Possibly a really stupid question about walking to heel...

[FluffyDogMother]

...but I'm so confused over what to do for the best!

6mth old cocker aka fluffdog. We focused a lot on socialisation (our last ddog was not great with other dogs), and also basic obedience in the home. Walks were at the local dog parks with fluffdog pulling a lot of the time on the lead - we got a harness.

Now trying to teach how to walk on a loose lead. Getting fluffdog to engage with us, eye contact, and when he pulls, change direction. Lots of treats too. It's very hit and miss and we can only manage down to the end of our road and back (we're in a cul-de-sac) before the 30mins time is up. I don't feel this is then enough exercise for him. Is it enough, even though we're only walking a short distance?

Fluffdog seems to be distracted by anything and everything - a plant blowing in the breeze, a person walking past on the other side, a car driving past. It feels like training him to walk outside on a loose lead is just so distracting for him!

Does perseverance pay off? Or will he always be a pain for loose lead walking as a FOMO spaniel?

His brain will be working hard on it - going out isn't just about physical exercise, but much more imo about their brain working. But you don't have to do heel work every outing, mix it up with just going out and verbally rewarding every time they walk on a loose lead even for a moment. I've used different leads in the past for 'we are getting on with it and just walking' or whatever and using verbal cues like 'walking nicely' as well as physical ones like holding the lead across my body/legs when they need to be at my side.
Don't give up and say its just because they are a spaniel though - training takes time, and you have (hopefully) another 14 years or so of this dogs life where you don't want them pulling you along

I was anxious about this, too thinking I was not giving now 7 month lab enough actual walking exercise time as so much stopping, starting, U Turns but trainer reassured me this was ok and that shorter successful walks better than longer ones that are not so successful. She recommended regular, familiar route over and over to build up pup's confidence and skills - set him up to succeed. My friend who has exceptionally well trained working dogs sees us with our pup and reassures us too that it takes time, patience, two steps forward, three steps back at times and to keep at it and that our dog still very much a pup and learning and as pp said, the mental stimulation of learning/following commands knackers them out as well - even if our pup has been a blxxdy nightmare pulling like a train we aim to end the session on a positive note for him so even if it's a solid sit/stay lots of verbal fuss.

One thing you could try to save you having to keep bending with treats to tempt them along at heel is holding a wooden spoon smothered in peanut butter/pate/cream cheese etc by your leg as you walk so they walk along right by you licking the spoon while you say good boy/girl "heel" or "close" or "with me" whatever your cue word is. They soon want to be right next to you to get the tasty stuff!

Also worth making sure that your treats are high value enough. I struggled with my 6month old cocker because my treats werent as interesting as the butterflies/whatever distracting thing he found. Switched it up to extra tasty dog pate and walked him before meal times (when he was hungry) and got much better focus.

Maybe worth doing the long line and a command of 'go play's when you aren't asking for him to heal so he gets to explore but more safely. You still want him to meet other people dogs and situations not just the path outside the house

I did gentle lead pressure when pulling, or stopped if lunging to sides or in front towards another dog or sniffing area. If I feel he’s getting a bit overwhelmed I let him sniff on command - sniffing is a great stress reliever for dogs but it should be when you say otherwise you’ll never progress. It might take you a while and he’ll go back in different environments with different distractions but have your tasty high value treats but lots of praise too. Your pace is important too, walk briskly they need to use their energy to walk with you and don’t have time to misbehave I find mine is more difficult if I’m slow so I try to walk fast to the park and slower back. Also you’ll find they pull more if they know where they are going so to the dog park he might be a nightmare so drive there or vary your route.

I also teach him to watch me, play games etc which make you more interesting than the environment (you are then the high value treat) so he is focussed on you. My boy also loves a squeaky ball which is a high value toy, sheepskin chasers (I have a short one with a ball on it) too are great if your dog likes them.

Clambers onto soap box.

Loose lead walking is much more than teaching your dog to walk well on a lead out and about.

So concentrate on reinforcing proximity to you whether you are, when in the house, in the garden etc.

Reward all eye contact every single time during the day. You will need to have treats on you all the time for a bit.

Initially reward eye contact when stationary and then after a few days add in eye contact when moving. Start this at home and reinforce and reinforce. It truly is like magic and you see your dog looking at you over and over again (almost so much that you get fed up with rewarding - keep rewarding you are doing really well!)

Reward your dog off lead when they are close to you, when they are in the heel postion, again do this at home to start with, and make sure you are consistent.

I would also get a harness with a front D ring and one on the back.

My wcs know that when the harness is on the back d ring they can walk ahead ( not pull but I am not expecting formal heelwork position) However when the d ring is on the front of the harness then they are walking in position.

By using the different positions on your harness you can have parts of your walk for "training heel work" and parts of your walk to just get from a to b without messing up your training.

Personally I hate the stop and start walking. It tends to frustrate both dog and the owner and actually increase the pulling.

Put in the time and loads of effort to eye focus and you will soon realise that you have a dog that does check in on you and hence less pulling. It is hard to pull if they are looking at you.

You will get a fab looking at you at home to start with and then go outside and it will all go to pot. Just stand still and wait for that eye contact, no command, no interaction just wait , the second you get it reward and can then move.

Walking in zig zags or drunk walking when you do not walk in one direction for more than 5 steps is less frustrating for your dog (than stop start walking) and also gives you more times to reinforce the correct behaviour.

Spaniels do like to walk with their noses down so also reward for any head of the ground motion.

Also I do not ever give a command for the look at you. It is their choice to do so and the more choice you give a dog the more likely they are to do it.

They learn that the decisions they make have a reward. It makes the dog think more if they offer the behaviour rather than be cued for the behaviour. It becomes a default behaviour very quickly

My retriever can be a tugboat nightmare when she's excited. Clipping her lead to the side/front has helped a lot.