[BuddyNBella]

Buddy is a 6mtnh pug/chin cross. His problem is...walking on a leash. HE PULLS AND PULLS! I've tried keeping treats and toys to distract him... nothing. Ive trained him inside my house with no distractions... works for a bit and then we get to a certain point in my house and he pulls imediately. etc. He will pull for a walk that is near 1 hr long.

Now... my other puppy is a GREAT walker... when not around BUddy.

3mnth Bella. She doesn't pull at all... unless Buddy is infront of her... help! Any suggestions?

Also, HOW do I get my pug to SETTLE in the car!? We have tried to leash him, it works for a little but how do I get him to just sit, and lay down!?

[wvasko]

Originally Posted by BuddyNBella

Buddy is a 6mtnh pug/chin cross. His problem is...walking on a leash. HE PULLS AND PULLS! I've tried keeping treats and toys to distract him... nothing. Ive trained him inside my house with no distractions... works for a bit and then we get to a certain point in my house and he pulls imediately. etc. He will pull for a walk that is near 1 hr long.

Now... my other puppy is a GREAT walker... when not around BUddy.

3mnth Bella. She doesn't pull at all... unless Buddy is infront of her... help! Any suggestions?

Also, HOW do I get my pug to SETTLE in the car!? We have tried to leash him, it works for a little but how do I get him to just sit, and lay down!?

You have 2 puppies it's like the blind leading the dumb. For now only walk one at a time, until you have an obedience base with each pup. As far as the car, are both dogs in car when you have the problem. You did not mention any kind of formal obedience work.

[BuddyNBella]

Buddy has always done this, even before the new pup. Actually, I'd say he has settled down since we have the new pup. I have not mentioned any form of obedience because i have NO idea what to do and have had no suggestions. Ive tried putting his bed and toys in it in the car, that doesnt work. And thats really the only suggestion I have read/gotten.

[PeppersPop]

Teaching loose leash walking can be tedious but when its all said and done, it makes walking much more enjoyable.

I suggest buying a no-pull harness (gentle leader seems to be popular) and using that for "exercise" walks and using whatever collar/harness you have currently for "training" walks.

Training walk: Put the dog on his usual collar/harness/leash and start walking. When the dog pulls, stop. Don't say anything, don't do anything, just stop. When he turns around to look at you and the leash goes slack, say good boy and start walking again. You can feed him treats, dangle a toy, talk to him in a high pitched excited voice when he is next to you and the leash is loose, but as soon as the leash goes taut, stop everything. It's up to you what you want the dog to do once you've stopped... for us, it was just a slack leash that started us walking again. Some people have the dog return to their side and stand or sit before starting off again. And then its just practice, practice, practice.

Because you cover so little ground on the training walk, its important to still do a good walk for exercise. It might be helpful to do a walk for exercise first with the no-pull harness (gets some of the excitement and energy out), then switch to your regular collar/harness and finish it off with a training walk.

Once you start loose leash training, its important that you never let him pull. You don't want him to think that if he pulls and doesn't move, that pulling harder will get him somewhere.

Also, if you have a flexi-leash, you need to retire it, at least temporarily, while you are teaching leash walking (even for exercise walks). A Flexi-leash doesn't work unless the dog pulls and it can make things really confusing for the dog.

As far as the settling goes, I'm not sure how to help with that. We always put Pepper in his hard crate for car rides. I feel safer knowing that he isn't getting into anything, sticking his head out the window, creating a ruckus. And I think its safer for him, me, and everyone else on the road when I can put 100% of my attention on driving and not worry about him.

Good luck!
Sid

Originally Posted by BuddyNBella

Buddy is a 6mtnh pug/chin cross. His problem is...walking on a leash. HE PULLS AND PULLS! I've tried keeping treats and toys to distract him... nothing. Ive trained him inside my house with no distractions... works for a bit and then we get to a certain point in my house and he pulls imediately. etc. He will pull for a walk that is near 1 hr long.

Now... my other puppy is a GREAT walker... when not around BUddy.

3mnth Bella. She doesn't pull at all... unless Buddy is infront of her... help! Any suggestions?

Also, HOW do I get my pug to SETTLE in the car!? We have tried to leash him, it works for a little but how do I get him to just sit, and lay down!?

[winniec777]

We did everything pepperspop suggests about pulling and it worked. Two extra suggestions: try an EasyWalk Harness. It hooks to the leash in front of the dog's chest, forcing him around to face you if he pulls too hard -- the exact opposite of the direction he wants to go. We also did the dead stop technique, combining it with 180 degree turns. When she pulled real hard, we did a 180 degree turn and walked the other way. If she pulled again, we would do another 180 degree turn. Keep on doing that and the dog will learn that pulling gets him precisely nowhere! You look pretty odd going down the street but it's worth it. If she pulled within 20-30 feet of the house on the way out, we would also march her right back in the house, take off the harness and leash and wait another 15-30 minutes for the walk. She learned real fast that whenever she pulled she wouldn't get her walk.

One other thing to try: train your dog to sit before you open the door. That will put him in the right frame of mind for a more disciplined walk. Just go to the door and before opening it, ask for a sit. If he won't sit, just stand there and wait him out. Eventually he'll sit. If he gets up before you've released him when you open the door, close the door again and wait. Dogs catch on real fast that you expect them to sit and stay sitting before you'll open the door and walk them through it. Also ask for a "wait" or "stop" once through the door to allow yourself time to lock the door without a dog pulling you off your feet. Again, the dead stop technique works here, too. Don't budge from the door until your dog is calm with a loose leash.

RE settling in the car, we're the wrong people to ask. Our dog will lay down to get a treat but she jumps up like she's spring loaded once the treat is gone. I can say that the older she gets, the more relaxed she is. Perhaps your dog just needs to mature a little more??