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She's a 6-month old border collie/terrier mix. I didn't intend to add another pet to my household, but she badly needed rescuing. She's now housebroken, becoming more accepting of actually going outside, goes walking/running with a friend with a scooter, and actually has a tail which wags!.
However, I am 63 and never trained a dog. I am not now nor have ever been a calm, assertive person (I don't know how), nor am I known for my patience. I have diabetes and NEED to walk every day, but have asthma and can't yet go very far or very fast.
Because of the design of the apartment doors, I have to let her out that door first, altho I can and do go first through all the outer doors. After nearly a month, I have discovered some things about her behavior: she objects to loud and/or sudden noises although that behavior stops when she's 'migrating'. She prefers to be tightly next to a building and keeps pulling that way unless she's more than 20 feet away. Give her access to any under or behind place, (like a bench seat or a dumpster) and that's where she wants to cower. Or even a corner. I can't decide if her shaking and trembling is real fear or a behavior she adapted to keep her from doing something she doesn't want to do (I think it's the latter). She always circles to the right, whether it's potty circles or settling down for a nap, or trying to crawl between my legs.
The result is a walk during which I have to pull her away from buildings, tug on the leash every time she tries to cross my feet, and being pulled all the way home. It's so very tiring and trying. I have tried the Halti, but even the small size can be rubbed off her face. I do have a collar and leash I'm comfortable with now, the collar is a training type and the leash is looped around my wrist and wrapped tightly in my hand at the right height to keep her head up. Nevertheless, we both know I'm NOT the leader.
Come spring, I will be outside gardening most of the day every day. If she and I can't get along, and behave with the other elderly residents in the building, she will have to go. SO WHAT DO I DO?
She has lots of potential. She also has other issues (such as excited peeing), but if we can't conquer the walk and my leadership, I won't be able to do anything with those issues.
Thanks for any help you can give.
My humble suggestion is to take it slower...in the beginning I had to do the step/pull/wait...step/pull/wait...for 10 minutes, 15 mins or 20 minutes and then we'd go in - no actual "walking" but letting her see I wasnt going to let her pull me anywhere, ever.
Also, it sounds as if you got a dog who is going to challenge your core personality - and if that means adding a little patience, that won't be such a bad thing!
Hope you hear from other more experienced posters - I just like to post to let people know they've been heard asking for help...
peace, maria b
The take-it-slow advice is awesome.
Also, it might also be the way you are correcting her- it's supposed to be one quick jerk, and then you give her slack on the leash, so she knows the correction is over. If she goes ahead again, a snap on the leash again. You shouldn't be pulling her back. Snap the leash to the side, or up. One jerk, then release.
Also, this may sound silly, but don't tense up! Relax. Imagine you own the sidewalk. The world is your oyster, you are in total control. If the dog is misbehaving, you can deal with it- it'll just take time.
She sounds like a fearful dog-she probably really, really wants you to be the leader. She is also probably very sensitive to any tension coming from you. Take a deep breath- Cesar usually comes in and fixes a dog in one day- so every day is an opportunity to re-make your relationship with her. Dogs are fixable.
Okay, so even at your age, TAKE A BREATH and tell yourself you can do this. You may need to teach your puppy commands that they are not used to. It is all in repitition. Tell your dog "heel", making sure they are right next to you. If they walk away, go the opposite direction and pull them next to you all the while telling them "heel". Praise them with a treat. Don't give up. Keep reinforcing it when you take a walk. You said you are not the leader. You need to take control and be the leader. They need structure ane they need to know you are the leader. You can do this. Be confident in yourself. If there are loud noises around your dog, reassure her that it is okay, pet her, give her a treat and tell her good baby. If you are scared or unsure, she will feel it and be scared and unsure.
You are the leader and you can do this. Take a deep breath, feel confident in yourself and you can do this.
Well, Ms. Hettich, let me first tell you where I am - i am also a diabetic & need to walk. I walk slowly and with a cane. I *think* I may understand parts of your difficulty. Sometimes folks - with the best intentions in the world - will give you advice, which does work, but doesn't make allowance for things you can't do well - like fast turns, or changes in pace. At least they're things that *I* can't do. Unlike you, I have the advantage of having worked with dogs for decades, so I do remember what it was like to be able to do those things I can't do anymore - which can help me come up with alternatives sometimes. Like you, I am not always a patient person. However, I have enough stubborns to oulast a pack of hounds and a dead mule:-)! And the one thing can subsitute for another if we're lucky.
My current dog is an athletic, stubborn 70 lb Bouvier adolescent. She doesn't have the phobic problems you're having to deal with. But it is VERY important to me that she doesn't pull me - because she would hurt me. I have treated/trained/led her the same way I did her much larger male cousin and they've both done well by me.
