I cannot teach either one of my dogs to walk nicely on a leash

Yes, it's official. I think I'm giving up. :cry: I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but neither dog will pay attention and learn! Not when I'm clicking, not when I'm handing out treats, not when I'm praising I've been working with Hailey and we just seem to take one step forward and two steps back. This sucks. Big time....













:cry:

Are you taking out one at a time to work? If not that would be the first step. I can't work two dogs together on anything and make it count,

I agree with the above. Also, have they been exercised before training commences? Its hard to expect them to focus if they have tons of pent up energy

In addition to both of the above, have they been taught attention without walking?

Is it that they pull constantly? Or just won't pay ANY attention to you?

If it's the first, I highly recommend the "be a tree" method. Freeze every time the leash is taut. Don't move until the leash is loose again. It is an incredible test of your patience, but it worked when nothing else would with my stubborn little Corgi mix. It has been years since, and I rarely have to be a tree anymore. I can watch him thinking about it and slowing down before he reaches the end of the leash.

If it's the second, you need to (1) work in a less distracting environment - usually, a dog who cannot focus on you is over threshold or overwhelmed. and/or (2) make yourself more exciting! Move faster, speak in a more upbeat voice, dance around, bring along toys, get higher value treats (hotdogs, cheese, cheetos, etc), and make you more interesting and rewarding than sniffing bushes or whatever.

I feel your pain. Pedro is embarrassing in public on a leash if he's not in a harness. I could have steak on a stick and he'd be more into the speck of dust floating by.

I had the same problem with kenya and the issue turned out to be ME more than her. I kept trying a training method for a week, decided it didn't work and then going on to something else

once I stuck with one easy training method, she did catch on.

I used the easiest lol the BE A TREE. she pulls, I stop, she pulls, I stop. She pulls toward a dog, I turn around and walk away in the other direction. Pulling is because they want to go somewhere, once they learn that it doesn't get them anywhere.. they just stop.

what worked best with my dogs is to just stop when the leash gets tight. if they pull they have to sit. so pulling+sit and wait.
of course they want to walk, and get to that squirrel faster! so they know not to pull me.

now barking on a walk... thats different. Lynn barks over excitement on walks! Luckily she stops about 5 minutes after the walk starts.

just be consistent. Lynn pretty well stopped pulling on the leash after just a few walks.

Since I'm only trying to train Hailey right now (I tried to train Molly months ago and stopped because I was so frustrated ) I'm only taking her, so there's no Molly to distract her.

She usually hasn't been exercised right before I take her out, but that's tricky because she's a difficult one to get tired out. She'll play fetch, but only for a couple throws, then she's done and she wants to go inside and lay around.

I'm not sure what you mean...

More the first one. I get her attention, put her in a sit, good. But every time we start to move, she'll start off running, then dart in front of me from side to side (often tripping me), her attention is all over the place and she doesn't respond to her name, the lure of a treat, or a jerk on the leash. I know I'm supposed to stick to one method, but when she doesn't respond it's so freakin aggrivating!!!

And then she'll see someone, or hear a dog barking blocks away and she'll lean on the leash and whimper, and won't listen to me.

Also, it's probably not helping that the tempature has dropped quite sharply the past few weeks and I'm freezing every time I'm outside with her. It's quite unpleasant. I don't move enough to keep myself warm, but it's take 2 steps, stop, get Hailey's attention again, which could take several minutes, then take 2 more steps...

After thinking about it a bit more, I think the environment is too distracting. She was doing pretty good in the backyard, where we had our first few sessions, she was much more attentive...

I have the same problem with Lizzie. I worked with her and worked with her. She will listen to me, she sits when I tell her no matter how hard she's pulling. But I've never been able to break her of pulling at the beginning of a walk.

It's just, something I've given up on with her.

Buster was a puller for 5 years before I got it under control. Now he still really pushes the boundaries when he can but he's so much easier.

I found "be a tree" isn't great with him for some reason, if he's really zoned out he's just happy to stand there with full tension on the leash for ages and watch whats going on. Turning around and goign the other way for a few paces works better out of those 2 methods.

