Loose leash walking tips?

[lovemysiberian]

I know there's a lot of posts about this, but I want to explain what I am attempting with Echo, and maybe get any constructive criticism and some extra tips if needed, or even reassurance that I am going in the right direction! I would eventually like to teach her to heel, but I would rather work on loose leash first, as heel seems more advanced and right now I honestly don't care where she's walking, as long as she is not ripping my arm out of my socket.

First off, I don't have a fenced in yard. Walking is her excercise, as well as an off-leash doggie playdate in a fenced in area daily, but I have to walk to get there. I used to have a tie out in the yard, but she snapped it in January going after a cat, so since that point, I have been too paranoid to buy another one and put her out on it.. I normally just used it to get some excess energy out before a walk, so I could work with her easier. Now, I don't have much to make her tired before the walk. I live in a 2nd floor apartment, and can throw a ball around for her when the neighbor isn't home, but if he is, I'm sure he would not appreciate hearing all the noise upstairs.

When I started off with Echo at age 5 months, it was obvious she had no leash training. She was like a train, and all I had was a regular harness, that attached on the back, which I learned later triggered the opposition reflex. I did some research and tried working with her on two methods. When she pulled, I would turn into an anchor and stop. This didn't seem to work as well, so then I resorted to completely turning around and walking the opposite direction when she would pull, which was better for her, however, I would get quite dizzy going in circles every 10 seconds. It was very time consuming and eventually, I stopped being so consistent because I felt like she wasn't getting the excercise she needed and I definetly want her to be tired and happy! So I sucked it up and let her do it for the most part, totally my fault.

I bought an Easy Walk Harness, which I could tell the difference immediately, however, she got used to it. Not to mention, I would have to re-adjust it several times during the walk, otherwise she could get out of it.

Next step was a Gentle Leader. It was wonderful for me, but I could never really get her desensitized to it, so that too failed, because her urge to pull was so strong that she would continue to pull, no matter how uncomfortable it was, which caused her to freak out and roll around on the ground trying to get it off her face, not to mention, because there was so much tension in it, it started chaffing her face. It was fitted properly, but I could never get her attention long enough to get her desensitized.

Then I got the Walk Your Dog With Love harness, which was comparable to the Easy Walk, however, I like the fact that it does not un-adjust itself. So this is the one I still use to this day, however, when she's extra frisky, I would walk her with both harnesses on.

Then I got her a backpack, which was awesome! But one of the straps unraveled after maybe 10 uses? Not sure why, but at this point, I considered it a sign and a wake up call that I need to get serious about the training and stop using tools. And I will MAKE the time for it, even if I have to start our walk 20 minutes earlier. However, I will still use the WYDWL harness, for my arm's sake during training, because if she yanks me on the regular harness, the pain is awful! I won't use her collar for training, as the only purpose of her collar is so she has identification, in case I have a harness failure.

If you have gotten this far, I really appreciate it, I know this is long, haha. It's months of frustration in one post. Anyway, I did some more research and I've started working with her today. Had some cheese in my pocket and off we went. I did the 'anchor' method first.. I'd wait until I had her eye contact and she was praised and rewarded for eye contact and also if she came back to me or the leash lost tension. If at any point she walked loose leash (which she is always perfect when we walk back home, of course, lol) I would praise her and talk to her the entire time, anytime she walked next to me, I had the cheese in my hand and let her eat it as we walked.

The only thing with this method though is that it is hard for me to keep her attention, she gets her treat and runs back to the end of the leash. If it loses tension and I started to walk again, she gets more excited each time and yanks and lunges. So I am not sure if it will get through to her. I'm wondering if I should try the turn around method again, as it seemed to work better, but what a pain it was! lol. I'm trying to figure out what will work better or if it really depends on the dog.

