Refusal to walk on leash

[ParNone]

Hi ya'll,

I just started puppy classes with Oz and you have to walk your
dog on a leash with either a flat buckle collar or a special training
collar that tightens around their neck so they can't get out of it.

Since I've had Oz, I've been walking him using a halter. He walks
semi okay on that. He has a tendency to stop and not come
through doors or past the curb into the street, without a bit of
coaxing though. Tonight I tried walking him with the special
training collar. We got half way down the block with a ton of
coaxing and waving a treat in his face and then he just refused
to walk.

I finally had to pick him up and carry him back home. I'm sure
my neighbors got quite the chuckle at the site of me carrying
a 35lb dog all the way back home.

I then went back to the halter and then he wouldn't walk on that
either, so I finally went and got Murph to walk with us to show
Oz how much fun it can be. He did much better then, only
stopping once. We were actually able to make 3 blocks,
which is the farthest I've ever gotten with him.

My dilemma is that my first class with Oz is Monday night and
I'm not going to be able to use that halter and I don't think
the teacher is going to go along me using Murph as Oz's
motivator. She only mentioned using treats and toys, not
other dogs. Anywho, I need to have him walking somewhat
okay on a flat collar or that training collar by then or I'm going
to be carrying a 35lb dog into the Petsmart. Any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.

Par...

[Crikit]

I know that some friends of mine recommend clipping the leash on to the collar or using the slip leash (training leash- they work great for agility) and just let the dog drag it around for a little while to get used to the feel of it and stuff like that. Of course you'll have to watch him to make sure that he doesn't get caught on anything.

[wolf_Q]

Nebo HATED walking on a leash at first, but that was just as a tiny puppy. He would just stop and not budge, and I often had to carry him too, lol. Maybe you could try putting him on a pretty long leash, and running around with him? If you make it fun, he may be better.....most pups will run after you, and you could give him some treats if he followed.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Forget the "training collar" otherwise known as choke chains or prong collars completely. Stick with positive reinforcement and a flat buckle collar. Take a small piece of rope (or a very small leash) and attach it to the flat buckle collar and let pup walk around with it dangling. Don't let it be too long so that it gets tangled on everything and never leave it on pup in an unsupervised manner. He will get use to the dangling. Start out then with small walks in your yard. Let pup go where he wants with you holding onto the leash. Don't force where pup goes. Then slowly start to coax pup with treats to follow you. Before long he will realize the leash means walks and fun and not anything to be afraid of.

Good luck with classes. You will do fine!

[ParNone]

hi crikit,

I'm going to try that at lunch today and then again when I
get home tonight.

hi wolfq,

yeh I tried running and excitedly saying Let's Go! and Come On,
Oz! This all worked when on the halter, well most of the time,
but no doing with the training collar.

Hi dixie,

The one thing I'm worried about with the flat buckle collar is
when I'm having this no budging issue, he does pull backwards
and I'm afraid he's going to pull out of his collar. Which I guess
in my neighborhood isn't too much of a concern, because he
follows me pretty good, without the leash, so I don't think he'd
run from me. I was more concerned about when we're at
Petsmart, which is why I went for the more secure collar.
If I put the flat buckle on tight enough where he can't pull
his head out is that going to be too tight?

I'm going to work on the dangling leash today in the backyard
with the treats and see how he does.

Thanks all ya'll for the suggestions!

Par...

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by ParNone

The one thing I'm worried about with the flat buckle collar is
when I'm having this no budging issue, he does pull backwards
and I'm afraid he's going to pull out of his collar.

If he refuses to budge so what! He will eventually budge and when he does, you just praise the heck out of him and give him a treat! He will think he did the greatest thing on earth (and for you he just did!). In positive training you only reward the behavior you want and just ignore the behavior you don't. Later you will learn to associate a sound that ques the dog he just did what you wanted.

Food for thought! Why choke the dog if you can accomplish the same result without it? Don't worry about doing everything because of class. Just do the best you can, have fun and everything else will fall in place. Just enjoy your pup and this time together. They grow soooooo fast and are only puppies once!

[ParNone]

Hi ya'll!

I went home at lunch and clipped the leash onto his collar and
just let it dangle and let him walk around getting use to it.
Then I got a hot dog, which is a lil' more special than his normal
dog treats, as a lure. We just kind of wandered around the
backyard with me holding the hot dog by my left leg, so he
could nibble as we walked. He was doing so good, that
I opened the gate and we went out into the front
yard, down the sidewalk and actually past the curb into
the street. He did hesitate for just a moment at the curb,
but I took a step back and got him focused on the hot dog again,
and off into the street we went. We walked a short distance
down the block and came back. I ran out of hot dog on the
way back, but he still came along with me. Didn't try to run
off or stop, even though I had no treat and I still wasn't
holding the leash.

