[Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull]

I have a puppy that is about 5-6months old. I have had her for about 2 1/2 months. I try and take her walks daily, but sometimes that doesn't happen. But she always gets exercise for at least 30min, whether it be fetch or tug or something.
I have seen a method on leash training about stopping everytime the dog pulls. I have been trying this method, but it doesn't seem to be working all that well.
When she pulls, I stop, and just today I have started taking a step or two backwards. Then I wait for her to come to me before we start walking again. Sometimes I only get two steps before we stop again, and it is getting really old.
What else can I do? Usually by the end of the mile to two mile walk, depending on the day, she is fairly well behaved on a leash. But that first half is an uphill battle. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and I'm having problems with her jumping up on people and trying to chase after them while we are walking, any tips to stop this? Thanks again for your help.

[wvasko]

Originally Posted by Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull

I have a puppy that is about 5-6months old. I have had her for about 2 1/2 months. I try and take her walks daily, but sometimes that doesn't happen. But she always gets exercise for at least 30min, whether it be fetch or tug or something.
I have seen a method on leash training about stopping everytime the dog pulls. I have been trying this method, but it doesn't seem to be working all that well.
When she pulls, I stop, and just today I have started taking a step or two backwards. Then I wait for her to come to me before we start walking again. Sometimes I only get two steps before we stop again, and it is getting really old.
What else can I do? Usually by the end of the mile to two mile walk, depending on the day, she is fairly well behaved on a leash. But that first half is an uphill battle. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and I'm having problems with her jumping up on people and trying to chase after them while we are walking, any tips to stop this? Thanks again for your help.

Obedience class would be great place to start.

[rosemaryninja]

I agree about obedience class. This will really solve the majority of your problems with basic training.

If you can, keep on doing what you've been doing, but when you wait for her to return to you, give her a treat before moving on. I tried that with this incredible pulling dog (you would not believe) and actually got somewhere with it.

[Elana55]

There are puppy classes you can go to that won't break the bank and will teach YOU a lot. Usually they meet one night a week and you go for 6 weeks. The object is to teach you to teach the dog.

I recommend you go to this site and take a look:
www.clickertraining.com

You are doing the right thing on the leash walking thing, but it sounds like your dog is not getting enough exercise. 30 minutes a day is really not very much time. The dog needs to get a little tired. While the stopping and walking backward thing is good, it can get old but you have to persevere and be patient. Try rewarding the dog with a tiny piece of food when he comes back to you (it is amazing what you can get a dog to do for a little piece of hot dog.. I can get 50 treats from one hot dog and my dog would walk on water for one of those little bits of food!).

You need to teach your puppy other basic commands such as come here, sit, stay and lie down. The trick to stopping any behavior you don't like is to teach the dog a behavior you DO like and then, when the dog goes to do the 'wrong' thing you ask for something more appropriate. You have to replace one behavior with an alternate behavior (works on horses, cats and kids too!).

Puppies want to jump on people and get in their faces. It is what puppies do. You need to work on getting the dog to focus on you and to do something else when he sees people. I have my dog sit. I actually have her sitting for the phrase, 'How do you GREET people?" "Greet" means SIT STILL. She isn't perfect at it, but is way better than she used to be.

You also need to take your dog out and around people as much as you can so he is used to being around people but paying attention to you.

You are doing the right thing by asking questions! Keep on asking them!!!

[Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull]

I have worked a lot with her on sit, down, and stay. I can wave her favorite tug rag right in front of her and she will stay there until I tell her to get it. She is really fast at learning everything else, just this lease training and not jumping on people.
After our walk, we play fetch for 10-15 minutes, which usually consists of her sprinting around the yard keeping the toy away from me. Then after that, we usually play tug until she gets lazy and doesn't really want the toy any more, which is usually about 15minutes. Then she passes out for a few hours.
When she pulls, its almost seems like its in the spots where she wants us to stop so she can sniff around or stare at something she had her eye on. I tried the treat thing while stopping, but this dog doesn't seem to be that food motivated. Keep her toy from her, and she will do anything you ask. I just don't know if taking the toy with us on walks would be a good thing.
She is not around people all that often. Mainly just me, my g/f when she comes over, and a friend or two that come over regularly. She isn't quite fully vaccinated, so I am waiting on the classes for her, but they are definetly in her future. I had to spend a bunch of money on my cats so I didn't have the money to get her shots right away. But she is about a week and a half from her final shot, so she should be taking some classes real soon.

[Jsee]

Wow this thread has helped me so much! I too have a 3 month old pup that is very smart, sassy and high energy and all has gone very well except for the issues previously mentioned. My pup seems to have an inherited tendency to chase cars so since commands are completely lost on her, I'll try the treats to distract her from the passing cars.Thank you!

[Elana55]

I live alone and have no visitors, but I still need my dog well socialized.

I take her to the local shopping center and work her with people around. You have to start at a distance from the entrance to Grocery stores, Walmart, the Dollar Store etc. where there is a lot of people traffic. As you gain focus, move closer. Atka will now sit quietly next to me, even when strangers pass within a couple of feet of her and ignore her.

Take the toy with you on walks and where ever you go that you need focus. Some dogs work harder for toys than for food. That is fine. Take the toy with you instead. Great to do actually!

Another thought.. you play with this dog until he is tired of the game. Stop before this. The idea is to stop before the dog haas had enough (training or playing) so the dog is ALWAYS wanting a little more!

Last, be careful of the 'keep away chase' game unless you have a clear signal to end it and the dog brings you the toy and easily releases it to you. 'Keep Away chase' can escalate into "Keep away I am not coming to you." Trust me on this one.. I learned it years ago when I was a kid with my parents dog!

Good that you are planning on puppy class!