So, let me give you some ideas. Take of them what seems useful to you. Adapt them however you need to fit your circumstances. It really IS all about leadership, ma'am, and that's something you can work on - that boils down to setting clear expectations, communicating them clearly, and always following through. Much like a parent or a teacher. The rest - the techniques - lots of different techniques work for different folks. If you've got challenges, just bring some creativity and flexibility to the party - you'll work it around. And if you feel yourself tensing up & getting frustrated, just STOP, stop right where you are, take a deep breath, give yourself a shake, and wait until you feel a little more serene. Then, when you feel ready, sit your dog down & make sure she's calm too. When you're both ready, off you go! It's always OK to take your time - don't let your frustration try to hurry you along, OK?
First, the door. My rule is that it is more important that *I* control the door, than it is who goes first. I use the rule my Daddy taught me so l-o-n-g ago: humans control doors, gates, stairs & hallways. Humans decide when & how to go. Dogs don't. Sometimes I need to go first, sometimes I need the dog to go first. How do we do that? Well, whenever, we approach a door, Chick 'waits' (you can 'sit' your dog if that helps her to wait). I open the door. If I need Chick to go first, I tell her 'go' and she goes through the door, but she *must* again 'wait' on the other side until I get there. No charging off to parts unknown:-)! If I go first, she stays 'waiting' on her side until I go through the door and tell her 'come'.
A mistake that I notice people make wrt doors is that if they have a problem (the dog did not exactly 'wait', etc.), they give up too fast. You have to insist *every* time & end on a success for both of you. For example, my previous Bouvier, Chick's cousin, was a very pushy dog & he took it into his teenage head one day that he was going through the door on his own time. So I called him back inside, 'sat' him down, made him 'wait' a bit. When he broke the 'wait' and went through the door anyway, we did it again. And again. And again. I was half hour late that day. BUT we ended on a good note - he had acted just as he should & we were both now where we should be - AND we never had a door disagreement EVER again. Much better than struggling a little bit for weeks & ending each time half done.
I do use a Halti with my Chick - because any tension on the leash turns her head to me & if she gives me her eyes, we can generally work out whatever we need to. But whatever tool works for you (and it sounds like you have one that you like) should be fine. The way you hold the leash can help you quite a bit. I use a plain web lead with a loop on my end. The goal is that if your dog is doing as she ought, there should be NO tension on the lead - and that includes any tension from you. What I do is put the loop around my wrist. Then I have Chick where I want her by my side - whichever side you like (I use left, because my cane is in my right hand). I loop the lead once around my hand such that it is loose if she is no more than 1 foot from her ideal position.
So, if she is where she should be, the lead will be loose. If she varies too far, the lead automatically tightens (I don't have to rely on my slower reflexes to tighten the lead at just the right moment). If she doesn't immediately move back into position (which she now does - matching my pace really very well), I use the 'stop and go' method. I find the sudden 'turn & go the other way' method hard to execute now - for it to be really effective, you have to be reasonably quick & responsive. And I'm just not that quick & responsive anymore.
What's the "stop & go" method? Well, if she doesn't move back by herself, just stop, reposition her yourself, take a deep breath, and when you're both calm & ready to go, set off again. You don't need to say anything when you start off again - in fact it's often better if you don't. Just deep breath & go. At first, there'll be a LOT of stops! But over time, your dog will self-regulate. And that's really where you want to be, because at THAT point, not only are you walking well, but you've established a relationship, a quiet communication between the two of you. Way to go!
How long should this take? This slow and easy, stop & go? Well, it depends. When I was teaching Chick, it was only a few days - but I already had a relationship with her & she has a very cooperative personality if she's motivated (and 'going places' FOR HER is just about the best motivation there is!). On the other hand, I helped a friend with a rescued Boxer using this method (very high energy and NO trust of humans!), and it took me just under 2 months before we could sail along through all sorts of distractions without a single stop. So, it depends. Just take it slow, and don't put a timetable on yourself - ironically it generally goes faster if you're not trying to hurry it along:-)!
A word of caution about the treat & walk method - this can work. If it's logistically hard for you (as it is now for me), I find my awkwardness interfers with the necessary timing and it's more of a distraction than an aid. I spend too much time juggling leash, dog, cane & treat. And the dog gets confused as to whether I just rewarded him for stopping (because we've now stopped to juggle:-) instead of associating the treat with 'good walking'. On the other hand, I still do use treats sometimes to teach *off-leash" heeling (esp. for dogs like my Chick who are very food-motivated). But I don't have the same juggling problem off-leash. So ... whatever works for you.
Those are some thoughts anyway. I really think you'll be able to do this. Give yourself permission to go slow & easy. And permission to do a little bit of invention as needed to suit your circumstances.
Do let us know how things are going with youShelagh
You know, my biggest issue is leash pulling too. I've tried a lot of these methods, and I've concluded that my dog is just one of those that (in Cesar's words on the home page here) "needs to run before it will walk". She listens to commands in the house and yard before going out. On the way back IN the yard, she waits for me to go ahead, even if I try to let her go first. I've tried the changing direction, the stopping and starting, everything....I don't think my dog wants to be in charge. I think that if I could run as fast as she can, she would happily run behind me and let me be in charge. She doesn't seem to be challenging me, she just seems to have a lot of excited energy and to be saying, "Let's GOOOOOOO!"
