Leash training

[lvoss]

@jys1011:

When using any of these leashes or training aides you need to train your dog that it's better for BOTH of you when they don't pull. So rewarding them while they walk nicely is ABSOLUTELY important. Otherwise the uncomfortable leashes or choke chain corrections is just saying…"when you pull you don't feel good" and what you want them to learn is..."when you DON'T pull it's GREAT"

This is right on, Basenji Mom. For my dogs, walking on the head halter ranks right up there with walking in the rain on the "Basenji Don'ts list". They flop over on their side and try to rub it off their face and proclaim to the world that "I am broken!" My dogs have gotten much better about not pulling through lots of consistent training. They could be better but they have reached a level that I am comfortable with and that is what is important. I see many dogs that have good leash manners on their Gentle Leaders or Easy Walk Harnesses that turn into pulling champs as soon as they are on a flat buckle collar. They need to learn what "loose leash" means and that there is something in it for them to keep a loose leash. This takes time and training, the halters and harnesses can help keep them from practicing bad manners while you are still training good manners but they do not teach them the good manners.

[Duke]

I find a need to re-open this thread as I am near the end of Duke's Intermediate training. We have practiced "heeling" through most of the 8 week course. (week 8 is next week) I have made SOME headway using a long wooden spoon dipped in peanut butter and/or cream cheese. The idea with the long spoon is to use the length of it to reach his level as a lure and incentive to walk at my side. The 7th class was yesterday the challenge was to walk past other dogs and distractions, while keeping them focused with the "heel". Head halters and harnesses are not to be worn for heeling. WELL - Duke doesn't care what's on the spoon after his eyes target a dog, ferret, cat . . . I can't even get him to "come - watch - sit" or even hear my voice! I literally have to wrap the leash around my back to keep him closer to me, keeping the distractions at a safer distance (in my control) from Duke's desire. I've read this entire thread, and understand that continuous training is necessary.

My question is: How do I get Duke's attention if the treat isn't reward enough and he turns deaf to my voice? Anyone had this occur? I fully intend on pursuing loose leash walking with the heel command but could use some ideas through this obstacle.

BTW - As you can imagine, Duke's disposition with this training is dreadful and embarrassing. However, as the other dog owner's see Duke's wild ways, I figure it must make them feel really proud of their own dog's progress. I see them meandering calm as cucumbers, glancing at me trying to control Duke. :o

[JazzysMom]

hee hee, we did that peanut butter on a spoon thing in Jazzy's puppy class two years ago.

Didn't work for us either. In fact, nothing works for us as far as leash training goes, w/either dog.

I have decided that walking at a heel is not a priority for me anyway. As long as I can control them on-leash when I need to, I'm okay with that. I don't mind if they walk a bit ahead or to the side, and sniff and look. If we're in a crowd, I just shorten the leash and they do just fine that way too.
But I am always willing to listen to tips!

[Duke]

Ohh boy! So heeling remains to be a challenge every walk? What kind of collar do you use? I've been using a slip collar (Martingale type) for the class. He detests the head collar and acts like Lisa's:
@lvoss:

For my dogs, walking on the head halter ranks right up there with walking in the rain on the "Basenji Don'ts list". They flop over on their side and try to rub it off their face and proclaim to the world that "I am broken!"

With the head collar, I can walk with him at a more normal pace. Still would try heeling if I can find a solution to this problem so everyone is happy. Any ideas or tricks? Anyone?

I suppose realizing we have "special" dogs is a small price to pay. I remember being able to enjoy walks and conversation with my DH with my other dogs . . .

[jys1011]

While I can't say that ours have learned to CONSISTENTLY heal & walk without pulling for the ENTIRE walk…I have used some techniques to help them focus on me for most of our walk time. And I have to say that for me, it's good enough. My TOPAZ is GREAT on a leash...and well C3PO will just never be great :(. He may be OKAY at best LOL LOL..anyway here it goes.

First I would UP the treat value. Maybe PB is just not enugh to get his attention...and I would also ONLY use this SUPER HIGH VALUE TREAT when you're on walks. If he gets it any other time then the treat will lose its value. At least in my experience this is the case. So maybe you can try salmon, or tuna or smelly cheese you get the idea...

When I see a dog, squirrel, or some other big distraction..I start to say "FIND IT!" "FIND IT" "FIND IT" dropping treat bits on the ground so that the treat falls right in front of them one after another like rain drops...they don't have time to look up becuz their nose is GLUED to the ground looking for the fantastic treats on the ground. This works most of the time.

