Dog won't walk on a leash-What do I do?

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whalerider23
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:20 pm
Location: Colorado

Dog won't walk on a leash-What do I do?

Post by whalerider23 »

I petsitt a 4 month old Australian Shepard mix. She's a good dog but she is a pain to take on a walk. Overall she handles herself pretty well on the leash, she doesn't pull that much and is good around people and other dogs. The one thing that annoys me the most is that she constantly stops walking because she is distracted by different smells. It wouldn't be a big problem if she just sniffed and kept walking but she likes to dig and eat whatever she smells. For instance, we will be walking along and then she pulls over to a yard and buries her nose in the grass and will either eat the grass or roll around in it. She sometimes will even eat poop or trash. She also likes to grab sticks and will lay down and start chewing it. This happens the whole entire walk (beginning, middle, end). It is soooo embarrassing because all these people see me dragging this poor dog down the street. But I have no choice because I can't risk her health by having her eat all this garbage on the street and I need to make sure she gets her exercise.

What should I do?

Should I entice her to keep walking with treats?
Teach her the heel command?
Or should I get a gentle lead?

What do you think?
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Nettle
Posts: 10753
Joined: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:40 pm

Post by Nettle »

Your answer is in your post, right there where you say "she pulls over to..."

She's four months old. Don't let her pull you. If she starts to pull, you stop dead, then when she looks at you, distract her with a toy, a "watch me" a treat, fast walking etc. Keep varying the distractions. Read up on all the posts here that tackle the same issues and teach the "watch me".

Also understand that she's a puppy and the world goes into her mouth :D that's how they learn - but you are so right not to let her eat garbage.

I have a puppy 15 weeks old yesterday, so I am where you are, and they are very distractable, but you need to distract to something positive ie better than the garbage or the poop she wants to smell.


Also don't saunter when you walk - step out quick-march. At 4 months a pup does not need many minutes of walking - play is just as important.

She is a lucky dog to have you taking her out and caring about what she gets up to.
Also play with her in the yard so she knows you are the source of fun, and if she comes to you, oh look, treats or a toy.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS
ckranz
Posts: 1028
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: San Diego CA

Post by ckranz »

To a certain extent those extra smells for my dogs are apart of the walk and I use them as a real life reward for walking nicely...not for edible things but the stop at a tree, hydant or bush.

For things like garbage and such, a strong leave it works well. Leave it is great for telling your dog to leave something you do not want him to get his nose in.

Note if you teach him leave it, remember that this is not the command to use for intermitten permissible items like his toys. For those items use drop and take to initiate play and only use leave it for thing your dog must never have.
Fundog
Posts: 3874
Joined: Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:31 am
Location: A little gambling town in the high desert

Post by Fundog »

:lol: Oh my.... I can sooo relate, whalerider! My dog is five years old now, and weighs 60 lbs. She's a big spaniel, a bird dog, so naturally, she is governed by her nose. Now, most of the time, she's pretty good (all these years later), and I have even received comments from passersby at how nicely she walks. But... we can be moving along at a nice fast clip, and I'm totally into it, got my heart rate up, burning fat, when "whap!" She has just spun me 180 degrees, nearly ripped my arm from its socket, and we are moving full-tilt some 50 yards back where we already passed.... for a tiny bit of a potato chip someone dropped on the sidewalk! And she had that skill perfected when she was just a pup, and I haven't figured out how to stop it yet. Most of the time, though, we just putter along, sniffing the shrubbery. She will actually/literally stuff her whole head inside a rosemary bush! A couple of weeks ago, she did that, and pulled out a snack cake-- I didn't let her have it, of course, but even the next morning my kids commented that she still smelled like rosemary, lol. Goofy dog!
ckranz
Posts: 1028
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 12:18 pm
Location: San Diego CA

Post by ckranz »

The other caveat of walking is observation. Seeing troublespots before your dog can get into trouble. When you see the spilled nachos before you get to them you have more choices to help both you and your dog.
whalerider23
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2009 2:20 pm
Location: Colorado