I don't have a treadmill, I don't think I could safely let her run with me on a bike or rollerblades, she won't fetch or play much at all....so I'm going to try the backpack. If I don't take her on good walks because I'm trying to get her to walk nice on the leash by doing these methods, then she just gets MORE pent-up energy, so I feel like I'm in a Catch-22. While I do think that leadership is very important, I really feel like this dog wants to rip and run. By the time we get to the end of our walk, she's following me like a sweet little lamb.
I kind of meant my comment on leadership more in the direction of how to base a relationship on communication and follow-thru than I did on whether either of my latest dogs really want dominance over me - that may have not been clear.
I understand what you mean about high-energy. My previous Bouv - when he was a pup - was very high-energy as well as athletic. So we often started our walks in a park where he could play fetch (he wasn't that thrilled about that) or with a flirt (far more interesting). That is, indeed, part of the flexibility I think folks may find it useful to entertain.
But, I will have to disagree with you - at least in my case - about the pulling on walks. "No Pulling" is a necessity for me. Because if a dog pulls me, he'll pull me down. And that will hurt. And I'm allergic to pain:-) I'm not that keene on the general embarassment of finagling around to get up again if I'm having a bad balance day (especially if there are folks around to help - they can't really help, but they do TRY!), either, but the falling & the hurting part is really quite an incentive for invention <grin>. Or else neither of us get to walk - not good.
I think not sweating the stuff you can tolerate - like you're doing - is a very mature & sensible choice. But if there is some behavior that you really MUST demand, it's OK to play around with techniques until you can modify something (or add something into the sequence, like pre-walk exercise, or doing obedience during the walk, or ??) that will work for you & your circumstances. To me, the only constant that you have to take into every interaction is what I'm going to call Leadership - clear communication (inc. listening/reading your dog) & consistent follow-thru. Everything else is negotiable.
Stop & go works for me these days because I have more stubborn than I have physical ability. And that technique makes use of that. Although I know lots of other ways of doing things, what USED to work for me was the 'speed up the pace' method - as you mentioned. When I couldn't do that anymore, I tried the quick turn (I'm not fast/responsive enough), the treat/walk (too much juggling), quick leash corrections (reflexes aren't good enough), and more. To meet challenges, I think you have to sort of assess things & say to yourself honestly, 'which things do I have a lot of (e.g. stubborn) and which things am I not good at?" Then you play around with technique until you get something that relies most on what you do best.
At least, that's how I approach things, anyway,--Shelagh
No, I HATE that she pulls me on the leash. It's the one thing I've been working on since the day I took her out of the shelter, and it just doesn't seem to get consistently better. If I spend days just stopping and starting, then she doesn't get exercise, and the pulling is worse. Hence, my catch-22.
I'm just realizing that I need to get her more exercise where she can let loose and THEN we go on a walk. I've been trying to force the structured walk on a dog that needs to burn off some energy. The funny thing is that she isn't really a high-energy dog, I think she's just an excited adolescent. I wish I was a runner, but I am so NOT a runner, and that isn't going to change.
I think leadership is very important. I just think it's easy to misconstrue adolescent energy as wanting control, and I've been doing some of that.
I am going to try to make a flirt pole, I think she'd like that. She has absolutely no use for fetching, she looks at me like, "Well, now you're going to have to go get that." Lately, I've been doing recalls in the back yard, making her run from one corner to the next, but my yard isn't big, so that only goes so far.
Thanks!
Most of this stuff I "know", but it's reading from a different viewpoint that really makes the connection for me.
Blessings, Karen
I used to watch Cesar occasionally (because I have to be at a friends' ) but since I got the puppy, I watch it religiously. Today I noticed that I correct up, not to the side!
Thanks, Karen
taiaram,
Take it slower. Yeah, once I get past th building, I can do that. It's just that it's been drilled into me that I need to walk so far, at such and such a pace, that it takes other people to get me to think past that.
Challenge my core personality - she is doing that, because I am spending almost all of my days watching her, learning from her, teaching her.
I'm glad that you write to let people know they've been heard. That's important!
Thanks
Dear Shelagh,
Knowing you have the same limits helped my understanding. And your stubborness made me realize that I can use that!
I can't believe she's actually potty trained! No more mistakes just on the threshhold!! So, the first thing that made me say "Bless You" is the door idea.:) I'm trying it and it seems to be working. She still has to makes circles once she's out the door, but at least she waits for me. SUCH an improvement!!
The leash is a "Bless You", too. No one ever said how far loose, so now I know I wasn't giving her quite enough space. I did find out that the collar needs to be positioned way up on the neck, under the chin. That works wonders.
Thank you for taking so much time for such a complete explanation. The stop and go method is what I'll be trying tomorrow. I'm sure it will go very well now. I can stop when I get frustrated due to the pulls, shake myself out, readjust her collar, set us up and go again.
Another thing I learned is that exercising her, getting her to run, although she absolutely adores it, only makes her more excited even after a mile. My friend has a scooter and used that two days. I said no more because I couldn't get her calmed down when she got home:(
I've only had her a month, and we have both come a long way. Slowly we will get to work on her fears, etc.
Thank you so, SO nuch, Karen