Bad Habits
So recently Dodger has picked up some really bad habits; pulling at the leash, not listening to commands when outside, trying to jump up over new people, and chasing after the cat (he's gotten better with the cat but not by much). I thought it was just because he's still a puppy (6 months) and still learning the ropes of everything, but now it's almost becoming an every day thing with him. So far I've tried telling him no with a light pat to the butt, I've tried taking his attention away by distracting him with treats, but none of it seems to be working. Any suggestions on what I can do to kinda help with his behavior lately?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Autumn and Jonathan, Dodger is still a puppy at 6mo, his hormone is gonna flutuate further in the coming months, it is normal to rebel and relapse, corgis are going to continue to test and push the envelope. Step up your training regiment, purchase some high caliber treats and you should be able to tame him in no time. Remember that they are herding dogs, they require daily 45 mins walk rain or shine, backyard and playing indoor just doesn't cut it. All the best!
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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What works well for me(learned in our classes). When they start to pull turn immediately and go the other direction, yes with a Martingale you can gently drag him(I also use a Martingale collar) or stop dead in your tracks and ignore! Treats and asking him to sit and even stepping on the leash for jumping may help as long as you are consistent. Also asking people to treat him(with your signal/OK) when he does sit nice and wait for them to pet him. Also if he doesn't if you can have someone working with you they should turn around and ignore him totally, no treat if he keeps it up. Hope this makes sense!
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Permalink Reply by Tori on
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This is what I've been working on with Winston. It seems to be improving, albeit slowly! He just loves to pull and he adores people almost more than food when we are out and about. I've had a little luck with the reversing directions but the stopping just makes him stop at the furthest point of the leash. He will not turn to look back at me for anything if he sees other people. Using treats while on a walk is almost as disasterous as he just ends up too excited to then move forward.
But I'm still working on it and it seems to be getting better. If Dodger is still such a young puppy, I would do the whole stop and turning thing. My best advice is to get started on this now as waiting has only made it so much harder and worse for Winston. I was foolish to allow him to just tug along for all this time.
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Permalink Reply by Grace on
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I have found that actually stopping and taking a few steps backwards works better than completely stopping. Just take a few steps back, then carry on your way with a lets go. Do this EVERY time there is bad tension on the leash. I've trained a pit/boxer mix this way to walk nicely. :)
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Forget the light pat on the butt, won't do anything. It is a good idea at this time to start classes so you can work with a trainer. A leash can be your best training tool. I have had mine go for days at a time either leashed to me (they follow me around and learn who the top dog is) or dragging a leash so I can stop any cat chasing right away. A slight tug on the leash really gets their attention. Especially at this age, try to only give commands when you can enforce them. For "come" use a very long line(clothes line), call him to you in your best party voice and bring him with the leash, then use a great treat like hot dog pieces or chicken. Practice it regularly, several times a day. Remember never call him to you for a scolding. Coming on command must always be a pleasant experience. This is a crazy development stage for puppies so try to keep your sense of humor and don't give too much freedom. Plenty of short walks or exercise sessions will also be really helpful to eliminate bad behavior. Never allow petting unless all 4 feet are on the ground. Just turn away until you can catch him on all fours. I also use the turning for pulling on a leash.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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At 6 months it will be very hard for him to listen when there are distractions. Ask other people to "help train him" by only fussing him when he has four on the floor. Use high-value treats to distract him when he's out. On walks, in areas where there are not too many distractions, just ask him to sit or do a simple trick for a high-value reward and praise him a lot.
We meet tons of dogs because we live by a busy park, and trust me that in all this time I have only met one dog under a year old who was so well-behaved that she didn't pull or jump when she got excited. :-) And I know from later experience that that perfectly behaved puppy totally forgot everything she knew when she hit about 8 months old. Sooooo, just keep chugging away and a year or so from now you'll have a wonderfully behaved dog.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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The good news: he's normal! Formal obedience training classes and regular practice sessions, plus neutering will give you a super cool and well behaved dog in a year or so... The time and effort you put into him now will pay off for the rest of his hopefully long life with you. Look at it as a fun period where you both learn about each other and you will create many happy memories together.
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Permalink Reply by susan on
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I've been able to train Jeli just about anything we set our minds too, and she is doing fantastic, but I have the same problem with the pulling on leash issue. I know she needs big long walks everyday to dispell the energy, but its hard to go for that energetic walk AND do the loose leash training. I've watched dozens of youtubes on the subject but it seems that they don't go for that long walk in the beginning until they have good walking behavior and it may take months. I guess my concern that she gets her excersize in has conflicted with her leash training. I spend 45 minutes walking in circles! And the loose leash training is breaking her heal. It gets very frustrating. How do you guys balance these things? I gave in and bought a front clip harness yesterday to use on walks so we don't have to get so frustrated! LOL. /sigh
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Have you ever tried a Martingale collar Susan? What do you do when she does pull?
I also found out(in class) that I wasn't walking fast enough...haha. I was being leisurely and was told I needed to speed up:)
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I always use a Martingale on walks. I don't want any chance that she may slip her collar. When she gets to the end of the lead and there is pressure on it I do one of the following:
1. drop the extra part of the lead I am holding so there is a little slack and do an abrupt turn. She now anticipates this easily and turns as soon as I do so it rarely yanks her wee neck. She gets right in to place beside me, I treat her, and we proceed again, and she forges to the end of her leash again.
2. I stop and back up a few steps. She stops with me, looks around, wonders why the heck we've stopped. When she looks at me I reward for the attention, she gets in place, I reward, and we proceed. Rinse repeat.
3. If, after about hour of this she has brief moments of walking beside me, I may turn into her occasionally so that she doesn't forge forward ahead of me. If we get to this point I'm pretty happy. I turn direction a lot so that she doesn't know which way we are going. I'm usually in a parking lot or on a bike trail rather than a sidewalk.
4. Sometimes I just stop and wait for her to decide where she should be. I do want it to be her choice. And I reward the correct choice.
So maybe I've just tried too many things and the lack of consistency is what is making us fail. Also, I normally am a very positive trainer and she responds amazingly well to happy voice and clicker training. (At 9 months she had her CGC and her first 3 trick titles!) But, walking on leash, well... I loose my happy voice. :( I try to tell myself to stay positive, but I do get frustrated and grumble a bit. So, if anybody has any more advise or tips or tricks... ? I'm all ears.
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Permalink Reply by Caitlin Randolph on
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Yes! I found the power walk to be key for both little arrow and my moms german shepard. Unless the pace indicates following, they will give you a speed to follow instead.
I have also realized bending over and petting his head or his nose when he is juuuust starting to get distracted will help keep the attention on me.
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