Also, another thing I'm thinking of doing on our next walk shortly, is bringing a squeaky toy. These are forbidden to her, because she would tear them apart and I worry about her getting a blockage from eating things she's not supposed to, so I like to play it safe with her. However, I still have all of Taz's old toys and I may be willing to sacrifice one that he may not have played with much (yes, I am quite protective of his stuff!) just for the squeaky, I'm wondering if it will get her attention and work better than food? Echo works great for hot dogs, however, I want to teach her an emergency recall (she knows 'come', but I want to do another recall that is associated with the hot dogs so I have a better chance of getting her back if we get in a scary situation).

What kind of methods/treats/toys/attention getters do you guys use that has worked? Any tips on what I could be doing that may work better than what I am doing, or anything to add?

Sorry for the long post, I am desperate!

[lovemysiberian]

Also, I have 2 leashes I can use, one is a 4 foot leash that I normally use, the other is a 15 foot, which I wrapped up on my arm to make it 6 or 7 feet for our first training session today. Was not sure if the 4 foot leash was enough length for something like this?

[Daniel Cameron]

Hi Jackie, We use the martingale collar for walking and correction, and then hook them up to the belt and the harness at the park. I would like to add is important to use the collar at the top of the neck and give a split second correction up or to the side or up and never back. If their exitment is too much and one of them does the kangeroo jump, I turn them around me back to heel and sit them until their energy calms, then we continue. I do run mine on a scooter about 15-20 miles which helps. You could try a running machine to drain their energy before your walks.

[Laine]

I'd personally work with her using what you normally use to walk, but use the shortest leash you have (or wind up something so it's short) so she does not leave your side when you walk. If she walks nice at your side, things are great; the moment she pulls, you stop and get her to sit. When she sits and is still, try walking again. Treat her when she does well - walking easy at your side - but the moment she pulls, no treat and no more walk. I think right now her "Value" isn't just in the walk, but the pulling she's doing since she's fighting everything you've done so far to pull. The only way to stop that is to remove that value for it. You pull, this happens. If walking wasn't her way of getting exercise and to the dog park, I'd even suggest the moment she pulls to go back into the house, ending the walk, even if you don't get past the front door. I've done that with my dogs; went to take them out on a walk but they acted up totally when we got to the place and since I wouldn't tolerate it, back into the car we got and we headed back home. Waste of gas/time, but they haven't acted up like it again (so far ).

That's just some ideas. I'm sure others will have better ones probably (so far I haven't encountered this problem too much).

Good luck with your girl.

[Elyse]

I use a martingale collar to correct Suka's pulling, but I correct him by jerking the leash to the side and down (which is the proper way to do it without hurting their throats). Whenever he starts to pull, I 'check' him. He mostly walks loose-leash now, and he really only pulls when he wants to pee on something or when he sees another dog.

You have to make sure the collar is tightened most of the way, though, or else the 'checking' won't be as effective.

[dale&chayla]

I use Caesar's (dog whisper) way of doing it. Both huskies with me stay right at my side.

[Tikaani'smum]

Can't help I'm afraid as I'm having the exact same problem with Malakai......but I did hear one of the experts on Crufts saying that it could be an idea to introduce a 'touch stick', where you have a stick with something sellotaped to the end (a treat etc), and you train the dog to touch the stick first, they get used to being treated for touching the stick, and then you can start using it on walks, holding the stick at your thigh and hopefully the pup will walk at your side to be able to touch the stick and get treated.

I'm training Malakai to touch a stick - starting in the house, obviously, so there's less distraction. He's doing well. The challenge will be can he keep focused on walkies

[lovemysiberian]

Thanks for the tips all! I have tried several things with her, like I mentioned, different situations seem to need different things with her. But anyway, just wanted to update that she is doing excellent and has made a lot of progress in such a short time. Now, we're not relying on treats, toys or anything.. her biggest motivation is continuing the walk. She still needs corrections, however, she responds well, and the walks have been much more pleasant. Even one of my neighbor's noticed on Wednesday morning. She walks her two small dogs, and they yip at Echo and she usually goes nuts.. this time, she responded to me and calmed right down and my neighbor mentioned how it looked like she's being much better for me.. yay! I love how giving her structure is calming her demeanor. I will keep being consistant!