Puppy can't be walked around the block

[ygi]

I have a 7 month old puppy, she's a mini poodle and very energetic. I drive her to a local countryside walk in the evenings where she is left off-lead and allowed to run around, which she loves. I want to also walk her in the mornings or during my lunch hour (I work from home), but I don't have time to drive her somewhere suitable to be off-lead so it would have to be our local neighbourhood, but it is really difficult trying to walk her at the moment.

She pulls constantly, even though she's small I've hurt my wrist from constantly having my hand pulled forward on the lead. She will walk on her two back legs like a human (I think this a poodle thing?), and whines/pants in frustration. She just wants to run. I walk quite quickly anyway, but it's not quick enough for her.

I've tried to tire her out with playing tug of war before the walks but it doesn't help. I've tried to stop in my tracks when she starts to pull but I think it makes her feel more frustrated and wound up. She has been trained to do 'heel' but she will only listen at the end of walks when she's got some of her energy out. I'm not sure what to do. She needs to be exposed to residential streets, cars, bikes, prams, etc. She is afraid of cars, which I am trying to do desensitisation to, but she's so frustrated from being on a short lead that she's not really in the calm mindset to work on it. I'm also conscious that in the winter when it's dark before and after work she will have to get used to walking around the neighbourhood.

Does anyone have any advice?

Firstly, accept shes a 7 mth old. Shes a baby. Im just now getting somewhere on lead walking with my 3yo dog
Start in garden. You need to teach it where there are zero distractions. You cant reasonably expect her to do it around all those distractions.

She hasnt been trained to heel if she will only do it when knackered.

You need to find the distance at which she can tolerate cars ( or any other distraction) and can work with you and start there. Id work on thus totally separately from lead walking. Its just about engagement with you. Look up LAT training

Also look up ravenk9dogtraining and lifeofporridge on instagram if youre on there. Both pages run by same trainer. Porridge was a pup she raised so might be more relevant to you. Shes great on engagement with dogs. Shes just starting a series with a new lab pup.

It's ground nesting bird season so your dog shouldn't be off lead in the countryside at this time.

Sorry, it’s not my thread but I’m interested to look at these accounts.

OP I’ve a 13 week old lab who is probably getting on for 8kgs at this point so starting to be tough on muscles I haven’t used in a while. I did a few sessions of walking on the lead around the garden before he was allowed out (only very short ones as he was so small) mine is very food motivated so now we are doing short pavement walks (on our way to an enclosed field) I constantly have a tube of puppy chicken paste in my left hand and he gets a tiny lick when he is walking nicely. It’s still very, very early days for us though but I’m cautiously optimistic so far.

I get what you're saying, but that very much depends where in the countryside you're walking...

Moorland, dunes and shingle, the middle of arable fields (skylarks), hay fields (up until they are cut and baled - all done here), yes, avoid with off-lead dogs for a few weeks more. But along the footpath from the playing fields that is walked by everyone, with barley one side and a now-shorn cover crop of phacelia the other, you're highly unlikely to disturb any nesting birds if you keep your dog on the tracks and verges. I've been keeping mine out of grassy headlands since March/April, but I won't for much longer.

Do some scent training at the beginning of the walk. Our trainer showed us how and it worked wonders to get Ddog to focus before all the distractions started.

Have you tried just a slow walk and letting her sniff whenever she likes? 20mins genuinely knackers my girl (collie mix) out better than walking for hours.

Echoing what others have said. A 7 month old poodle is a whole bundle of energy, so be realistic with your walks. Let her sniff and be excited - and if that means you only get to the end of the road (or driveway!) then so be it. Training should be separate, so focus on her recall, look at me, heel work etc in the house and then garden when she can give it her attention. It's like you going into your favourite shop where everything is reduced by 99% and then being expected to focus on your friend telling you tge most boring story ever told - it ain't going to happen.

Scent work is also great for poodles and doodles - they love that. Loads of ideas for brain games on YouTube etc.

Thanks all, I will have a look at those Instagram accounts. Where we walk there aren't any ground nesting birds.

She has no interest in sniffing on walks! I encourage her by throwing treats for her to find but she just wants to go go go. She just pulls forward constantly - literally walking in front of me on her two back legs, which can't be good for her joints?

Mine used to do the same - poodles and doodles do seem to do this for some reason! They settle down though, it's just a whole big exciting world to see..Do you do brain games like scent work, tricks, name the toys, go find, that sort of thing with her to tire her out mentally?

I have a mini Poodle girl about a year older than yours and she's also constantly on the go! I think they are so clever, they're into everything and looking for stimulation, but then so easily over stimulated too. Mine is starting to calm a little now.

Are you rewarding good walking when she does it? We've worked really hard at on lead walking by rewarding the good - at that age as soon as she did a few metres of nice walking she got praise and a treat (she's a very fussy eater so most of her calories at that age came from treats!) and slowly she learned that loose lead walking got praise. I'd also recommend ameliathedogtrainer on Instagram who does a lot of lovely stuff about engagement and puppies.

Good luck, she sounds fab!

You need to start training them to sniff and walk nicely at home where there aren’t any distractions, then move to more exciting places once the basics are in place - expecting a young dog to be able to master nice lead-walking when they’ve not had any training just isn’t realistic unfortunately!

The other thing that helped us was getting a Perfect Fit harness and then attaching his lead to the front D-ring, so that every time he pulled I would move in the opposite direction - this harness setup really worked for us, along with a lot of loose lead training (which was painfully slow, I have to confess!).

If you're looking for good online training videos then Kikopup is brilliant on YouTube. She covers this and loads more.

