[lynne2]

have taken on a new dog named her zoey. Zoey is a black shepard mix. Was a stray. Can tell she has been trained somewhat by previous owner.She's amazing!
Have a three problems to tackle...
1st problem: takes to leash well but does pull..even if i pull tight on leash she still puts her nose to ground constantly paying attention to smells around her. I try to speed up and change directions with her to get her to pay attention to me but she is still pulling.
2nd problem: Also gets tired of "sit" will start to pull bite on leash, run around ,her body position is lower to the ground and is growling. She has not tried to bite or jump on me ... but a start of aggression that could be dangerous if allowed to continue. When she does this I tell her no! and bring in the leash to a shorter length as she releases it out of her mouth. When she calms down, I then re-issue the command to sit again.. and she sits.
3rd problem which ties in with the other two I cannot seem to get her to keep her eyes on mewhen in sit & stay mode. She is looking around at any and everthing else but me.
Could use good suggestions to help.

[Curbside Prophet]

Originally Posted by lynne2

1st problem: takes to leash well but does pull..even if i pull tight on leash she still puts her nose to ground constantly paying attention to smells around her. I try to speed up and change directions with her to get her to pay attention to me but she is still pulling.

If you goal is a loose leash, do not pull on the leash. That would be counter-productive. Pulling on the leash may in fact exacerbate the problem. Changing speeds and directions is fine, but you have to also teach the dog why she should follow you. And she should want to follow you because you are the source of all good things in her life. If all she knows is that scent is pleasurable, and not you, she will do as her brain instructs, and follow her nose. So, before going on walks, and during the day, you should work on the ‘watch-me’ command, and you should abuse NILIF along the way. This alone will not change the dog’s behavior, but it’s where you’ll need to start, if you’re going to have any meaningful effect on her pulling and in your relationship in general.

2nd problem: Also gets tired of "sit" will start to pull bite on leash, run around ,her body position is lower to the ground and is growling. She has not tried to bite or jump on me ... but a start of aggression that could be dangerous if allowed to continue. When she does this I tell her no! and bring in the leash to a shorter length as she releases it out of her mouth. When she calms down, I then re-issue the command to sit again.. and she sits.

What are you using to motivate the dog to sit? This dog is new to you, why should she want to sit?

3rd problem which ties in with the other two I cannot seem to get her to keep her eyes on mewhen in sit & stay mode. She is looking around at any and everthing else but me.

She’s uncomfortable. When dogs look away in a stressful situation, it’s a calming signal. She’s trying to tell you she’s not sure about the position she’s in, perhaps even not sure of you, and she’s checking her options. Being comfortable around its handler is not something you can buy off the shelf. The dog needs a good, long history of reward based training to understand you ARE the source of all that is good in her life.

[JayF]

First I would highly suggest implimenting the NILIF method.

I am not sure what setup you have as far as leads are concerned. I am going to assume you are working with what is most common, a flat collar and about a six foot lead.

With this assumption, this is what I would personally do. Deffinately shorten up on the lead. You want the dog posistioned by your side. Dont hold the lead taught, but dont allow enough slack that the dog is able to put its nose to the ground. You want to hold the leash with your arms down, no tension while walking. When the dog pulls and/or moves infront of you while walking, give a correction. A correction in this case is a tug of the leash, not a pull, but a sideways tug. I perfer to hold the leash slightly behind my body and tug behind my body away from the side that the dog is on. Also I like to give a command such a heel just before the correction. The reason for the command is that after time you should be able to give the heel command without having to follow up with the correction. If the simple correction appears to do nothing after a few walks then I would employ a corrective collar such as a prong collar.

This method uses the learning concept of puninshment. There are many other methods of learning to walk on a leash including posistive reinforcement. Please read about the various methods and chose the one that works best for you and your dog.

I speculate that draining the dogs energy and practicing NILIF will greatly help to aliviate these issues.