I found what was best for him was to teach with a clicker. He used to zone out to me a lot as soon as we stepped out the door so we started in the house, then the backyard, then we opened the back gate and headed towards it, everytime he pulled we'd go back and keep practicing in the backyard before heading towards the gate again. It took about 3 weeks of practicing a couple of days to get him to the stage where he could go for a decent walk and behave, getting further down the street each time. I'm glad we got it though, its so much more pleasant to take him out now.

I think he genuinly likes to just have some tension on the leash, it lets him know I'm still there I guess, I don't mind sometimes as long as he gives me back the slack when I ask.

In addition to "be a tree," I like to teach dogs to do lots of inside turns - where you turn in a 360 degree circle with your dog pivoting on the inside of the circle. You should make it a very tight turn, where your dog literally only moves his back feet, his front feet stay in the same spot. Give it a cue, and cue it whenever he STARTS to get out too far in front of you. You may have to start walking by doing a pivot, but for most dogs it will keep them in position at your side, get their attention back on you, and then you can treat them.

I also teach "back," which just cues the dog to walk straight backwards. You can use backs whenever he starts to get too far in front of you too. I know some trainers who always start walking by walking backward a few steps. It is physiologically difficult for a dog to look down while walking backward, so it is also an easy trick for getting his attention up on your face. I think that will help you a lot, as if you use it a lot your dog will learn that "let's go" does not mean "GO!", it means "pay attention cause you never know where I'm going to walk."

Attention while sitting next to you. Teaching her to watch you. Rewarding her for looking at you. When she has good attention while sitting next to you, then build on that to keep the attention as you step off into walking.

I agree with Lizzy's suggestion of pivots. I often make the first step a 180 degree pivot and I vary which direction I do it in.

Along the same lines of what has been said...
YouTube - Dog Training - Stop Your Dog From Pulling

It definitely sounds like the environment is over-stimulating, AND she needs to get ample exercise before going on walks. A lot of dogs get bored with playing fetch. My Border Collie doesn't rolleyes but Fozzie is completely unamused by fetching. There is so much more you can do! Practice recall in the yard (either by making her down/stay, walking across the yard, calling her and rewarding her; or have some one else restrain her and then call her from across the yard) and reward with short, intense tug sessions. Cut a slit in the ball and fill it with treats, then give her one each time she returns it. Make her sit/down/wait/etc before she can retrieve the toy. Get a laser. Get a spring/teaser pole. There are so many fun ways to exercise a dog physically and mentally!

I also encourage you to work with your other dog, seperately at first, then together once they're both doing well. I used to think Fozzie was a lost cause... he would pull like a freight train on walks, even though he could perform a perfect heel. After I started using a clicker, consistently not rewarding his pulling, and heavily rewarding him when ever he chose to come to my side on walks, the leash is NEVER taut when I walk him now. 90% of the time he is at my left side by choice, staring up at me, and I actually have to tell him to go ahead. Sometimes the most difficult dogs can turn out to be the most eager to please, if you properly motivate them and clearly show them what you want from them.

Well, you guys gave me enough encouragement and tips to try again. This time I looked up some youtube videos on teaching your dog to back up, and then took both dogs outside and got them really running hard in a good game of fetch. I took out two balls and threw them, so that Molly wasn't hogging the ball (Hailey gets bored if she doesn't get the ball). Then I kenneled Molly with a frozen kong, and put Hailey on the leash.

First, we did some easy walking around the backyard, she did beautifully, kept by my side the whole time. Then we worked on some backing up. She wanted to back up into a sit, but she finally took a few steps back, got several treats and "good girl"s and then seemed to get the idea. I'm happy because we can work on it and perfect backing up indoors, where it's warm

Then I opened the backyard gate, and took her into the front yard (which has no fence, but many distractions). The first time, we only got a little way out of gate before she pulled, at which point I gave a little pop of the leash and we turned around, and returned to the backyard. There we did another easy lap around the backyard, before going back out the gate. Rinse and repeat, many times.

We never got away from in front of our house, but I'm so pleased with the tiny improvement that I did see Thank you guys so much for the techniques and encouragement. It's keeping me sane!