Puppy lead training

[leejaysmum]

Im having a terrible time trying to lead train my 18 week Border Terrier! She has lead pulled from 8 weeks of age when i began training her indoors - ready for the outdoors - once her vaccinations were over, but still she pulls like a steam train!
My method is to use a harness and a lead long enough to go across my body and down to her. We leave the house - having made her sit and wait till I exit first, but as soon as we are out of the door shes off! I make her come back till shes at my side and then I stop until she sits down, then I praise her. Then we set of again, and then she pulls again. I can repeat this exercise 200 times in a 15 minute walk, and after all these weeks, she's just not getting it. I use the Heel command, treats and praise when on the odd occasion she may walk 3 paces without a pull, but I just dont know what I'm doing wrong! I've successfully lead trained dogs before but never had one take so long as this pup!

[lankeela]

Ditch the harness, problem is they don't 'kick in' till the dog has already pulled with its front legs. You put a harness on a dog or a horse so it CAN pull, i.e. a sledge or a cart.

Use a half check collar (sometimes called a combi collar)which give you some control of the dog, and check the dog as it pulls forward (very light jerk towards you) giving a command heel or similar word, and the half check collar will tighten a little and then release as the dog is in the correct place. It is crucial that the collar is adjusted to fit the dog, with the chain portion forming a triangle when you put the slightest pressure on it, otherwise it will not work and release properly and your dog will just keep on pulling. The chain must form part of the circle of the collar, the webbing or leather must not meet.

[lankeela]

See here, and look how the chain forms a triangle.

http://www.petspantry.tv/acatalog/combi-collar s-nylon-chokes.html

[stonekicker]

what some episodes of its me or the dog if you can - the lady is brilliant. definately use a collar where you have more control and a non-extendable lead. when the dog pulls or strains, the trick is for you to stop and stand still until she does the same (this may take a while!) and then praise her before moving off. you may only get down the garden path initially, but you do not have to take her for lengthy walks until she gets the idea - train her first and then take her for walks. i suspect the problem may be that you are focusing on completing your walk even though she is being challenging. train first and get her under control. you also have to be quite commanding and domineering to train a dog, otherwise they will just not listen to you. good luck x

[carmalee]

think the problem is that she is a terrier - designed to go off and hunt things - not designed to walk obediently on a lead. My suggestion is - prior to the walk allow the dog to work out its natural tenencies by 'going seek' in the garden with toys etc - do this on a regular basis and make the dog focus on you for its stimulus - this will make it easier for her to relate to you on a walk. then after a period of calming down (very important as not good to take her out when hyped up) take her out for further exercise on a lead. - use a slip lead but make sure you have fitted it correctly otherwise it may pinch. I've used this approach and have had great success.
Correction methods for pulling are a) the handler never pulls back against the collar b) the handler directs the dog sideways rather than backwards as a correctional aid c)the dog is not hyped up for his/her exercise.
Borders are real power houses ( I look after two!!) and will not be content with a couple of 30 minutes on the lead per day - they need to let off steam. I have to question that the only exercise they get is on the lead. Terriers are terriers and will come back whe it suits them, they thrive on exercise and I have to say when my two come back out of the orchard they are very happy to swap stories with me back to the house - we have to cross a (minor road) but we chat amicably - dogs on the lead.
Sufficient exercise is the key

[woofgang]

yes i have always thought that the "no walks until the dog is trained" theory was a bit problematic from the draining energy POV and i agree that exercising the dog first before asking it to walk to heel is a better idea. Mine are GSP weimaraner cross, coming up for 20 months old, 2 brothers. One will walk nicely with me and the other has moments when I am sure that he is not even aware that I am on the other end of the lead. It deffo isn't dominance, I can do anything else with him, he certainly knows that I am the boss, but his brain just goes elsewhere at times...we persevere!

[seadogg]

Excellent advice but just one more small thing.
With my present B T I found that a stick held in front of the nose when walking
gave him a target and he soon got the hang of it.
A spin off was that although he had never been hit or threatened with the stick, he saw it as a symbol of authority and will obey a command immediately I touch it (like coming into the house without a treat).
As a rule Borders do things when they have made up their own minds so you never win completely.

[blahdiblah]

I have a Rottweiller and he used to pull as well, and I have to say he is much stronger than me! But the "choke chain" does the trick! If he pulls it "chokes" him so after 1 strickt walk he was super tame on the lead! Def try that!

[leejaysmum]

Thank you all for your answers. Ive taken a few days to put some of your advice into practice, but Im still having no joy! I tried the half check collar Iankeela, but shes just as bad. I can even feel her swallowing and gulping through vibration on the lead as if shes choking whilst pulling but yet she still not stop! She takes no notice of me at all, not the least bit interested. Shes jumping at anything that moves within 20 paces of her - leaves, twigs, cars,litter, but worst is people, she goes crazy! Shes not aggressive at all, qiute the opposite in fact, completely hyper, jumping all over them, scratching and licking frantically, yelping and screeching if i lead her away...Shes driving me crazy tbh, and im at my wits end! Im taking her for short quiet walks for training every 2 hours, but still she just wont get it!! Is this typical for a 5 month old terrier and dare I hope for future improvement? Shes very intelligent in other areas, will listen to command and shes learned loads of tricks, so she CAN learn. Her Dad was a Crufts best of breed winner,so shes from good stock, so bad breeding isnt to blame either. Im an extremely patient person, but this is really pushing me to the limit as nothing I do works!

[woofgang]

Do you have to walk her on the lead? it strikes me that you may have got into one of those self fulfilling prophecy situations where you are both expecting what happens to happen...so it does! As I said it has taken more than 18 months to get my two sorted, not perfect, just sorted. When we went through a particularly difficult patch. I just stopped lead work all together. We live near the New Forest and they have always been solid on off lead returns so we kept the on lead bit to putting in the car and other short necessary bits and just ignored the behaviour. In the mean time we worked HARD on socialisation with people, every other kind of obedient response you could think of and downstays on the lead indoors, leading to moving around the house with the dogs on leads indoors. Once they could do that calmly then we went back to short short bursts of requiring loose lead walking using the cesar milan technique of short lead and keep moving, ignore the dog apart for a flick or a sideways jerk when pulling, praise when in place however briefly that is.
I am more concerned about your description of her reaction to people, jumping all over them and scratching isn't going to make her many friends and could get you and her into serious trouble if she tries it with a child.
Is there a good behaviourist near you? maybe your vet would know?

[chrissa1]

Have you tried a "Halti Collar"? It worked wonders with my black lab when he was young. It works on the same principle as a horses headcollar - control the head and the body will follow. It works gently and as dog's don't like their heads being pulled, after a few minutes he had learned not to pull.
I don't think your other answers have mentioned this collar, but if they have, I must have missed it..

Good Luck.