Trainer adv doing stop/start for 5min twice a day to help with ewoks pulling

[Notonaschoolnight]

And if it doesn't improve to try a gentle leader. Fair enough but how does that work in reality? ie going from the mindset of not accepting pulling at all to 5 mins later putting up with it to some degree in order to be able to walk

[Notonaschoolnight]

Also how does everyone cope with all this paraphernalia seriously I need collar and lead for stop/start, harness and longline for recall and now a head collar arghh

[Twattybollocks]

Pulling is a nightmare, we have a staffy who is very very strong and I know from experience staffs can be a bugger for pulling. She was a nightmare for the first few weeks (started short walks as soon as vaccs were done) she would bounce along choking herself and panting she was so desperate to see everything. As soon as she learned the sit command I used that. As soon as she got to the end of the lead and started pulling, I stopped, asked her to sit, and when she did she got a treat. The first week it took us half an hour to get to the end of the road and back, about 400 yards in total. Neighbours thought we were nuts. I also used a harness rather than a collar as she would pull so hard she would be coughing for an hour after the walk. By the time she was 6 months she was walking to heel perfectly at all times and now does not pull at all unless she sees a cat or rabbit/squirrel.

[Twattybollocks]

Oh, and I've managed to train her fully with only a harness and lead. No long line, no halti/gentle leader.

[RobotElephant]

Ewoks!?

[Notonaschoolnight]

Sorry robot wheaten terrier really. Ill hold my hand up I tried the start/stop but wasn't consistent and at 6 month old I need to asap

[MrsKwazii]

Depends what type of Ewok you have. Chief Chirpas are grumpy, Wickets are cheeky but Nippets are just adorable

[lougle]

Patch was quite a puller at first. I used a harness with back and chest clips, plus clicker. The chest clip lets you bring the dog around to face you if they pull. No struggle.

[Booboostoo]

The 'I stop if you pull' technique works really well but you need to be 100% consistent which means that you don't really get to walk the dog properly for a couple of weeks. Usually in about 2 weeks you should have the problem cracked.

I am not sure how your trainer advised you to do it, but this is how I do it:

I start walking and as soon as the lead tightens I stop and say nothing. I wait until the dog looks at me, then I click, treat, turn around and walk off in the opposite direction. Repeat ad nauseum! You are unlikely to walk more than a couple of steps in each direction but if you can keep it up it works brilliantly.

[lougle]

Yes, that's exactly what I did. It's the only thing Patch is 100% rock solid on. He sits before we leave the house, sits at the side of the road, etc. because I used that technique.

[SilverSky]

What BooBoostoo said. Works a treat. It is a PITA as you feel you are going nowhere fast but it beats having your arms pulled out or being dragged along by a rude impatient dog.

[moosemama]

Wheaten as in Soft Coated Wheaten? If so I used to have a SCWT girl - they are fab dogs. She responded best to clicker training if that helps at all?

With my boy, I taught him the cue 'with me' every time he returned to me when I changed direction or walked backwards. Now if he gets distracted and starts to get ahead of me I just say 'with me' and he comes back to my side.

I would also agree with lougle that a front clip harness is a really useful tool while you are teaching loose lead walking, as it uses their own weight against them, to turn them back towards you if they try to forge ahead.

While you are training this you will just need to accept that walks take a lot longer than usual. I live 100 yards from the park entrance, but it could take 20 minutes to get there when I was training my dog. It can be a bit annoying, but it's well worth putting in the effort.

Finally, some attention training will really help with lead training. The more short sessions of 'watch/look at me' training you can do at home the better, as you want the dog to be focussed on you first and foremost. Kikopup (from the video linked to above) has some great videos on attention training.

[moosemama]

Cross posted. The video I linked to is basically a demonstration of what Booboostoo is describing.

[Notonaschoolnight]

God I love this forum I'd be lost without it thank you all I shall purchase a front harness today (its prob the only bit of paraphernalia I don't own as I ordered the gentle leader last night as it was only a fiver. It's still the idea of only doing it for 5 mins that confuses me as it seems so inconsistent I feel like I should do it constantly unless offlead until she gets it. I had a go this morning around the block took 20 min, she pulled I stopped, moved 2 steps back and said heel she never heeled but she did sit down, should I help her into a heel position so she gets what I'm after. Have to admit I forgot to turn and go in opposite direction while do that next. She was knackered and collapsed in a heap on the grave drive lol

[Notonaschoolnight]

Didn't feel it worked as well this morning as when I stopped she didn't slacken or sit, she just seemed to think to herself " well if she's stopping I may as well have a good sniff about" arghh!

[moosemama]

When she decided to sniff did she keep the lead slack or was she pulling to try and sniff?

If she kept a slack lead, it may be worth rewarding that and building up from there, it's still progress, as long as she's not pulling.

Training progress is never linear and there will be days where they aren't in the mood or decide to test the boundaries. I am having a set back with my lurcher (who has recently developed separation anxiety) today. He hasn't made a peep all week and was able to left for up to 15 minutes without even a whimper. This morning he started whining at 10 minutes and by 14 minutes had wound himself up to fully on howling and barking. Thing is, I know I wasn't as diligent with my pre-exit organisation this morning, because I was in a hurry, so in all probability I set him up to fail by not doing everything properly.

Have you tried the walking backwards and/or changing direction thing yet? If you do that, she should refocus her attention on you and hopefully follow you, then you can reward her as soon as the lead goes slack and build up to rewarding her when she's in the position you'd like her to walk in.

[idirdog]

I hate the stop/start way of teaching heel work. I get really frustrated and usually so does the dog. It obviously does work for some dogs as stated above but it does my head in! The dog wants to get somewhere and so do you and you have to keep stopping. You often see dogs shut down with this type of training, they start off looking forward, reluctantly come back to you, then after time start sniffing or staring but not coming back. It also teaches clever dogs that I can pull forward, we stop I go back, then I pull forward again. It does not reward the dog for being in the correct position.

Get a clicker and take off the dogs lead Obviously do this in a safe secure area your garden or sitting room.

The reason I teach loose lead walking without a lead is that as owners we are usually pretty rubbish with the lead and tend to pull on it. What would you do if someone pulled on your clothes - you would pull away, so get rid of the lead for training purposes.

Hold a smelly lovely treat in your left hand and walk away - most dogs will follow you click and treat. More smelly treats in your hand and take one step, the dog will follow you click and treat. Do this several times a day at home until you can do a couple of steps and then click and treat. Gradually you can take more steps but do click and treat often. When the dog knows this game you can give a command, I would use a new command if you have been working on this in the stop and go way.

Then you can take this on the road, be prepared to click and treat more when you are in exciting areas, so build up to this gradually.