Training Treats

Post by whalerider23 »

Hey I just wanted to know what kind of training treats people like to use with their dogs? Or more importantly how to cook them? I've read in Victoria's book that she recommends poultry, beef, liver and cheese. My dogs love cheese and that's what I use all the time when training them, but I want my dogs to have a variety of treats to make their training sessions more interesting. I've asked Victoria herself what she uses on her show and she said she uses the food that is prepackaged at the grocery store. I've asked other people too and that's what they've said too. Are there any brands out there that people recommend that is cooked properly and not covered in spices and herbs? Also how do you cook liver? What kind of meat can be used as training treats? I've seen on the show that she has used pepperoni, tripe and hot dog? She also said to make the treat more appetizing, you should heat it up so the scent molecules are released which entices the dog even more. I'm not a cook by any stretch of the imagination so I wouldn't know how to cook it properly. Any thoughts?
spydre
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:08 am

Another question

Post by spydre »

Okay, when a family member got a new dog a couple of years ago, their Aussie Shepherd starting gaining weight - evidently he's starting to actually take food out of their hands, and when he gets done eating his meals, he goes over and takes the other dog's meals (which is probably why the dog is underweight - a mini dachsund). They KNOW the dog needs more exercise. This dog doesn't get walked, is not very well leash trained, so they just hope that he will get his exercise running around the postage stamp sized lawn (the couple are in their 60's, and one of them is disabled). Although I've seen references that the breed should be 35 - 60 pounds, well, even though this dog is in that range, you can tell it is fat - the area that was previously just fluffy hair is well, fat body. He's become food aggressive, etc. Although it is possible that he weighs more, I can't remember.

So I offered to walk the dog for them - the dog's not going to slim down without it (and they know that the dog needs more exercise). Well, the first thing out of their mouths was that I couldn't handle him because she can't handle him - so I reminded them that I handle an 80 pound dog on his walks, and if for some reason he decides to pull, and pull hard, I could get dragged around. So I convinced her to let me do it, since they weren't going to do it. I may start bringing him over here, too, in the backyard, so he and Dodger can have some playtime (we live about a block apart). Well, I haven't completely convinced her yet, she's going to talk to her husband about it. Truthfully, since they let the dog get that way, and really don't make an attempt to stop it, I wasn't going to offer, but in my mind, I can't let the dog suffer anymore - it's not healthy for him, and being shut in the house or yard (on the leash) isn't getting him exercised, and it's making him even more dog aggressive for dogs that don't live with them.

I know part of the problem is the food they are feeding him - they are giving him 1 cup per meal of cheaper, mainly filler dog food, which leads him unsatisfied (leading to the begging and stealing of the little dog's food), but frankly, since they shop by what is cheaper for them (they can't believe we spend the $10 extra to get Merrick), and have been known to reward begging, I'm keeping my mouth shut. And I don't know what they have tried to keep him from stealing the little dog's food, but they wouldn't appreciate me "butting in" on that either.

So, I'm just going to do what I can, and make sure that he walks some of the extra calories off. Well, okay, both dogs have training issues, but they will have to deal with that.
Dodger - 2 1/2 yo American Bulldog Mix
[img]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd184/Spydre1/Dodger/DCP_0106.jpg[/img]
RIP Loth 10 year old Husky/Keeshond/Shar pei mix
[img]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd184/Spydre1/Loth/DCP_0039.jpg[/img]
spydre
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:08 am

Post by spydre »

Sorry, I meant to make this in a new post, so ignore it, and I'll make a new post.
Dodger - 2 1/2 yo American Bulldog Mix
[img]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd184/Spydre1/Dodger/DCP_0106.jpg[/img]
RIP Loth 10 year old Husky/Keeshond/Shar pei mix
[img]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd184/Spydre1/Loth/DCP_0039.jpg[/img]
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