loose leash walking for puppies or older dogs that pull on the leash

lizzybeth727

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#2
Interesting idea - thinking of the leash pressure as a cue. I didn't watch much and I couldn't watch with the sound on (my dogs thought it was training time when they heard the clicker), but interesting anyway. Always nice to see a new method!
 

Baxter'smybaby

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#3
lol--I have done some clicker training with my crew...at the sound of the first click on the video, all 3 of mine lifted their heads up and perked up---looking for the treat!
 

Doberluv

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#4
lol--I have done some clicker training with my crew...at the sound of the first click on the video, all 3 of mine lifted their heads up and perked up---looking for the treat!

LOL!!!:rofl1:


Yes, I thought it was different but cool. I liked the idea of starting out in the bathroom too. Talk about baby steps. LOL.
 

sprintime

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#5
That is different, first time I've ever watched someone work this way but I kind of like it. That pup won't take too long to catch on, I noticed he focused on the handler quite a few times for quick periods. Think I'll vote for this method before going with Millan, seems so much more loving. Thanks for posting the video, very interesting.
 

Paige

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#6
Interesting that's for sure. I love a fresh out look on things. It'd be interesting to try.
 

Kayla

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#7
Thanks for sharing Carrie, I am certainly going to try it out with my guinee pigs (people not literally the animal) for a pulling dog rehab course Ive been working on- I am SOOO fed up with the traditional stop and go, reward when they walk nicely method.

I cant wait to try this out.

Kayla
 

lizzybeth727

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#8
Thanks for sharing Carrie, I am certainly going to try it out with my guinee pigs (people not literally the animal) for a pulling dog rehab course Ive been working on- I am SOOO fed up with the traditional stop and go, reward when they walk nicely method.
What a great idea! Let us know how it goes!
 
T

tessa_s212

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#9
This is something I actually came up with myself a while back. Cocoa already knew a formal heel, and I didn't want her thinking that she had to be in a heel position. And trying to click/treat for only when she was on my side, she always tried to go a formal heel. So instead, just taught her that pressure on leash mean to come back to me at my side and not pull. She wasn't a huge puller, but I also wanted to be able to not have much pressure on the leash without her being in former heel.

When I was teaching a class, it is something I also introduced to some of the students.

Didn't think it was a method people actually used! It worked for me.
 

Doberluv

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#10
Me too Tessa...sort of. Lyric would come out to the end of his leash and just before he caused any tension, I'd say, "uh-oh" and coax him back to my side playfully and reinforce. I always tried to keep the same length of the available slack. He got so he'd bounce backwards along side me like it was super funny. LOL. But this was after he was already pretty good walking on a loose leash, but would just forget sometimes.

Starting out though, as a puppy, I didn't do it that way. I started out with him being bare naked...no collar, no leash. If he chose to walk along side me, he'd be clicked and treated. If he chose to wander across the yard, so be it. I'd become more interesting and he'd then return. I made such a fuss when he'd walk along side me and keep the sessions very short.

Then I'd use the leash and do the same thing plus I'd also toss treats forward just a tad within the range of the leash, make turns, toss a treat, about turn, toss a treat and just try to keep tension out of the leash. And we went from there, increasing the duration and distractions.

I mixed things up quite a bit in how I "exercised" his brain because I find that animals (horses big time) easily become very anticipatory quickly....which can cause some real hassles. For example...the stop-start method. I found that if I only employ that method, some dogs learn early on to go to the end of the leash, stop, come back around and along side and start walking again automatically, as a matter of course....all as a behavior chain. So, I really push the variations to keep things from being too pattern-oriented. This video caught my eye because it's just one more variation to throw at the dog. A lot of trainers or owners would say that you should always do the same thing, to always have the same consequence for the same action. While that's true in a general way for me too, I also find problems with too much repitition and sometimes or in some cases with too strong of a pattern. Gotta surprise them a little bit to keep them humble. :p

I remember training my two green Arabian horses. One was such a ditz, so hyped up that we'd be practicing just WALKING in the arena. She had real difficulty walking. She'd do this little jig, like a pre-amble to getting started on a trot which I did not ask for. This jigging always preceded the trot which preceded more intensity, prancy nonsense. (this was in her very early training/breaking just after only doing ground work) The little jig needed to be nipped in the bud because horses are the epitome of give an inch, take a mile. So, I'd stop her and back up a few steps as in...."You jig... you loose forward motion. We aren't going anywhere" Well, it didn't take long for her to jig, then stop, back up all on her own without by cuing her to stop and back up. It seemed that she learned that she could get to do this fun, fun thing, the little hopping jig thing as long as she stopped and backed up as part of the deal. :D It got very annoying, so I had to find some other creative ways to get around that. LOL.
 

Kayla

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#11
So, I'd stop her and back up a few steps as in...."You jig... you loose forward motion. We aren't going anywhere" Well, it didn't take long for her to jig, then stop, back up all on her own without by cuing her to stop and back up. It seemed that she learned that she could get to do this fun, fun thing, the little hopping jig thing as long as she stopped and backed up as part of the deal. :D It got very annoying, so I had to find some other creative ways to get around that. LOL.

This is really the most common result I see from the stop and back up method and Duke does it all of the time, he pulls, and the instant I stop hes already backing up. While attending the puppy camp that Susan Garret taught awhile back she also commented on this method and that eventually most animals will become accustomed to the stopping and pulling back as a part of their normal walk and keep on pulling.

I have one ex-coworker who is currently going through my model for the pulling dog rehab class and we have been attacking the pulling from a few ends. Installing a strong automatic sit was one of the first things we did as even if your dog walks beautifully if she/he cant sit and stay when someone approaches your going to run into problems maintaining that loose lead. We also installed a you can look at it but you cant have it reflex by adapting the "look at that game" from CU for high arousal situations on walks, like a dog walking across the street or a squirel or bike or whatever. Next class we will start the things from the video but all in all her boy Jake a six month old mustenlander has really made a ton of progress.

I also had a couple with a 4 month old pug start with me last night and I had them start the process in their flat by clicking when their pug hit the end of the lead, very quickly she was responded to the pressure by coming back to her mom, the biggest challenge of course is generalizing it to all situations and all arousal levels. I have another ex-coworker signing up as guinee pig specifically to work on the pulling dog rehab course with me so I will share more updates (and maybe some videos with her permission).

Thanks again for sharing the video Doc, I almost completely forgot about Dog star daily for awhile.
 

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