice Gizmo has a high food drive but it does lower when we go on walks, especially if its buscuit treat but I tried the ones I bought, last night, this morning and he never refused one. They are 95% natural meat and are soft, not extremely smelly but there is a slight smell there (more than the buscuit treats). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leanne Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 Wow u are doin really well. i'm tryin the same sort of thing with my 2, my boy has caught on really well he walks next 2 me now, but my female is alot harder work she fights me all the way, she wont give in, everytime we go out its like a battle between us, i'm now using the gentle leader (what goes round the mouth) & it's workin really well she still pulls but nowhere as bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 13, 2009 Report Share Posted February 13, 2009 do u have a link for the gentle leader i could have a look at? as blaze is rly good with pullin on the lead now (ill update Blaze's progress thread soon) but when he sees another animal dog/cat/bird or people he pulls still n its hard to get him to stop thnx n keep up the gd wrk Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Date: Friday 13th February 13, never been a nice number for me and it still isnt! I think Gizmo had picked up on how nervous I get on Friday 13th as it didn't go so well today. Took about 20mins just to walk out of the driveway with no pulling. I felt myself getting angry with him so I took him back indoors and we had a break for about 30 mins and tried again. Still he was the same, kept lunging straight in front of me and pulling. I did try to keep myself calm but it was so difficult that I ended up just going back inside again, until I was in the right frame of mind. Took a long time but about 9pm I finally felt calmer (prob because the day was nearly over) so Jamie went out with Marley and Bandit as I wouldn't have had time to walk all 3. I went out with Gizmo again, and guess what, he was much better and I felt loads better. Just prooves that if your not in the right frame of mind, it definaetly affects your dog/s. Date: Saturday 14th February Had the morning of work, good job too as Jamie went and bought me chocolate (after we agreed we wouldnt buy any presents!) so I had to rush to the shops and find something for him. Walked all boys this morning. Took Gizmo out and had a few proplems to begin with as we would see some people come towards us and Gizmo would try to pull towards them so I crossed the road and then they would cross the road, how annoying that was! So I got Gizmo to sit and wait while they walked past and he was going really well until they said 'awwwww, he is so handsome!!!!' and then he turned around to them and tried to jump up at them. I tried to explain that I was training him not that they paid much attention as they still continued to stroke him even when he jumped at them (not good). I was close to yelling at them but I thought if I do that then Gizmo will pick up on it and it will be a repeat of yeterday (friday 13th). Instead, I just walked away and had to pull Gizmo away from them and continued with his walk. Once they had disappeared Gizmo would again start to concentrate on where we were going. Had a few slight pulls but nothing much and turned around as soon as he did pull and he stayed by my side for a little while and I gave him loads of praise and some treats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 awww well done sibe wolf i can imagin how annoyin those people were that annoys me 2 specially when u explain u r training them and they dont care GRRR keep up the good work tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Date: Sunday 15th February Went to the forest today. I think I may have ruined my chances of them not pulling by becoming more anxious when we got there, as they didn't really stop pulling! What didn't help was a group of people were walking thier dog (Female dog actually) and she was in heat! Uh oh! Both Gizmo and Bandit caught the smell and were straight onto it! Marley was a good boy but I think the smell of treats may have distracted him as he didn't seem interested. Luckily they didn't try to hump her (as we kept a distance between us and her) but they didn't want to leave her either! When that happened, that raised my anxiety level more as I didn't want them to try and hump her, even though they didnt, but everytime we tried to walk away Gizmo and Bandit would really put their heels down and pull the opposite way to try and stay there! We did eventually manage to get them to walk with us and leave her alone but Bandit did keep trying to go back to her, Gizmo started to carry on with us and Marley was still interested in the treat I had in my pocket. They all walked, with no pulling, for about 10 mins or so and I was really proud of them even though they did pull the rest of the way! Im hoping to find some methods to help me control my emotions as they do just suddenly change, but nothing is wrong mentally, apparently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 awww thats a shame but well done for the good ten minutes u got keep up the good work and keep us informed let me no if u find any methods as i feel that sumtimes i cud do wit tryin to calm myself down aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 SW, sorry if I have missed this, but what type of collar are you walking them on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Gizmo and Marley are both on just a normal collar (material not leather) and Bandit has got one like the matingale collar but the part which tightens and loosens is chain not material, if that makes sence. I thought of getting the slip collar (or choke chain) but if I can get them to walk nicely without having to do this would be nicer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 do u mean a half check chain which is half material with a chain bit on it? here a link to a picture ov 1 http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-2+dog/category-is-2d+collars+leads+and+tags/product-is-V00204/pgs-is-68 its not a very good picture but u get the idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 do u mean a half check chain which is half material with a chain bit on it? here a link to a picture ov 1 http://www.petsathome.com/find/category-is-2+dog/category-is-2d+collars+leads+and+tags/product-is-V00204/pgs-is-68 its not a very good picture but u get the idea Thats it, thanks Nix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 glad i could help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Date: Monday 16th Feb Much more pleasent walk today! Hardly any pulling at all, from all 3 of them. I am even noticing that they are getting calmer around the house too Gizmo usually pulls more at the beginning of his walk but he was much calmer today and walked out after me instead of before me, he did pull slightly but not excessively and soon stopped when I changed direction. We only met one person whilst out on a walk who was walking their spaniel and Gizmo did pull more then so I changed direction and when he was next to me I said "Good Gizmo" and turned back around to face the guy and spaniel again but I didn't walk towards him I just turned around to face them and then stopped and gave Gizmo the "Sit" command. He didn't sit right away and walked just infront of me and then sat down so I said "Good Gizmo" again and offered him a treat but he didn't want it so gave him some extra fuss. It was looking like he was going to stay sat down the whole time until the Spaniel had passed but as the spaniel stopped with the guy (The bloke wanted to give Giz some fuss), Gizmo stood up again. He never jumped up just got up to introduce himself to the spaniel (i.e. sniff the spniels bum and visa versa) so I asked the bloke not to fuss him yet until he was back in a sit, which he appreciated as he could see I was doing training with Gizmo. I let Gizmo and the spaniel say hello and then had Gizmo go into a sit again so the bloke could give him some fuss which did take a while but he still did it so he had fuss from the bloke and me. Had a compliment too from him He said Gizmo looked very well behaved and he had a Husky a few years ago and said Gizmo is loads better behaved than his was and his went to proper training school! That made Sunday seem like it never happened, which was nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 oh wow well done that sound so great its so nice to hear things like that i cnt w8 till sum1 compliments me on my walk bout blaze lol keep up the good wrk amy gizmo and marley and bandit :party: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siberian_wolf Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 oh wow well done that sound so great its so nice to hear things like that i cnt w8 till sum1 compliments me on my walk bout blaze lol keep up the good wrk amy gizmo and marley and bandit :party: You already have had a compliment, from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingBlaze n Skyla Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 nice to have ppl say it when ur out on a walk tho ill bet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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