How much exercise is she getting overall?

The problem (as counter intuitive as it is) may very well be too much exercise at her young age…..

Teaching her to sit and stay may be the best and quickest thing you ever do!

I had a Dobermann who also pulled so hard she walked on her back legs - standing over 5ft tall. She now walks like a dream.

start at home, sit and stay, slowly
work up to 30 mins, ideal whilst you’re eating lunch, making coffee etc.

Then back garden, then outside, then larger distractions.
Id go and stand with my Dobie outside a supermarket and just make her do a sit and stay. Then go home!

Ita been the single most quickest and best thing I’ve found as it teaches them patience, and to resist changing in to things at 100 mph.

Another awful run of walks the past few days. My wrist had started to heal but I've damaged it again by her pulling on her lead with such force (thank goodness she's only 4 kg).

I'm really at a loss of what to do. It's not enjoyable for either of us. She's been reactive towards cars and trying to avoid cars and stay at a distance from them below her threshold and give treats at the same time as having her pull on the lead and try and jump into the road/lurch at the car is so difficult. I do sit on my driveway with her and give her treats when cars go past and she's been doing well with that. She has to have a short lead because she will jump into the road, and she's pulling so the lead is constantly tight which is probably stressing her out even more. Even on her 10m longline she runs to the end of it and pulls forward.

I've had a dog before. He was also difficult to walk as he was reactive to nearly everything, but what I would give to walk him again. I knew him and his triggers so well, I knew how to work with him. My issue with walking my new puppy is bringing up so much grief and emotion.

I’m a trainer - these are the first questions I would ask you.

• how much exercise does she get overall in a day? How much rest? Does she settle quietly in the house or is she always go,go,go? what is her schedule like - mental stimulation, routine, what are the rules and boundaries in the home?

whilst these sound unconnected, the VAST majority of problems I see can be traced back to here OR it’s an anxiety based issue

Have you had puppy training and had a behaviourist see her ‘in action’ on the roads? Is she generally confident?

Sorry to hear that op. I reckon you need trainer eyes to look at the cause. Its most likely fear or herding but you need to know which.

Did you mean 4kg?? I know its a real issue no matter their weight its just thats so tiny!

Halti? Not popular but the do the job generally.

We have a rottweiler who pulls alot. We bought her a halty head harness from pets at home. She physically can't pull on it. It's great. If she tries she just spins around.

I would second getting a perfect fit harness or a well fitted Y fronted harness with a chest clip. Use a double ended lead one attached to the front chest clip one to the back. I would also use a walking belt so she is attached to you without all the pressure on your arms.
this is the set up I have

the belt is important as it has bungee shock absorber in it so won’t let you be pulled over and will take the brunt of any lunges

https://perfect-fit-dog-harness.com/harness.html

https://amzn.eu/d/hlLYklV

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162636234355?_skw=dog+walking+belt&itmmeta=01K086025110D0RZ95YQQNHYBZ&hash=item25dddffe73:g:cJMAAOSwZlZaLvLY&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8MHg7L1Zz0LA5DYYmRTS30lMA6UWmY7EvnZuSqqlNhqYPyCDYYT%2FskfaaoCTGO632k0zOLCQsQ8WgzVN4kCQ5Wecm7A%2BW7TqGvi8SAYdsN0hfYWTWOaHo8dg8kVZOkRcJSTC2FNA1kdb0M7qfygsi6RfnGhqxpmplNSQ3IPRXsGn4NCE1VoXl9wXVZJ%2F76rNYWAJuvxe5%2FgsCAbvpWVwAx7y34aZ45kfk5%2FWph7FihGQKuicj1nN5QD6nufnCDoMaAEZIdt3mQhQaekcXAAlSYQ4LVkDuFBC6DONP0%2BECAfro79fDUyDUoqip%2FazkrDCWw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9aigIaCZg&var=464647243371

You need to stop walking her along the road near cars until you can get the lead walking in place in a less stimulating environment.

She either gets two 20 minute walks a day, or one 1 hour spent off-lead in the woods. She rests in the day but doesn't seem to sleep in the day much apart from in the afternoon after her walk, she wants to play fetch most of the time. She sleep a lot at night though (10:30pm to 7:30am).

Her routine is breakfast and playing with her toys, then 9am to 12:30pm she's either in the garden or kitchen (I keep the door open for her so she comes and goes) where she'll potter around playing with her toys, sniffing things in the garden and I usually give her a Kong or something like putting treats in a cardboard box for her to find. A walk at lunch time, then she's with me in the afternoon and usually sleeps and then settles down with a pizzle stick. A walk after her dinner in the evening and lots of playing/zooming around and practising tricks/training.

She's been to puppy classes. The trainer said she was confident but sometimes conflicted with things - like wanting to go up to another puppy but then changing her mind at the last second.

Thank you everyone. She has a front clipping harness but I never clip it to the front as she trips over the lead, but I will give it another go in the garden to see if I can get her used to it.

I think it is fear, but she is quite a laid back puppy in general. She rarely shows signs of stress like licking her nose or shaking off the stress. She rarely gets startled of things, but if she does she will go and investigate it - very different to my last dog who had a more nervous/anxious temperament.

I am thinking of stopping the walks with her and starting from scratch? Like maybe for one week just hanging around on our drive way, then the next week walking to the end of the our road, etc. Would that be a good idea or cruel to stop walking her? She seems over-stimulated on walks, she won't even sniff things. It's just go go go. Even when she wees she won't stop and will walk as she wees!

2 x 20 minutes a day? You need to increase her exercise!