leash training a puppy?
Question by Pixiedust: leash training a puppy?
Does anyone have any useful advice for leash training a puppy? I have a 3 month old Rottweiler, and until we can go to puppy classes (they start in 1 weeks time) id like to give him some leash training.He has only been walking outside for 4 days, and at the moment, he drags behind alot,then every so often starts to walk by my side (which i praise), but then he shoots off ahead, stops when a car / person / other dog goes by, then drags again!I think he is a little fearful of cars driving by, but he seems to be overcoming it more and more everyday. Any advice on how i can get him to walk by my side the whole time? Thanks!
Note : Before anyone comments, he IS fully vaccinated, flead, wormed ect. I am taking him to puppy/obedience classes for at least 12 months as he is a big breed dog. I am not new to dogs, just new to training puppies!
Best answer:
Answer by wishnuwelltoo
Remember it is only 5 minutes for each month of age with puppies, so a 3-month-old puppy gets a 15 minute walk. Too much walking is bad for legs and joints. When my puppies are first little, I practice with the leash. In the house, I drape the leash on them and try to call them to me. Outside, I practice in my fenced back yard for about a month before the puppy graduates to the street. I might drape the leash on the puppy and get him to follow me, or drag the leash on the ground and see if he will follow me and try to catch the leash. There are many things in my back yard that scare a puppy, so it is so much easier to address, or correct issues when I am in my back yard and not in the street. We just walk laps in the yard and deal with drama as it comes up. Maybe around 3-months-old I might try to clip the leash to the collar, but if there is too much protesting, I drop the leash. They just get better with the leash around 4 to 5-months-old. So anyway, I use the commands “go” when I want to “go” and if the puppy tugs on the leash, I stop and say “wait”. It is my walk and we go as fast as I can walk and no faster. If I want to “wait” and look at a flower, change the batteries in my walkman, count to ten, then I do it, it is my walk. When I am ready I say “go” and we “go” again. When the puppy pulls on the leash, I stop and say “wait” and we stop again, even if we just went two steps. I praise the puppy when he is doing good and talk soothing to him and encourage him when he is doing good, so he keeps doing it. It takes several laps of “go” and “wait” until he settles down, and when the walk is over, I make a big fuss and clap and then they get some play time. They don’t like the walk at first, but they like the fuss at the end. I have to address “go” and “wait” again the next day, but it won’t take me as long to get him to understand what I want from him. I also house sat a dog, and the owner thought he had leash issues, and that dog just didn’t like being in front. He walked just fine with my dogs as long as he could be part of the group, but he didn’t want to be in the front. If you have a family member, or a neighbor that has a dog that walks well, see if you can practice with them. I also had one dog that didn’t like the maroon leash, or the pink one, but did just fine with the blue leash. Sometimes puppies are just puppies
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Have you tried practicing leash walking in the house or your yard? I know it sounds a little crazy, but you want to start in a place where there are very few distractions. This will help him to focus on you!
Have you taught him the Watch command yet? This is a good, foundational command that you can use in a wide variety of circumstances to get his focus on you.
To teach it, you get a food reward. Let him sniff it so he knows you have it. Then you bring the reward up to your eye. His eyes should follow your hand because he wants the food. If he looks at your face, you give him the reward. Once he’s consistently looking at your face, you pair the command name Watch with your movement.
How does this help with leash walking? When he’s lagging behind or wandering off or pulling, you tell him to Watch! Now you have his attention again and then you can resume walking.
You can also treat and praise whenever he is walking calmly alongside you. Stop or turn around and go the other way when he pulls.
Picking up your pace often also helps in keeping a dog alongside you. He’s more interested in where you’re going than sniffing each blade of grass then. So you can go almost at a jog if needed to keep him by your side. Keep praising and rewarding like crazy when he’s doing what you want!
ETA: wishnuwell: You give some really good answers that I think are sometimes overlooked because you tend to post in very long blocks of text. It’s hard for people to read that. Paragraphs, my friend, paragraphs! (Would have emailed you this but you don’t allow it.)
One of the big reasons why you need to leash train in slow increments is that a 3 month old pup does not have much impulse control…the larger breeds tend to mature more slowly and so may be more difficult with impulse training. There are a few ways that one can leash train…many people leave the leash on in the house and do impromptu sessions whenever. A session may consist of walking and putting your dog in a sit whenever he pulls. Doesn’t work for everyone, but did for me. Also…and this is kind of funny..I asked my mailman to help with leash training…thereby addressing another possible issue at the same time.
I am lucky enough to leave for work at 1pm…and was around for mail delivery at 11 am. I gave the mailman some treats and my dog and I followed him down my street. I put my dog in a sit when the mailman went up to the house and put the mail in the box. When he returned, we treated my dog and followed the mailman to the next house. My dog was heeling perfectly within 3 days. I’ll bet your mailperson would help…just to avoid future problems and be recognized as a friend to a Rottie! But you could ask anyone to help. Or just do it yourself.
Just give it some time and patience…your boy is still young yet…he’ll get it. Enjoy your classes and your pup…good luck,