The most fundamental piece of equipment you will need is your leash and an effective way to attach it to your dog. There are an endless variety of tools and mentalities when it comes to leashing your dog, but what matters is that your dog understands the pull of the lead to be a command, not a resistance band. A prong collar is no more effective (although more damaging) than a buckle collar if your dog leans into it, indifferent to the prongs. Even a back clip harness can be effective to a sensitive dog that understands the pull from the back to mean something. Whatever tool you use, it must be secure and get your dog’s attention. If you’ve been using a traditional buckle collar, a face halter or chest harness is likely to get your dog to respond in a new way.
Accept before you begin that perfection is not achievable. You must compromise with your dog about where and how often she stops. It is not possible to ask your dog to take a walk completely without stopping.
Sadie often lags behind me when walking. To the point where I feel as tho I’m dragging her all the way. At a certain point she’ll suddenly decide to walk normally in a jolly way. A friends dog did this and she bought him a carriage so they could walk without dragging. Why does she make me drag her?
Hello! Some dogs just aren't enthusiastic walkers. And she may be one of them. You could try switching from a collar to a harness, or the other way around to see if that makes any difference. Another thing you can try is carry some treats on you for the next few weeks. Give her treats for walking at the pace you enjoy and see if that brings her some encouragement to walk a bit faster.
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My dog is the perfect breed for 4 mile walks and runs which I did every morning before adopting him. However I can barely get him to go more than half a mile because he seriously stops to smell EVERYTHING and when he sees another dog coming his way, he stops and sits in the road! I need help getting him to travel longer distances without being so distracted. I have been trying to use treats but he stops to chew the treats too! What is my solution??
Hi! I couldn't read your message without laughing a little bit. Dogs are so silly! So right now because of his age, he is going to want to explore everything. This is something that will potentially correct itself as he ages. At around 9 months to a year, the world will become less distracting. Ideally anyway! In the mean time, you can teach him some commands to help speed the process along. "Leave it" is the perfect one for this. This is a command you can give to teach your dog to break his attention from anything that is distracting him. Smells, birds, other dogs, people, etc. Teaching “leave it” is not difficult. Begin the lessons inside your home or in an area with very few distractions. Here are the steps for teaching “leave it”: Make sure you have two different types of treats. One type can be fairly boring to the dog, but the other type should be a high-value treat that he finds pretty delicious. You will also want to make sure that the treats are broken up into pea-sized pieces so it won’t take him too long to eat them. Put one type of treat in each hand. If you like to train with a clicker as your marker, you can also hold a clicker in the same hand that holds the high-value treat. Then, place both of your hands behind your back. Make a fist with the hand that is holding the treat of lower value and present your fist to your dog, letting him sniff. Say “leave it” and wait until he finishes sniffing your fist. As soon as your dog is done sniffing, you can either click with the clicker or say “yes.” Then offer him the higher-value treat in your other hand. Repeat until your dog immediately stops sniffing your hand when you say “leave it.” When you say “leave it” and he stops sniffing right away, leash your dog and then toss a low-value treat outside of his reach. Wait until he stops sniffing and pulling toward the treat. As soon as he does, either say “yes” or click and then give him a high-value treat from your hand. Practice this exercise a number of times. Over time, by practicing “leave it,” your dog should stop pulling as soon as you give the cue. When rewarding him with a treat, make sure that it is something good, not plain old kibble. By doing so, you are teaching him that asking him to leave some food doesn’t mean he won’t get anything, but that in fact he might get something even more delicious. When your dog is reliably responding to the cue, you can teach him that “leave it” can apply to other things as well, not just food on the floor. Repeat the exercise with five different items that are fairly boring to your dog. After using five different “boring” items, start using slightly more exciting items. You know your dog, so you alone know what items he would consider more interesting, but don’t jump to high-value items right away. To increase his chances of success at learning the cue, you want to work up to high-value items gradually. If Kleenex or a piece of plastic, for instance, would attract your dog on a walk, don’t start with those. Choose the items based on your ultimate goal: Anytime you say “leave it,” you want to be confident that your dog will indeed leave whatever you are asking him to leave. . The reward he receives when he leaves an item can change as well. If your dog has a favorite toy, squeak it and play for a moment when he comes running to you after leaving the other item of interest. Most dogs love interacting with us, so a moment of praise or play with a toy can be just as effective as a treat. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. Thank you for writing in.
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