Dog training books
HI!
I have a 4 month old border collie, she’s wonderful, sits, comes when i call, responds to "no," she’ll even shake hands and do other stupid tricks i taught her. But i can’t get her to heel.
when i walk her on the lead she pulls on it so hard. when i use a short lead she pretty much walks on her back legs.
i’ve read books, watched dvd’s and the all say the same things. i’ve used treats to maneuver her next to my leg but once the treat is gone so is she. i thought maybe i was walking to slow but i’ve tried going faster and that didn’t work. i’ve tried using better treats (even STEAK!) but i just can’t seem to get her to do it.
does anyone have some easy instructions or any other suggestions for me? i’m so frustrated and it’s upsetting that i can’t take her for long walks and go to new places unless they’re fenced in and i can take her off the lead.
also could you give me an idea of how long i should do things for, maybe i’m not spending enough time doing something and am moving too fast for her?
thanks for any help!
dog training books
Being a Certified Dog Trainer, I run into this problem quite often. I’d like to start off by saying that there are probably 100 ways to fix this problem. It’s all about you and your dog. Your dog’s breed has proven time and time that they are very intelligent. This means that we may be reinforcing the behaviors that we don’t want. Let me explain. When Fido pulls on the leash, we as humans tend to hurry up and let the dog get to where he wants to go. This is bad. We have just told Fido that if he pulls on the leash, he gets to go where he wants to go (Self-Reinforcing). Some suggest changing your equipment. I, personally, disagree. What we want is for our dogs to ultimately be paying attention to us and listening to our commands. Not some sophisticated equipment. The reason for this is, Although you may be getting immediate results with your pet, he is still not listening to you. What I suggest is as follows:
Everything Fido gets, he earns. This starts in the house. Before we put a leash on Fido, He has to be sitting or laying but most important, he has to be calm. We then move to the door part. When you motion towards the door, Fido will naturally get excited. You will then move away from the door until he is calm again. Praise the calmness. Repeat this until Fido is no longer reacting to your motion towards the door. Put your hand on the door knob. Fido will get excited and we will repeat the exercise. Open the door and Repeat. Close the door and Repeat. Fido must remain calm through all of this. Now we are walking. Fido will naturally pull as he has been reinforced for this in the past. We will stop when Fido pulls. Fido will continue to pull expecting his usual outcome. We will stand stiff as a tree trunk with our hands at our mid-section. No Jerking. No Pulling the leash. Hands remain still and no forward progress until Fido releases the tension on the leash. Fido will loosen up on the leash and we continue forward. The behavior that we want here is a loose leash. The reinforcer here is the forward progress of the walk. If Fido wants to chase birds he can whimper and whine because he wants to chase the birds. What we do then is wait for Fido to act nicely on the leash and we go together to go chase the birds. More help at Sassy k9 at rocketmail.com
Try a trainer, they are worth the money big time!!!
my local rspca does them for 8 weeks for $100 cheap and really good.
Also you can get a registered dog trainer and they guarentee that they can train your dog for life.
My dog was the same way. So I bought a halti. It is a head collar. It only took him about a week to get used to it, and he doesn’t pull me on walks anymore. With the halti, teaching him to "halt" (I use "halt" rather than "heel" because it is a sharper word) was no problem. I would give it a light tug, then say, "halt," and then hold the lead steady, so he could not move. Then I’d give him his release signal, ("okay") and off we would go again.
Border Collies are an intensively intelligent breed, so she should have no trouble picking up on this.
get a piece of bread grasp it firmly in your hand and hit the dog in the face!(not to hard)but just enough to show it who’s boss!
Buy a Halti/Gentle Leader. It is like a harness that a horse wears, they sit over the nose (a dominant place for dogs) and control them. It stops your arm from aching the next day. To get her to heel. Hold the lead in your right thumb just through the loop, with the dog on you left. Use your left hand to control the area your dog will heel in (eg pull back on it to keep the dog at your side.) Have her start sitting next to your feet (teach this with treats) then say "*dogs name*, HEEL!" and practice this.
Dont forget she is only a puppy
I had that problem with my dog.
First things first: Buy a Halti, or I think they’re called a "Gentle Leader" in America – They fit over the dogs head – doesn’t hurt them at all. It just means you have more control over them. They’re a miracle-item.
Next:
To fix this with my dog, I’d take her out for walks (down the street, at the park, etc etc). I had my treat bag attached to my belt. I’d pull her close to my legs, and with my other free hand I’d hold treats to her to whichever of my legs she was up against, to get her close. Say “heel” and reward. Then I’d turn around, relax the leash a bit and start walking, then pull her back to my leg, say “heel”, and reward her again.
Yes, I looked very stupid walking backwards and forwards, taking sharp turns etc. but such is life!! Haha.
)
She learned after 4 days of walkies that if she sticks close to my leg, then she gets a treat!
By taking sharp turns, constantly turning, she realised that she wasn’t the one in control of where we walk – I was!
Best of luck!