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I have a new puppy! Well not so new already - I have her from few weeks:)

 

But I find it VERY difficult to train her walking on a leash. She’s totally fine walking on a leash or free in my backyard, loves other dogs and likes most people, but when it comes to her and I walking alone on the street she :

1) plants herself on the ground

2) runs back to the house

 

I tried training her with treats but doesn’t seem to help. Are there any tops?

 

She’s a rescue dog, 4-5 months old.

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Happy Lemming

Do you think she might walk on a leash if she were with a pack of other dogs.

 

You, know... "monkey see, monkey do"?? Maybe make her feel at ease around other dogs you are walking on leashes??

 

Do you have any friends with dogs?? Could you borrow their dogs and see if she'll walk with them as a group??

 

Just a thought...

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RecentChange

She isn't confident yet! And walking out of her safe zone is probably confusing.

 

Baby steps. Go through the gate. Praise prraise praise. If you can make it down the driveway, more good girl!!

 

No forcing, be extremely patient. If you have to sit with her on your front side walk until she feels comfortable do.

 

I can PM you more later. I have lots of experience training rescue animals (dogs and horses).

 

She needs to settle in and trust you as her leader that would never endanger her.

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Do you think she might walk on a leash if she were with a pack of other dogs.

 

You, know... "monkey see, monkey do"?? Maybe make her feel at ease around other dogs you are walking on leashes??

 

Do you have any friends with dogs?? Could you borrow their dogs and see if she'll walk with them as a group??

 

Just a thought...

 

Yes she does! My BF has dogs and she gets crazy happy when they are around and walks after them. But we revert to square 1 when I walk her alone...

Maybe more time with other dogs is the key indeed.

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Thanks! That’s what I think it is - confidence is very low. She was found in a box with the rest of her litter, then separated from mom, so I assume her start of life was less than good:(

 

I’d be happy to learn more on PM whenever you have a chance.

 

Btw I have a cat too and my puppy loves him, but he’s reluctant to play with her for now... I wish I can help them to be comfortable/ friendly with each other ...

 

She isn't confident yet! And walking out of her safe zone is probably confusing.

 

Baby steps. Go through the gate. Praise prraise praise. If you can make it down the driveway, more good girl!!

 

No forcing, be extremely patient. If you have to sit with her on your front side walk until she feels comfortable do.

 

I can PM you more later. I have lots of experience training rescue animals (dogs and horses).

 

She needs to settle in and trust you as her leader that would never endanger her.

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Happy Lemming
Yes she does! My BF has dogs and she gets crazy happy when they are around and walks after them. But we revert to square 1 when I walk her alone...

Maybe more time with other dogs is the key indeed.

 

Maybe slowly reduce the number of dogs in the pack...

 

Start walking her with all of your BF's dogs and slowly reduce that number and see if she'll start to walk with one other dog, then take that one dog away for 30 seconds, then a minute, etc. etc.

 

It might work??

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CautiouslyOptimistic

Patience, patience, patience :).

 

Enjoy your new puppy!!

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Maybe slowly reduce the number of dogs in the pack...

 

Start walking her with all of your BF's dogs and slowly reduce that number and see if she'll start to walk with one other dog, then take that one dog away for 30 seconds, then a minute, etc. etc.

 

It might work??

 

Yeah we tried this and it works well when they are together. But he has foster dogs that usually need to be with him and his main dog and that’s the usual multi-dog pack :) But sh loooves one of his foster dogs - her canine idol :)

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A little late to this party, but here goes. Leash her up and take her out with yummy soft little training treats or tiny bits of hotdog and offer treats as she moves along with you. My new pup is just now allowed to go out into the world bc he finally finished vaccines.

 

My pup hated his leash and collar so much, he would run and hide when I pulled them out. (We started introducing him to them in the backyard before he could go on walks.). Once on, he would throw a tantrum and flop like a wet fish. Two walks in the real world with treats did the work and in 2 days, he sits nicely and waits when pulled out.

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When she is walking on the leash, take advice from the Dog whisperer, and don't confuse her by putting tension on the leash. Keeping a loose, relaxed but short leash by your side and walking confidently, she will eventually learn. Tension on the leash to dogs is a signal that they too should be tense. Don't get worked up. Stay calm. Puppies can't learn things permanently one and done. Puppies will be puppies for 2 years. She'll get it eventually. Also, try to walk her with another dog sometimes so she feels she has a pack and can also learn from that dog.

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A little late to this party, but here goes. Leash her up and take her out with yummy soft little training treats or tiny bits of hotdog and offer treats as she moves along with you. My new pup is just now allowed to go out into the world bc he finally finished vaccines.

 

My pup hated his leash and collar so much, he would run and hide when I pulled them out. (We started introducing him to them in the backyard before he could go on walks.). Once on, he would throw a tantrum and flop like a wet fish. Two walks in the real world with treats did the work and in 2 days, he sits nicely and waits when pulled out.

 

Ha she figured the treats are a ‘plot’ to get her out and stopped eating them around the corner :D

 

But she’s improving I think... she has no issues with tolerating the leash just fear from the street.

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When she is walking on the leash, take advice from the Dog whisperer, and don't confuse her by putting tension on the leash. Keeping a loose, relaxed but short leash by your side and walking confidently, she will eventually learn. Tension on the leash to dogs is a signal that they too should be tense. Don't get worked up. Stay calm. Puppies can't learn things permanently one and done. Puppies will be puppies for 2 years. She'll get it eventually. Also, try to walk her with another dog sometimes so she feels she has a pack and can also learn from that dog.