Other times I need to put the treat right at their nose...like a lure to help them focus on the treat rather then the dog.

This is all done when "watch" technique is not working.

Good luck! And let me know how it goes

[Duke]

Thanks for the idea jys1011. I hadn't thought of dropping the treats like that. I'll use the "find it" command so they know to look for treats on the ground. I'll let you know how it works for me.

If anyone has some ideas, please respond. I'll try anything to get the attention I need when Duke's brain runs of the crazy side.

I am envious to those who show, lure or run agility courses. You all must have some "special" trick up your sleeve when there are an abundant distractions in and out of the spotlight…;)

[RockysWoman]

@jys1011:

While I can't say that ours have learned to CONSISTENTLY heal & walk without pulling for the ENTIRE walk…I have used some techniques to help them focus on me for most of our walk time. And I have to say that for me, it's good enough. My TOPAZ is GREAT on a leash...and well C3PO will just never be great :(. He may be OKAY at best

I completely agree. Every other dog I've owned has been trained to heel and walk with the loose leash… but Rocky just decided it wasn't for him and god help me if I thought I was going to talk him out of it. Being a sight hound and so prey driven really makes it interesting walking. My husband (or daughter) normally walks the Papillion and I've got Rocky. Anytime we encounter something that catches his eye (another dog; squirrels; etc) he'll start to strain on the leash and doing the crazy basenji thing.

I've found putting him into a "sit-stay" or asking him to walk another direction and then "sit-stay" works wonders. If he still is distracted, I ask him for some other task until he's completely focused on me and my crazy directions.
(Can you tell I use a lot of horse training techniques with the dog? And yet they work!)

While basenji's truly want to please us, they really are in it for themselves and themselves alone. I keep seeing those shirts that say "It's all about me!" and I desperately want to put one on Rocky so the whole world would then know what I'm dealing with in my dog.

[bskatezy]

I've been using a harness with my Basenji and have been keeping him on my left side and giving him treats when he sticks by me without pulling. He hasn't really caught onto the whole leash thing, but I'll keep working on it. He's horrible with the martingale collar though.

[wizard]

Mine have all been STRONG pullers and only recently have I/we made progress with the trainng.
Inside mine are really quite good but outside it's a different but understandable situation.
I tried the head halter but Gossy just walked with her head turned to the side all the time; I tried martingale collars and no change; I tried various body harnesses and they slowed her down slightly but I had to be on guard constantly because she could escape from them all if she got behind me. I finally took a "loose leash class" and the instructor had me use a pinch collar and I had to give a little sharp tug immediately if the leash tightened. This is working and now we're walking without the pinch collar but stopping when the leash tightens. We still have work to do but much more improvement than with any other techinique.

[Lmaris]

Only have had my 13 week old puppy less than a week, and he's already walking pretty well on a loose lead with only occasional resistance. The key to not have a pulling dog (learned from stubborn AmStaff) is not to engage in pulling. I use the dressage concept of "half halt" with a small correction upward, not a tug forward or back, followed by moving purposefully in the direction I want to go. No treats on walkies, since I don't want him stiffing around for food when he's supposed to be paying attention to me. Short practice sessions of only 5-10 minutes is all his brain can handle right now, and we follow it with serious play time. I use a martingale collar because it gives an effective gentle upward correction then loosens immediately after. Lots of verbal praise & pats/scritches too. He really prances when he gets it!

In dressage riding, a half halt is a quick closed hand accompanying a closed leg. The leg encourages forward, the hand says "listen, this is important" and converts impulsion to a more collected energy.

Corrections must be subtle but firm and timed well so they're more of a nudge to distract from whatever is causing him to pull, and moving with a happy "Thabo, heel" or "Thabo, come along" seems to do the trick.

[lvoss]

Young puppies are pretty easy to get to walk on a loose leash. As they get older and start to have more confidence in exploring their world, they can become more of a challenge.

Using treats does not mean the dog is not paying attention to you, there are many exercises that you can do to teach the dog that attention to you gets the reward and attention to the treat gets none.

[TwinDogsDifferentMothers]

Lately we have been using the Sporn Harness. This halter appears to be very effective for our 4 year old and also effective for our 4 month old. Granted, they do have to be adjusted properly to have good control.

