fiara Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 I have an 11 month energetic male husky puppy. I love him to bits but he is a notorious puller especially in the morning he will happily crawl down the pavement dragging you along than walk nicely. I have looked up countless methods to get him to walk beside me on a loose leash to no avail. Today I took him out for his evening walk using the method where if he pulls i turn around straight away and go in the opposite direction. He was happy to walk the same stretch of pavement about 3m long again and again and again, we didnt even make it to the dog park 5 minutes away. Every time he would just start walking in front and end up pulling forward again I'd turn around and he'd pull again it just wasn't sinking in for him and it frustrated me to the point of tears. The longest time i managed to get him to walk beside my was about 15 seconds, I praised him saying good boy and immediately he began to move in front again. I don't know how to stop this, my arms are killing, my shoulders are dead, can anyone help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 (edited) Hey there. I feel your pain, you're totally not the only one on this. So firstly, when you say you have looked up "countless methods", does it mean you tried all of them? Then that's probably why he's not learning. He needs one consistent method that gets enforced the exact same way each time. Secondly, have you tried a non-pull (front-leading) harness, semi-slips or any of those tools yet? Training is best, but a tool to fast-forward things never hurt either good luck! edit: I don't know how people feel about this but I actually don't praise for loose-leash walking. The dog is probably way too focused on that bush over there to notice anyway. Plus, when you sound excited, he'd pick up on that. Some trainings, IMHO, doesn't need verbal or edible rewards. The walk itself should be the reward. Edited December 27, 2015 by mydiamond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmscott Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 · Hidden Hidden Rather than teaching to stop pulling specifically, start working on check ins and attention training. Basically - Mom is neato-Toledo and a bag of chips. This will naturally make him want to spend more time with you than the squirrel/bird/people/grass/tree/imaginary sound. You will want to use a HIGH VALUE reward for this in conjunction with clicker training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_BEXER4lGo clicker training - www.clickertraining.com I don't know why the second video is big. I prefer the first video link. Link to comment
fiara Posted December 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Yeah ive tried a few but today i focussed on the stop and turn, it wasn't getting anywhere. Im thinking of just getting one of those halti head collars but I want him to be like a normal dog able to walk around freely without getting himself in trouble. Towards the middle/end of the walk i stopped praising because I realised that us moving forward was the reward but still it didnt work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 And you would not see results until a while! Training takes time, it's not gonna happen in one day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiara Posted December 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Yeah it wouldn't be bad if we were making progress but it seems like every time we take one step forward we go 10 back (excuse the pun) Thank you Jmscott i'll definitely try the attention training. Is there any real advantages to using a clicker vs the traditional verbal praise before a treat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mydiamond Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 It's completely normal. Don't worry you'll get there. I suppose clickers are more consistent of a sound so dogs would learn better that way. With praises even the same word can be said many different ways in tone, volume or just pronunciation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loudlucky Posted January 4, 2016 Report Share Posted January 4, 2016 1Both of my Huskies walk loose leashed in the yard with only a leash attached to the collar. For outside I have harnesses similar to the Julius K9 and they do not actually pull... Unless there's something that NEEDS their attention asap! Like when Tsunami is running (or dragging me) at the beach, he loves it and it's his play time so why does he have to walk nicely 100% of the time!!? In town where there's roads & traffic is another story, then they need to behave in some way! I'd suggest doing some reseach on harnesses, walking tools etc and sticking with a chosen one until your pup gets it, or at least not drags you to the park! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmscott Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 · Hidden Hidden I suggest reading the book The Other End of the Leash by leading canine behaviorist Dr. Patricia McConnell. One of the biggest hurtles that humans have to cross in the human/dog relationship is that we need to shut our yaps. lol. It is human nature to talk. and talk, and talk, and talk. When we are excited? Primates talk even more, at a faster pace. Dogs? Not so much. They don't rely as much on our verbal cues as our body language. I can work my dogs through an entire training session completely silent. What all of this comes down to is that dogs have an easier time reading our motions and minute gestures than they ever will our day to day chitter chatter. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/communication-between-people-and-dogs Link to comment
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