 

Yeah... it goes back and forth.

 

The main issue I think is she doesn’t yet trust me enough (ie she doesn’t feel protected on the street). Otherwise in the backyard or indoors she walks on a leash just ok.

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amaysngrace

Can you walk her in a park? Maybe she'd like that better than walking on a street.

 

I talk to my dogs all the time in a happy voice if I'm not mad at them, maybe you can try that to get her excited about her walks like "good girl go for walk with mommy" or something .

 

If she gets skittish I would probably squat down and pet her until she feels comforted enough to keep going and tell her it's okay the whole time I'm petting her. Do you do that?

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It's super important not to be breathing heavy and tensed up yourself. Dog Whisperer teaches to breathe in and out and stand up real straight because dogs can sense all that. They don't follow when someone is flustered. Like on the rare occasion I have tried to call my dog in because of some weather or something, my dog doesn't like the tone of my voice and won't follow it.

 

Don't reward with treats while walking is my advice because to give the treat you have to stop the walk, so in the dog's mind, you may be rewarding the stopping, not the walking. Conversely, if you reward a dog who won't move or get up, you're rewarding him not getting up. So reward with nice voice and loosening the leash hold. it does take time, different amounts of it, to build trust with a dog, depending on the dog. But mainly, puppies are just puppies. It's just like you can't expect a two-year old kid to do everything you say.

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Can you walk her in a park? Maybe she'd like that better than walking on a street.

 

I talk to my dogs all the time in a happy voice if I'm not mad at them, maybe you can try that to get her excited about her walks like "good girl go for walk with mommy" or something .

 

If she gets skittish I would probably squat down and pet her until she feels comforted enough to keep going and tell her it's okay the whole time I'm petting her. Do you do that?

 

Yeah! She’s great in the park. It is the street and her attachment to the house- if the house is out of site she walks.

 

I need to practice on cheerful talking:)

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Yup I think I’m generally anxious person and she senses it... Good advice for the timings I’ll do that.

 

We’re also starting a Beginners class soon - it will be good for socializing.

 

 

It's super important not to be breathing heavy and tensed up yourself. Dog Whisperer teaches to breathe in and out and stand up real straight because dogs can sense all that. They don't follow when someone is flustered. Like on the rare occasion I have tried to call my dog in because of some weather or something, my dog doesn't like the tone of my voice and won't follow it.

 

Don't reward with treats while walking is my advice because to give the treat you have to stop the walk, so in the dog's mind, you may be rewarding the stopping, not the walking. Conversely, if you reward a dog who won't move or get up, you're rewarding him not getting up. So reward with nice voice and loosening the leash hold. it does take time, different amounts of it, to build trust with a dog, depending on the dog. But mainly, puppies are just puppies. It's just like you can't expect a two-year old kid to do everything you say.

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CautiouslyOptimistic

Cesar Millan has some really great tips if you have time to watch some of his shows. It really helps to see it in action rather than just read about it.

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whichwayisup

A puppy trainer for a week or two should help too! Just something to consider if she doesn't improve.

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I like the dog whisperer!

So we are going on classes soon (I consider trainer too) but in the meanwhile my BF's dog start turning into a leader for her. When they walk together I can leave her unleashed (I won't) and she just walks parallel to him. The strange thing is he's not even playing with her like the other dogs he brings over, this dog largely ignores her but she still follows him like an idol :)

I guess this just comes to show I don't know well enough dogs behavioral dynamics... I have it much easier with cats. But mixed pets household is awesome! It just shows me how silly we people are to consider our species superior :D

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donotmicrowave
I have a new puppy! Well not so new already - I have her from few weeks:)

 

But I find it VERY difficult to train her walking on a leash. She’s totally fine walking on a leash or free in my backyard, loves other dogs and likes most people, but when it comes to her and I walking alone on the street she :

1) plants herself on the ground

2) runs back to the house

 

I tried training her with treats but doesn’t seem to help. Are there any tops?

 

She’s a rescue dog, 4-5 months old.

 

I once took care of an abused dog (still a pupper, under 1 year) to prepare her for adoption. She was so very nervous, peed herself and got close to biting whenever I got near her at first. She hated seeing the leash as she was most likely abused with it.

 

Lots of time and lots of love! My foster puppy had lots of issues, but when it came to walking on a leash, she also froze. So I just stood there with her. For a looong time. Till she was ready to move. Getting a calm older dog to walk her with helped too. As time passed, she started loving the walks. I now still see her sometimes (She belongs to a friend now and I love her!), I get on a skateboard myself, put a dog harness on her and let her run! She's a husky and wans to move a lot.

 

The mindset that helped me raise her was that dogs really do not think like humans. A pupper needs to know who the alpha is, and if you wanna go on that walk with your puppy, you go on that walk! No matter how long it might take.

 

This is just my personal experience!

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I just came for a puppy picture and now I'm disappointed

:p

 

Really though, I agree with most of the suggestions here.

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Update is after classes begin and have fun! Our pup loves to walk now. Don't need treats anymore. 2 days was all it took.

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We succeeded - 8 miles walk in the woods today, she was pretty good on the leash, not pulling or speeding! So she’s totally able to do it, just doesn’t like the street :D I’ll update after the class but getting much better already!

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