My only concern was that a harness can be backed out of. Lately I have been double leashing the 4 year old. This includes a leash connected to the Martingale collar as well the Sporn Harness. This seems to work well for me and our 4 year old responds well to it. We have used a gentle leader on him but do not like it pulling on his head and neck. So the Sporn Harness has been really nice to work with.

[lvoss]

There are several no pull harnesses available. I like the Freedom Harness by Wiggles, Wags and Whiskers. It can be well adjusted to fit the dog, has a couple of option for how it is used depending on how much the dog pulls.

http://www.wiggleswagswhiskers.com/newsite/no-pull-harness.htm

[TwinDogsDifferentMothers]

The harness is very interesting because of the double leash attachment control. Comparing it to the Sporn, I do notice there does not seem to be any padding on the nylon straps and it appears to be a plastic buckle type. They do appear to offer a great warranty.

I do like the options they offer.

Here is a link to the Sporn no pull harness just for comparison:

http://sporn.com/training/mesh-non-pull-harness/

We do like the fact that this is very easy to put on the Basenji, there is a flexible mesh against the chest, padding under the legs where the straps come up. Adjustment is very easy because both straps that give you control go up through a metal guide and a one button slider lock is used to tighten up the harness on the dog. The big plus for us is that our Basenji's do not seem to mind wearing them or getting them put on. The second plus is that this no pull harness actually flexes some with the dog. Like any no pull harness, I think it has to be adjusted right to be effective.

Since there is a money back guarantee offered by the manufacturer, I thought it was a no brainer so we gave it a shot.

[lvoss]

The nylon is very soft and the strap that goes behind the arms is made of velvet. I have one for my 14 year old who cannot wear a collar. It is also made in USA and they will replace damaged harnesses if you send them back to the company.

[Sunnie]

Great advise Q!

[kjdonkers]

Hello, we use http://www.animalking.nl/Nylon-Hondentuig-Mokka-Hamilton and attach the leash to the chest ring.
It works great because when the dog pulls, it automatically turns itself toward you.
Binti, our very strong B, walks very nicely with it - not always, but way better then with a neck collar. Once in a while I walk her with her neck collar and she is improving with this, too!
There are several varieties on the market.

[Buddys Pal]

[QUOTE=

My question is: How do I get Duke's attention if the treat isn't reward enough and he turns deaf to my voice?

Maybe you can try this: when out for the walk and he pulls, just stop. He will try to pull, run around you. Wait patiently without saying a word. If he stops and even looks at you for a millisecond, then say "Good and Ok, let's go" or what ever you want that you'll remember to say all the time he looks at you and to let him know this is what you wanted. The reward will be the start of the walk again. You may have to do this numerous times before he realizes that he needs to look at you, be calm, then the walk will continue. Be patient, calm, and set aside enough time for this 'training walk' exercise so that you won't be rushed for results. It will happen. It has taken many months before Uzie finally recalls with the word 'come'. I still use the whistle with the treat on our walks, or at the house when he is required to COME NOW! Conditioning for any response takes time and patience, persistence, and consistency.

[Buddys Pal]

@abby_basenji:

What do you guys suggest I do to train Abby to walk like a good puppy? I did not have the oppertunity to take her to puppy classes when she was younger as the one school in my area was full and the other offered classes only on saturdays which I have to work. So now I am playing catch up with her to get her to be the good puppy I know she is. I have been trying to snap the lead to make her stop pulling (without a choker) but I was wondering about getting a halter lead and see if that works. My snapping her lead does not seem to phase her at all, I have even tried to use treats and that didn't work either.

instead of 'snapping' the leash, just walk like us humans do, swing your arms alternately as you walk. this gives an auto correction as you walk, and your pup will get the idea of where he should be at you legs. Don't even have to say anything at first. If the 'auto' corrections or snap eventually feels uncomfortable, then he'll slow down and when this happens, say the command of choice, 'walk' 'with me' heel-whatever you want. Too much of a pull, then slow down or go the opposite direction, 180 real fast. what your saying is pulling will not get you where you want to go! Make doing the wrong thing harder: pulling gets you the opposite direction, or we stop, and you have to sit….walk nicely, we go forward.....

[kjdonkers]

These front-attaching harnesses work really well in my experience. As soon as the dog starts to pull, it will turn itself towards you, slowing it down. Otherwise the dog has every bit of freedom to do what it wants.