I'll just keep doing these short sessions a couple of times a
day and maybe by Monday he'll be enjoying walking
on the leash enough, to walk into Petsmart. I have a bit of
a competitive nature, that I really have to work at containing.
And going to class with him, kicks that tendency into high gear.
So I've gotta keep reminding myself this all about having fun
and not put any pressure on us. If I have to carry him into
Petsmart, then I will and we'll just have a good laugh about
it.

Par...

[Kosy]

Hi! I'm new to the board. Sorry, I don't know the breed of your dog. After your pup gets used to the dangling leash and you want to lure him to walk, try walking him while holding a wooden spoon in your left hand with a gob of peanut butter on the end. It worked for me!

[ParNone]

Hi Kosy!

He's a Smooth Coated Collie.
Thanks for the suggestion about the peanut butter on the spoon.
I've been using a hot dog and cheese, which have worked real
good, but never hurts to give him a lil' variety.

I made a dry run to Petsmart today, because tomorrow night
is his first class. He did outstanding. Didn't have to carry him
into the store. Yeah! It was a lot more busy than I expected
today too, lots of activity and noise. He passed by pit bulls
and labs and beagles and didn't give them a second glance.
The only dog that gave him pause was a lil' 5 lb dashund that
was growling and barking his fool head off. He stopped and
sent a raised eyebrow in the dashund's direction, but when
I called him to come on, he trotted right to me.

He even had a couple of people come up to him and tell him
he was gorgeous and then give him a big ole hug. He was in
7th heaven. He loves to greet and meet. So I think by the
time we left, he'd decided that this Petsmart place was a pretty
good place. *whew*

Par...

[Kosy]

Sounds like your pup is doing well. In September, my then 4-month-old standard poodle pup fractured her leg, first night of puppy obedience class. Just a freak accident. She had to be crated mostly 24/7 for 7 weeks, so now I have a brat on my hands. She barks at people and other dogs, and plays rough with my other standard poodle. We are working on these issues, but I have to wonder how she'll behave in Level 1 classes in January!

[little_missy_98]

my dog hated walking on a leach so we trained her to walk on her own. now she walks e very place that we say and if we tell her to stay she will



thank ya for listenin'


gotta go
your friend Shaunna

[ParNone]

Hi again Kosy,

My 12 year old Cairn Terrier didn't go to obedience classes until
about 6 months of age. I didn't know about puppy classes
back then or maybe they didn't even have them back then.
So he wasn't socialized that well by 6 months of age.

I was having a couple of behaviorial problems and taking him
to obedience really helped. He finished 3rd in the class and
he turned out to be just the best dog. My mom, who's not
a dog person, even commented the other day, how well behaved
he is. So I wouldn't worry. You'll do fine.

Par...

[ParNone]

Hi lil_miss,

Oz is pretty good off leash without training, but since I want to
take Oz places, like hiking, that will require a leash, him just
walking beside me without a leash isn't an option. Not to mention
I'm a lil' paranoid about walking my dogs off leash in an non
secure area, which I guess comes from having terriers. So even
though Oz is a Collie, he gets treated like a terrier where the
leash is concerned.

Par...

[ParNone]

Well we went to class Monday night and Oz did great. I decided
to use the harnass to walk him into Petsmart and was going to
replace it, once we got there, with the training collar. But the
instructor never said anything to me, so I decided to just use
the harnass, since he was walking so good with it. Much better
than the other dogs in the class (2 lab mixes, Rat Terrier and
a Westie), who where using training collars. He was the
only dog not pulling or refusing to walk. Walked right beside
me and didn't get too distracted by all the noise and activity
going on in the store. WooHoo!

He whined a lil' when we got there, because he wanted to play
really bad with the Westie, probably because she looked so
much like Murph. But the Westie was a lil' intimidated by his
size, so I was keeping him from pouncing on her. Thank zeus
this only lasted about 5 mins, because he's got a high pitched
whine. Tiz like fingernails down a chalkboard.

I feel real sorry for the lady with the Rat Terrier. I wanted to
give her some advice, like to stop saying sit..sit..sit..sit..sit..
continuously, but never actually havng the dog sit. Or saying
sit..sit..sit..sit.., while they were walking, instead of stopping
first, then saying sit. Her dog looks so confused and it's not
like terriers naturally pay attention, so what she's doing is just
making it worse. But I didn't say anything, because I figure it's
the instructor's class and I didn't want to step on any toes.

Anywho, he loved class and now that I can relax about the leash
thing I think we're gonna really have fun.

Par...

[ownerof3dogs]

Oh I am so glad everything turned out o.k. It sounds like your little pup was the best behaved. Good Job!!!