Question on walking

[jenfer]

I have a "new problem" with Gigi's walking for the past day or two it seems that when we are outside for walks she is completely distracted when there are people walking by or noises (well, she gets easily distracted anyway when she is not home), she will stop walking and ignore me and even hotdog doesn't seem sufficient enough to get her attention. :( Hotdog was working and she only gets it when we are outside of home. She will either ignore the hotdog or she will take it and play with it instead of chewing/swallowing it and move on. I did try circle work (it's like she will get treats when she focus on me) and it worked a little (it worked well when we first learn it), but now it only works 1/2 the time. And when she walks on the grass she went wild! She is on a leash (not her harness), but she is running around and she completely ignore me and won't stop. I am just not sure what I should do. Is it because she is still young or it is just me not knowing how to train her? :(

[aly]

First, you might want to pick a few other treats (like cheese or something) so you can use different treats each time so the hotdogs don't get boring. Aside from that, just keep practicing the leash walking exercises you learned in her class. You may need to go back to less distracting environments and practice more if she's not doing it in distracting enviroments as well. Leash walking is a slow process. But I definately think keeping her guessing on the treats will work. By making yourself a "jackpot", she'll never know what she is going to get.

[jenfer]

Thanks, Aly. I will try mixing the treat. Hopefully it will work better. Sigh...

[guster girl]

Don't lose hope, though! Finn is a master on leash with no distractions, and, a hellion when there are people or dogs around. I don't really try too hard on it when there are so many distractions, I just keep practising at home and outside with no distractions. They'll both eventually get it! ;0)

[jenfer]

Actually tonite she is doing great! I swear... one day she is doing great, the next day it's like she completely forgot what she's supposed to do. :rolleyes: I will keep working on it. But the mixture of different yummy treat help a lot! She was constantly looking at me (great attention!!!), except when someone walks by or something VERY interesting is going on. Overall, I am pleased. :)