Training problems with walking

Geeze, the puppy walks fine with me on the leash but wont with my husband he just resists and does not move, so hubby picks him up,. what can we do about this, as I feel he should walk wiht both of us. He cant just walk with me, mind you, he resists as well sometimes, but mostly walks OK sort of with me. I wonder why?

Don't pick him up. Let him walk. Use treats and encouragement to get him to come along if he is hesitant. Make it a positive experience for him, but don't give him and carry him!

I agree with Herschel.

Also, what happens if you all go for a walk together someplace fun? You switch off holding the leash and reward lavishly for his coming along with hubby. Make everything you do with your pup fun and reward frequently for behavior you like....little tiny treats, praise, games. Have your hubby feed him his dinner but ask him for a sit first. Have hubby put him through a few of his skills he's learning BEFORE getting a toy or treat or affection from him. He needs to be seen as one who controls resources and then your pup will start following his lead better. Make it all positive. Set the pup up to succeed. Reinforcement is what drives behavior so give him a tiny tid bit of something he loves for even approximations in the right direction. If he takes one or two steps with your hubby, reward/praise. That will make him more likely to repeat that. Then withold for only one or two steps. Try for 3 or 4 and so on. A reinforcer must change behavior and must be something the dog values.

When you walk the dog does your Husband walk with you? I would start with that, you holding the leash and your husband walking next to you, then the next walk start like that but switch and let him hold the leash half way through. Then the next time have him hold the leash and 7ou walk a few feet away from them, over the course of the walk walk further away and start to fall behind. Get to the point where you are out of sight just so he gets used to walking without you, then he should be able to go by himself.

Does your puppy have a favorite toy or ball? Your hubby can also toss it a ways, making a game, but have the leash in his hand. He can do this inside first, then out in the yard and finally on the walk. In other words, you can combine the walk with some fun games...tossing a toy a few feet forward, then a few feet back behind...just keeping the dog near him, squeeking a toy...just basically turning the walk into a very fun time.

how old is the pup? i would teach him to follow you without the leash. play games with him following you around the house and in the yard if it's fenced. and i would seperately have him drag the leash around so he gets used to it. make sure the leash and collar aren't too big or heavy for him.

Yes corgipower. I like that way myself....always start out my pups with no leash or collar and just make it fun and rewarding to come along with me...inside, down the hall, then out in the yard with few distractions etc. Get him use to coming along with you and drop tiny tid bits when he's fairly near....and make it fun, pat your thigh, toss a toy..that sort of thing. Then try the leash, but never force. Just do what you did without the leash.

he is leash trained I did the leash dragging at first weeks and weeks ago. He is 4.5 months old. he wears a harness of light material no collar. Thing is, husband works til late at night and comes home tired at about 7:30 sometimes later and taking him then for a long walk is out. On the weekend he was with my husband's daughter, my husband and myself. I let her walk with him and then I walk n the other side, he is always wanting to drag to look for me. I usually dont carry treats on a walk but i will start, and especiall with my husband, when he goes to poo and pee with him.:hail: My husband is the ones who keeps picking him up. I normally stop pet the dog a bit then say lets go boy and he follws, after a few of that he realizes it is OK and he comes along nicely. The walk back hom is always a breeze for both me and my husband. this baffles me, why does he not give problems to come back but does to go?

there is stronger motivation to get home than to get to his walk "destination".

1. yes, definitely start carrying treats when you take him for walks.
2. don't go back and pet him to get him to follow. you might go halfway back to get his attention, and then call, clap, pat legs, whatever it takes, and begin to walk away. as soon as he starts to move towards you, stop, drop down to your knees and be as encouraging and inviting as you can.
3. when you get away from home, before turning around to go home, or even at varying intervals throughout the walk, take some time to play with him. and keep the walks short.

You mean drop down on my knees at home right? Because I wont do this in the public streets with my clothes on, so I am assuming you mean home. He has been pulling, but now I realize the reason he pulls is because he wants to go poo and pee on a certain spot, and when I take him to a new spot he is wanting to go that direction, now I realize this as of this morning. So now I wil lpay attention. Then today at the pet store he was PULLING badly and I just kept on saying lets go lets go, BRAM he peed in the store lol. So he is giving me signals, I am just reading them wrong. but this is not always the case of the tugging, that is why it is confusing.

