Need help, and advice, as always... :(

[Urielle]

So Suzi is amazing on a leash. Most of the time. She'll heel when I ask her to (gets distracted but comes back in line with a sharp "heel"...). I praise her constantly, with "Good heel, Suzi. Good heel!" She's a clever thing, and I'm always so proud of her.

Her being so good on a leash is what made me think that a paper route would be about ideal as a way to walk her in the mornings.

This is turning out to not be the case. A 45 minute route turned into an hour and a quarter because as soon as we start out the door with that carrier bag, she turns into a monster. She won't heel, and she pulls and she darts in every direction. I haven't got the free hands to bring her back in line. Plus, I'm distracted trying to make sure the papers are going into the right mailboxes!! (We can put newspapers in mailboxes in Canada. Apparently that's illegal in the U.S.) Even when I'm just walking down the street, during a stretch where there are no houses to deliver to, keeping her under control is next to impossible. She constantly pulls and sometimes she will start playing tug with the leash. My response to her playing tug with the leash is always to pull the leash tight with a sharp tug to get it out of her teeth, and then hold it tight until she settles down (usually with an annoyed groan! LOL!). Sometimes I have to repeat this two or three times and then she'll give up.

I am trying different things, to try and keep her under control on the route, but it *is* causing delays I hate to afford, when I'm really rather wanting to get back home, to nap for another hour or two, before I have to go to work again.

These are the things I'm trying:
First, I will walk a few steps (one, three, fifteen... I never know until I decide to stop) and then stop suddenly. I will then walk a few more, and stop. The idea there is supposed to be that she HAS to pay attention to where I'm walking and what I'm doing, rather than the interesting smells on the lawns beside her. It works alright, until I'm ready to start delivering again, and then she's all over everywhere again.

Second, I will have her 'sit'. And I will wait. I'll stand there and wait for fifteen or twenty seconds, and then proceed with my deliveries again. This fixes her behaviour for about 30 seconds. Then she starts again.

She gets progressively worse and harder to manage, as I get closer to the end of the route. I don't have the hands or pockets free at times like this to carry treats with me, so reward with praise has to be good enough. At any other time, it is.

When I walk her, I also always try to have her sit, at every street corner, before we cross. Maybe this is creating part of the problem, because during the route, we are crossing back and forth constantly, so I gave up with the 'sit, stay' during the route. It's just not practical.

I know she's only a 3 month old puppy, but I need to get this under control before she gets much bigger. She's getting stronger all the time, and she's going to haul me off my feet before long!!

Any advice or comments would be SO much appreciated!!

[calgal]

You need to train her "before" she can go on your route. Keep the leash really short and make her walk right beside you. If she acts up then immediately stop without a word and no looking at her. Wait till she is calm before you start again. Keep this up till she realizes she isn't going anywhere as long as she's not walking properly. I don't think the jerking of the leash would be a good thing. It's only going to increase her anxiety.

[Urielle]

The jerking of the leash is simply to get it out of her teeth. :P If I pull it, without jerking it, she hangs on, and the game continues. She really doesn't seem to have anxiety issues. She rarely actually grabs the leash in her teeth. It's on the rare occasions that she does, that I

She walks nicely beside me, if I'm not on the route. That's why I thought sh'ed be alright on it. *sigh*' If I am walking with her, and I stop. She will sit. Without prompting. And wait for me to start again. She really is doing well, I think, for a puppy her age. I don't know if it's excitement, or confusion, or what, that makes her do what she does when I have a newsbag. :P

[Sentry]

Two things i can think of right off hand, take the news bag during regular walks. Work more on good behavior when your wearing it. Second and easy, get a chain leash, dogs don't tend to like to put it in thier mouth.

[Urielle]

Originally Posted by Sentry

.... Second and easy, get a chain leash, dogs don't tend to like to put it in thier mouth.

But.. but.. but.. but!! I just got her a new cloth leash, today! To match her new collar... Cuz ya know.. she really needed more leashes.. LOL

I took pics on my phone of her new leash and collar but they aren't sending right yet. Just waiting for them to show up in my mailbox before I can post them.. I'm addicted, I think!

[Ritz459]

Maybe it is time to look for a control type collar or harness? That will make it easier on you, which will cause you to be less frustrated, which will make training her easier on your mind. At the very least it would help you get through your morning deliverys while you continue to work with her.

When Chloe would chew on the leash and tug, I turned it into a game. I'd play along for a couple of seconds, then say "Knock it off" and give the leash a sharp tug which would jerk it out of her mouth. If she went to grab it again, I'd do the same thing again. As soon as the leash would leave her mouth I'd reward her. Now if she gets really excited and wants to tug on it I let her, but she must stop when I tell her to. I use it as a reward of sorts - if I'm out of treats, I'll play tug with her with the leash. She loves doing it. When I'm ready to move on, I just say, "Knock it off" and she spits the leash out and away we go.
Now, when my friend's Pit Bull tried the same thing she just about pulled me off my feet. LOL So I wasn't as considerate with her, but even she made the connection that she can tug on it for fun, but she MUST spit it out when I tell her to.
A chain leash is a good idea, but don't pull that out of her mouth - it could hurt her teeth.