[Jsee]

I am happy to report that the treats did the trick. Our walk this morning was like night and day compared to yesterday. I started off rewarding her with a tiny treat from my pocket even for the smallest response to me and she IMMEDIATELY started watching me instead of ahead of her as we walked. This relaxed as we went on and she began to enjoy looking around but would "check" on me occassionally to make sure I was there. What a difference! When I'd see a car coming I'd have one ready and offer it to her just as the car got her attention and it took some coaxing but she paid less and less attention to the cars. I'm really excited about the immediate response and anxious to keep working with this! Thanks!

[SMoore]

It may have already been said as I havent read all the replies however i'll post my two cents.

I had the same problem with my German Shepherd, she's still young so we have that problem a bit now and then still (but she has growing to do)

Anyhow, I didn't really like the stopping every time she pulled. Instead if she saw something she wanted (squirrel, the car for a car ride, one of her dog-friends, etc...) as soon as she pulled I would say a firm "eh" turn around from what she wants for 4-5 feet and then start walking again. Every time she would pull for what she wants i'd simply turn her further from what she wants. If she walked nicely then getting closer to where she wants to go was the reward.

Dogs pull for a simple reason, it works. It gets the dog where they want to go faster than walking nicely with you. As soon as you make that not to be true then they have no choice really but to walk with you if they want to get to that destination.

A trainer I use taught this to me after I told her I was tired of "becoming a tree" etc... and it worked rather well.

Also don't be afraid to treat your dog every time she's walking nicely on a loose leash. I went through bags and bags of training treats during long walks. Eventually you can phase them out but for training its critical to reward for good behavior.

[tigress]

Originally Posted by Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull

When she pulls, I stop, and just today I have started taking a step or two backwards. Then I wait for her to come to me before we start walking again. Sometimes I only get two steps before we stop again, and it is getting really old.

Well, keep at it and don't even make an exception. I trained my dog at least not to pull so hard my hand cramped this way but what it took was not giving up and just letting her pull at the end of the walk. I tried the method for a bit and it wasn't seeming to work til I did one walk where the walk took forever because I was stopping practically every few steps (to step when she was really bad) and refused to let myself give in. I swear she had instant improvement hte next walk (I did not see any improvement in that walk at all, but the next walk she got much better. Now I'm just workin on her being completely loose leashed). My dog admittedly is a pretty fast learner (and only stubbern when she decides I'm being unreasonable) and I know pits can be stubbern (or have attention defecit I swear) but I think if you try to be consistant and don't even give an inch, you will probably see progress (some dogs this may take longer than others). Honestly I saw the most drastic improvement with this method when I was willing to just stick it out and not make one exception (I had tried the second method I told you about even before this).

If not, you can also try the method of turning around (and do it suddenly, not slowly, pivot on your heels and change direction like that) everytime he pulls and go at least 7 steps (I go until she's walking nicely with me and not even pulling back) before you turn around again. I'm not having as much luck with this but I'm not being as consistant either (she doesn't pull hard now and sometimes it takes me a bit to figure out if I should do that or not meanwhile she's been tugging a little bit). And I didn't have luck teaching her not to even pull hard with it but honestly not sure I'm doing it right (I'm trying to go in one direction ultimately and I actually wonder if this method is best to do when you go in a circle and just change directions when they pull and keep going the other direction unless they pull again. She seems to have learned eventually I'll turn around. She even seems to get I"ll turn around when she is walking pretty next to me and then resume pulling when we are going back the original direction).

I've just been told by a neighbor who says he's had dogs for years for slight tugging to lean down so the leash is parallel to her, give a slight tug and say no pull. Do this twice if she keeps pulling, then step back two steps and say uh uh or whatever you do to say no and then praise her when she's back with you. This seems to be working pretty well honestly and maybe one day she'll be completely loose leash (but keep in mind this was just some advice I got today so I haven't had a chance to see if it really has effect but she seems to already respond to one tug and stop pulling at least for a little bit).

[Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull]

My dog doesn't really "pull", but she likes to keep the leash tight. Sometimes she will get a running start and only stops once there is no more leash, but for the most part it is just her tugging I would say.
I bought a no pull harness and this seemed to help today. It was the first time we used it, but she seemed to respond fairly well to it. On top of the anti pull harness, I still stopped every time she pulled, and we had our best walk yet. Hopefully things will continue to get better.

[rayter]

To effectively train your dog, I suggest that you try using sport dog training collars. With the use of this equipment, you can command your dog with ease. It can also help your sport dog understand the necessary things you require him to do without having to yell on your pet.

[SMoore]

Originally Posted by rayter

To effectively train your dog, I suggest that you try using sport dog training collars. With the use of this equipment, you can command your dog with ease. It can also help your sport dog understand the necessary things you require him to do without having to yell on your pet.

I think suggesting an e-collar this early in training is jumping the gun. I would use this as a last resort. Most dogs can be trained to walk properly with positive reinforcement. It takes time and patience but again I think it's kind of rushing for a quick fix by jumping to an e-collar.

[Jsee]

The training is going great with just positive reinforcement. However she is still very panicky toward passing cars and while I can distract her her instinct is still very obviously to chase the car and it takes agressive distraction on my part to keep her next to me and quiet. This concerns me very much because if she were off her leash and a car went by, I'm sure it would be bad.

[ara28]

I'm not sure that this will be of any help and it probably wont but my dog used to pull so hard I thought he was going to rip my arm out and then after he turned about a year old he just stopped pulling. It was like magic or something.

[Omega_Brindle_Pit_Bull]

I don't think I would want to use the e-collar even if it was needed. I would just find a different way to exercise my animal. Our second walk with the no pull harness was awsome. She barely pulled at all. I am sure they will just get better and better.