I guess you all aren ot reading my posts correctly. He is leash trianed, he is just not wanting to walk in areas of the neighborhood that he does not know. He will walk nicely on the leash and sit politely for me to put it on, but will pull and tug and resist in areas he is not familiar with. He comes to me without the leash all the time. He is very very good at bringig back something I throw for him and dropping it on command, he has been doing this since he was 3.5 months. He heels most of the time. he sits on command and is now laying down on command, he gets off when he jumps on things on command. He is quite smart. It is just the pulling backwards not forward when we enter an area he is not familiar with. and then with my husband lord help me. he just wont do it.

Encourage him to follow you. I think we all read your post correctly. Don't give in to his desires, instead, make it clear that it will be fun for him to follow you.

Use treats, toys, etc.

and as I have said a zillion times, I do all of that. I live in a very bustling city and he is just afraid of the trains that pass often, he may eventually get used to it I hope.

maybe you need to seek PROFESSIONAL help then and enroll yoru pup into an obedience class.

that is the ONLY way you can get help that will actually help you out.

Make sure its a good place to go though with qualified trainers.

Sorry, what as the answer you are looking for?

As SummerRiot suggested, try an obedience class or a professional trainer. I still believe that positive reinforcement and adapting to your dogs personal needs will get him to walk anywhere with you. Is he afraid? How do you know he is afraid? Is he more interested in something else? Is he trying to trick you by getting you to follow him? Do his legs/paws hurt from walking too much? What, exactly, is he scared of? Is he wearing a collar or a harness? (Pulling a collar too high on his neck might scare him) Is there a good way to desensitize him to the things that scare him?

You need to answer all of these questions and then start your training from there.

I'd recommend practicing more in areas that he IS comfortable and successful in and after a bit, introduce these areas which he is either more stressed in or more distracted in more gradually. Instead of trying to get him close to a train, which is very loud and scary...stressful, let him see the train from a distance at which he is not fearful....treat/praise....associate the train and other equally scary things with cheerfulness and yummy treats. If he's afriad, don't drag him. If he is flooded with frightening things, up close, all at once, he will likely shut down and not be able to take in what you're trying to socialize him to. Baby steps toward the goal. Gentle coaxing, reinforcement for tiny increments in the right direction.

We're trying to read your posts right. It isn't always easy over the Internet. Please forgive us for our rotten cognitive abilites. LOL.

Training problems with walking

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Dropping down into a squat with your arms open wide is a non-threatening body language and something that often helps encourage a puppy to come to you. Why wouldn't you do it in public streets with your clothes on? If you do it with your clothes off, you might be arrested.


Do you see why we might be reading your posts "incorrectly?" They're very contradictory and somewhat disjointed. You say he IS leash trained. By your description, he isn't. He needs more pracitce. He may be accustomed to a leash being on him, but there's a lot more to walking nicely on a leash in all kinds of environments and contexts. But you can't start him out in the most difficult for him. Baby steps.

Again...practice in lower distraction areas and build up. When he pulls, don't reinforce by walking forward and letting him pull you. Stop. Show him that it doesn't work to pull. But keeping slack in the leash does work to walk forward plus get a treat. Walking forward is what he wants. You must not give him a pay off for unwanted behavior. Treat him very frequently as he walks with slack in the leash. Show him a definite contrast. no walking if he pulls, walking and a treat every couple of steps when he doesn't. Later, when he is very, very good, you will space out the treats so they're not so often. It takes time and extreme consistancy. Don't ever let it work for him to make tension in the leash...not even for one step. If you do, that will put it on a varable reward schedule which will strengthen that behavior even more.

If your husband takes part in also being in control of his resources, he will come to see him as someone to follow. Again...NILIF. Look it up and let your husband do some of that. Practice in a quieter area that's not so stressful to him for a while.

If he doesn't like the treats, find something he does like....actually something he loves in a huge way. You have to motivate and reward your dog.

Hey, thanks for the advice. He is improving slowly but surely. He still does not like to touch wet dirt or leaves LOL. So I am still desperately trying to find shoes to fit him here. So far it is not possible . Will keep trying. but the walking is getting better. What I have noticed tho, is once he is done doing his do, he pulls ahead of me to get back home. Now this is new, before he was healing nicely and trotting along.

He's still a puppy...everything is new to him. It takes time. I wouldn't cater to the shoe idea. He'll get use to wet dirt as he gains more experience and confidence. If you put shoes on him now, you'll forever have to put shoes on him or he'll feel weird without. Just take it all in stride and act like nothing is a big deal. Just be careful not to reinforce behavior you don't like by attending to him, fussing over him etc. He pulls, walking forward stops. He takes two nice steps, treats/praise....every step or so...until he gets onto it.