[Carrie]

(gets distracted but comes back in line with a sharp "heel"...).

What's the sharp "heel" for? She needs to get the behavior before she can learn what the cue means. Add the cue later. And it can be in a normal speaking voice. There is no advantage in using a sharp or stern voice with your dog. They can hear very well, even very soft voices. It's the association between the cue and the response that counts. And the reinforcement (reward that the dog views as spectacular) for the behavior most of all. Reinforce her (treat) when she is in the position you want. Deliver treats at a high rate of reinforcement if you really want her to learn where the best place is to be. And don't reinforce her by letting her have forward movement IF the leash is taut. Stop.The second the leash goes taut, you need to stop or turn. Be super consistent. If she ever gets to pull, that teaches her that pulling is part of the deal. "In order to walk, I must pull. That is how it works."

Be careful not to completely surprise her with a hard stop that her trachea gets hit with the collar. I personally use a warning word which means, we're just about to stop. I say, "uh-oh" and stop. Pretty soon the dog learns that when he hears that, the privelege of walking forward is about to end. Heh, heh... when my Doberman was learning and even after he got onto a nice, loose leash walk, he'd sometimes forget himself and go out to almost the end of the leash. I would say, "uh-oh" in a playful, baby talk voice and he'd literally bounce/hop backwards to get along side me again. He did it like he thought it was the funniest thing ever. It was just a reminder sound. Then I'd be sure to reinforce him better for staying nearer to me...not too far out ahead.


Here's a good demonstration of loose leash walking training.
YouTube - How to train your dog not to pull- Loose Leash Walking

When you are training a dog anything, it's much, much more beneficial to train in non-distracting areas like in your own yard where there aren't so many new scents, sights and sounds. When you're out and about and having trouble like you are now, get a Halti harness. It's a great invention. It attaches from the front and prevents pulling. It's for management, not training.

Halti Harness - No Pull Harness - Dog Training Supply

[Shmee]

I've seen the halti work wonders for dogs that refuse to walk on a leash with a normal collar. It's really a focusing tool for the dog once she gets use to it. It takes some training on both parts, but i think it's the answer you're looking for when it comes to the problem at hand.

-Shmee

[k9hullio_sam]

I think the problem is just she needs more practice. This is how Rugby learned to heel, and it might be easier to do than trying to keep her into a heel. We basically just lunged, and it was my responsibility to stay on his right side. So when we step off, I pass him on his right side, and if he gets out of position, I just do a series of turns to get back on his right side. Everytime we stop, I step on the line so he is sort of stuck with me. He was just starting in the video, but eventually, when you step off they just walk beside you on your left side (this is them agreeing to be in the heel position)...then we introduce the heel. Since she already sort of know the word 'heel' she will probably be on your left most of the time to being with. It might be a way to work on being there without her actually having to 'heel' if that makes sense. When we lunge, we don't use any words and don't speak to the dog--that is for later.
YouTube - Rugby Lunge Line
You can also walk faster than I am in the video since she is probably a lot quicker than rugby was at 3 months. lol

[Carrie]

Do you have any videos of the finished product? In that video I see a lot of times where you're moving your body in order to be along side him more instead of him moving his body....like side stepping to get closer to him in some places. Also, I see no reinfocing at all when he does get into somewhat close to a heel position. I didn't see what the point was of all the stopping. He wasn't sitting or giving you attention. Just curious how that which was in the video led to a proficient heel.

I do not recommend teaching a tight, formal heel anyhow until after a nice loose leash walk. And even then, unless you're showing, or unless you just want to, it really isn't necessary and shouldn't be expected that the dog does a formal heel for a long time as it takes a lot of concentration.

I do like starting them out without a leash like you did in that video....when they're pups. But I do a lot more reinforcing (click/treat) so the dog tends to learn to stay close sooner. I think within that amount of time on the video, I had my Dobe, for instance staying right along side me 85 - 90% of the session because I communicated to him clearly what position he was in which paid off handsomly and which places...all over the yard were quite boring and non-rewarding.

BTW....that little fluff is the most adorable creature. I loved how he took a second take sort of of that Doberman as he was trotting around and how cute and playful he was with things on the ground. Too cute!

[Kris]

Another thing you might try is to find her 'awkward' pace. For Darby, my IW it's the pace that is between a walk and a trot. It forces him to constantly adjust his pace to try and find what is most comfortable. A thinking dog is paying attention.

