How did YOU train good lead-walking?

Errata

EmptyPockets wrote: »

I've just come inside after another training session in the garden with them (I work with them seperately), but it feels like we are getting nowhere

How did YOU train your dog/s to walk properly on lead..?

Have you answered your own question? If you train them separately in the garden perhaps they're not making the connection between that and being taken out together for a walk.

tizerbelle

EP, is it just the getting out of the house that is chaos - are they okay once they've set out on the walk proper?

I rarely use leads on my two (although they are lead trained - by previous owner) however when I first got them we had the absolute madness by the front door when going out. Once out, they are fine it was just the getting out that was the problem. Much like yours an absolute nightmare, made worse by the fact it's a narrow hallway so with the mutts behind the door going do-lally rather hard to open the door as well. It seems like the excitement of going out makes them forget their manners.

With my two, I focused on doing door training (not when we were due to go out but after a walk when they were a bit calmer and no urgent need to get outside IYKWIM). There's a step down from the hallway before the front door so I would practice with them that they had to sit /stand still on the step while I opened the door. Any movement towards the door, door is shut and they are put back on the step until calm again. Once the door open, they are not allowed to leave the step until I invite them out.

It did take a lot of practice sessions - not so much for big dog, she's a clever mutt but little dog takes longer - very easily distracted plus a tad senile but we got there in the end. They do need reminding every now and then but usually we manage to get out calmly as opposed to ending up with me hanging on to front door with one hand, two leads with the other and being pulled in half as I try to lock the door .

EmptyPockets

Errata wrote: »

Have you answered your own question? If you train them separately in the garden perhaps they're not making the connection between that and being taken out together for a walk.

Nope. I train them seperately, and we walk them seperately while I've been trying to work on them.

EmptyPockets

tizerbelle wrote: »

EP, is it just the getting out of the house that is chaos - are they okay once they've set out on the walk proper?

It isn't just getting out of the house, it's the whole walk. From the moment they realise we're heading out for a walk, and not just into the garden, they forget any (limited!) training they've managed to pick up, and just want to go crazy.

I tried the stop-and-back-up technique one day, but after spending fifteen minutes on the driveway, having not even left the garden, I gave up because they were never going to get any walk, but I know that by letting them get their walk in the end, they won, they got their reward for pulling on the lead *rolls eyes*...

sarabe

Put them both in a harness or drive them to where they get off lead. Stop trying and failing.

Take them for seperate walks for training in addition to the recreational walk together.

A balance harness and a double ended lead will help.

http://www.mekuti.co.uk/harness_shop.htm

Lirin

With the Collie, he was quite loopy. Used to walk them both on the same side with him on a slightly shorter lead closest to me so he would have to tow in beside her. Calmed him down a bit.

Englishrose

EmptyPockets wrote: »

I tried the stop-and-back-up technique one day, but after spending fifteen minutes on the driveway, having not even left the garden, I gave up

This is why you are having problems, don't give up - if they don't get a walk, so what? It won't kill them. You HAVE to make them realise (and working with one at a time is much much easier) that if they pull they go NOWHERE.
If this means 30 mins in the driveway and back inside then so be it, believe me, they will cotton on very fast once they realise you mean business.

cinderellacomplex

Englishrose wrote: »

This is why you are having problems, don't give up - if they don't get a walk, so what? It won't kill them. You HAVE to make them realise (and working with one at a time is much much easier) that if they pull they go NOWHERE.
If this means 30 mins in the driveway and back inside then so be it, believe me, they will cotton on very fast once they realise you mean business.

If one of them is a collie it might kill her if it doesn't get a walk for ages. All she would do is wind it up to the point where trying to teach it anything at all would be a waste of time. As long as she differentiates the different types of walking in a way which the dogs can understand - like using a harness for the usual walks and attaching the lead to the collar for training - then the dogs can have their walks and still learn their lessons.

bethie

have you tried teaching them the watch me command?

so that when you move, they would then move as well?


Also, I know you have done a lot of work with training them, but it may also help if you attend some classes as well? The instructor may have some additional ideas, and it might help if there is a different perspective involved?

also, before leaving the house, are they calm?

and, i know a lot of people say that harnesses make them pull more, but having a harness was actually GOOD in our case as so that when she did pull, and I stopped, it didnt hurt her neck!


oh, and we try to do our best lead walking practice AFTER she has had a good run around and is a bit tired. no point trying to train her when she is going mental because she cant focus and would take no notice of me!

giantmutantbroccoli

I used a walking stick to train our family dogs to walk to heel on and off the lead. I got the method from a very old book about training gundogs, and a combination of that and lots of praise worked pretty well for me. Get the dog to sit in the heel position before you set off, then use the heel command (in the friendly voice!) and start walking. Use the stick to move the dog into the right position - if the dog goes too far ahead, hold the stick out as a barrier and push the dog back a bit. If the dog ges out to the side, rest the stick on the opposite side of the dog and use it to pull them back in to your leg. If the dog is hanging back to investigate an interesting smell, use an encouraging tone of voice and a gentle tug on the lead- if necessary, bribe with treats to get the dog moving again. If the dog is scared of the lead - hanging back and skittering away - leave the stick aside until he gets used to walking on a lead, and just use treats and encouragement to get him to keep up.
To clarify - you never actually hit the dog with the stick!

The trick is to let the dog have a loose lead, so he doesn't feel constrained/like he has to pull, and use the stick instead to manoeuvre the dog into the right position. If he's being stubborn, a quick smack of the stick on the ground (so it makes a noise) in front of the dog may persuade him that running ahead of you when you're saying to heel could be dangerous, but I wouldn't do that if your dog is anxious.

I certainly wouldn't use a choke collar, they cause more problems than they solve. The good thing about the stick method is you can use it when your dog is off the lead as well.