Another tool I find useful is 'tuck'. When we moved to Charleston I discovered that Darby's heel, while adequate to where we had lived was not tight enough for city walking or going through crowds. So we have two commands, which for an Irish Wolfhound work but would need adjusting for a smaller dog:

Heel: He walks on my left with some part of his body (any part from head to butt) at my hip but up to 3 feet out. This gives him a square within which he can choose to walk about 3' x 4.5'. Fairly large but close enough that the next command can be complied with instantly.

Tuck: He walks with his shoulder touching my hip, head canted slightly towards me and looking at me. This gives strangers we approach a feeling of security and me control over whether and how any greetings occur. He's never in a tuck for more than a couple minutes as he is really working hard to stay touching me while walking.

[Carrie]

Check this out:

YouTube - How to teach Pivoting- for Heelwork, Rally, Freestyle + more

[AgileLabs]

She is very young and has a lot to learn before expecting great behavior on the paper route.

First she needs to get the walking nice thing down before throwing the distraction of the paper route in.

I am not a fan of gentle leaders/haltis. While they may stop the pulling, they don't teach them not to pull, simply prevent them from doing so.

I teach loose leash walking by making a lot of turns and the dogs get self corrected. No pulling, tugging, yelling involved. If the dog is not with you, oops, he gets the end of the leash. It teaches the dogs to make the right choice instead of just being pulled in the right directon.

So how do I do it. I use about a 6 foot leash. I walk. As soon as the dog loses a bit of focus. I drop all the slack in the leash(holding on to the handle) and proceed in the opposite direction. If the dog doesn't come with you, he will hit the end of the leash in a self correction.

Dropping the slack allows the dog the opportunity and a signal to know you are going to turn.

As you progress, the turns can get faster and expectations can get higher as far as when you want to turn and how little of off focus you expect.

You need to keep the dog thinking, not knowing where and when you will turn next and they end up having to pay attention in order to avoid hitting the end of the leash.

[Sentry]

Originally Posted by Urielle

But.. but.. but.. but!! I just got her a new cloth leash, today! To match her new collar... Cuz ya know.. she really needed more leashes.. LOL

I took pics on my phone of her new leash and collar but they aren't sending right yet. Just waiting for them to show up in my mailbox before I can post them.. I'm addicted, I think!

LOL, what? You have to buy something else for Suzi! how terrible,LOL

[Urielle]

Originally Posted by Sentry

LOL, what? You have to buy something else for Suzi! how terrible,LOL

I know!!! I can't seem to help myself. Every time I hit a store... I have to get SOMETHING for her. Not to mention our nightly pepperoni walk (we walk from my place, to the store a couple blocks away where she gets a pepperoni, and fawned over by the store staff...)... *WHICH reminds me: It's 8:30... time to go LOL*

AgileLabs: The paper route is FULL of constant turns and corrections. I know she technically needs a lot more loose-leash training before she's ready for it.. but I just CAN'T seem to bring myself to go without her... I was going to this morning, and she gave me those "we're goin now?? YIPPeeee!" eyes...

I didn't let her leave my side. *ANY* time she tried to pull off in another direction, she got pulled in close, and told "no". Actually, by the time we were at the end of the route, "heel" brought an immediate reaction, and she started watching me for what to do next. Still tried to go off a lot, but also a lot *less*... I believe, smart thing that she is, she's catching on. Previously, I'd get her to 'heel' a lot, but also let her have her leash freedom, on a regular basis... So for the time being, constant 'heel' is what it'll have to be, until she understands that *that* is how we walk. Later, when she is in the habit of walking beside me... she can have some freedoms to explore the environment. (I know that smiley isn't really appropriate.. but BOY do I like it!!)

Carrie: The "sharp" 'heel'... it's maybe the wrong word. I don't say it like I'm angry. Just sharply. So that it's not long and drawn out, and gets her focus. I do not, can not and will not 'baby talk' my dogs. I didn't do it with my children, either. And really, I don't see *any* difference between raising a dog, and raising a child. Baby talk is for some people (can't remember if it was you or not).. but not for me.

Unless you're going to do it forever, as with paper training, it simply means you have to teach them ONE way of doing things, and then teach them a *new* way of listening.

I know, she IS a baby. And she will want to explore everything.. over and over and over and over... Sniff all the lawns a thousand times.. etc. I've wanted to allow her some of that. But.. give her an inch when she's 8 weeks old, and not too strong.. and she's taking a mile, now that she's bigger and more of a handful. Another 3 months and she'll be dragging me to HER heel!!! So. No more leeway. In places where I think it's appropriate, I give her some leash-slack, and tell her "go pee" or "go poop" if I think she needs to... as soon as she is done she has to come right back to heel.

I praise the heck out of her when the leash is slack. I don't try to let her think that it has to be tight, and that's how we walk. It's more of a quick tug until she's in line... and then let the leash slacken. Praise when she walks like that for a bit. Rinse and repeat...