How long did it take you to leash train?

[pamnelson]

We are starting to leash train our 5 month old. I've read all of the advice here in other posts but it's more of an uphill battle than I thought it would be. We've been doing daily walks in the morning for a about a week and there's absolutely no sign of things improving.  I know this is not a long time and these things take time. He does ok at times (walking on a loose leash) but will whip around my feet in a frenzy, jumping at me and biting at me every 15-20 steps. The behavior is really nuts...ears back, running in circles, pulling in every direction.  This morning he stopped in his tracks and then launched toward my shoulder.  It seems very clear that he's frustrated.  We keep the walks very short (a block or so). I change direction when he pulls and snap the collar. I give lots of praise when he's walking well but avoid treats because they seem to get him overstimulated.  What would be especially helpful is hope.  How long shoud I expect this to take?  I really want to be able to take him for walks in the morning and am willing to invest whatever it takes.  When he gets older, jogging with him would be fantastic.  Will he simply get better with persistence and age? He does much better after playing at the dog park but lots of exercise before a walk isn't really possible in the morning.  Anyway, I'd love to hear how this process went for you all!  Is this type of behavior normal?  Or do you think we have a bigger problem on our hands that will require outside help?
Pam

[Ari_RR]

My experience with Ari.
1 - jumping. It took 2 days to correct. Inside - every time he jumps on anyone, everyone leaves the room for  10-15 sec. Outside during walks - every time he jumps on me, the walk and the game stops, I become a tree, no movement, no eye contact, no talking to him, no reaction of any kind. When he comes down - we move on.

2 - stopping suddenly in the middle of the walk, changing directions - if there is a rabbit or a squirrel nearby, he will want to go after it. If we are walking through the woods - its always moving in different directions, to catch all the scents around.  In general - he's has gotten much better on the leash (he is 15 months), it took months and months of work, and will never be perfect. Every walk is rolling the dice, it's just we have nice calm walks much more often now. My personal take on this - he will not be the one to always stay by my side during the walk, he will be wondering around, sniffing and sticking his nose everywhere, and I am fine with that.

We take walks in town (people, cars, etc), and we take walks in the nature park. In town he stays by my side. On a trail in the park he would be all over the place. So I put him on a 30 ft training leash when we go to the park - this way he can do his thing (left, right, forward, backward, sniffing everything) without me having to do the same thing  . In all his excitement and sniffing and exploring, he rarely ventures beyond 30 ft, and when he does - a gentle pull and calling him back does the trick.

To be honest, none of this really bothers me. I like seeing him enjoying his walks, and if it's a "stop and go" kind, then so be it. We jog now too, which makes things better, but it's still usually a "stop and go", not at all steady moving in one direction at constant speed 

re dog parks....  At some point we had to switch things around (walk first to burn some energy off, then dog park). It depends on the dogs to some extend, but Ari can be a bit of a bully at the dog park, which in turn can provoke another dog to attack him. So usually we go for a 40 min to an hour walk, then dog park. Ari is a big, strong, adolescent bully, unneutered which doesn't help.
If we had a good playmate for Ari, I would just stop dog park visits. I don't want him to make other, more timid dogs uncomfortable, and don't want to risk one of those dogs reacting aggressively and attacking him.. But he needs socialization, so we go, and I watch him very closely ready to step in when things become a little too tense.  But, this is also getting better, perhaps he is starting to grow out of his "bully" stage?

Bottom line here for me - I gave up on the idea of nice walks in a straight line and steady speed, where the dog follows the human. I can have this during a city walk, but not in the nature park, which he enjoys the most.. And this is perfectly fine with me.   But what's so wrong with dog changing directions?? As someone said earlier - "whose walk is this anyway??"   

cheers
Eugene

[Safi]

Safi's jumping on me went away when I trained her to wait for her food .. a happy side affect I guess. The only other time she will jump and nip is when I engage her in play.. I make sure the play stops before she gets totally out of control. 

Safi is over the two year mark now and still will pull on her walks for maybe 30-40% of the time. Winter boots actually keep her from pulling and she trots like a little horse hehe .. I only use those when the salt is on the roads. Prey drive is usually the problem during walks.. I have her mostly trained to just sit and observe cats and squirrels now .. but rabbits are just a tease with the way they run when they know they have been spotted. If Safi has been pulling too much or seems over energetic, then I will make the effort to run with her for as long as a can (She did start to pace herself after a couple of weeks so I wasnt being pulled faster than I wanted to run)

Safi will stay very close to my side when walking *if* I have a treat in my pocket she really wants. I found these bison baked biscuits (wheat free) that she is very interested in. First time she has *ever* pawed my leg to get another one. She also retrieved my jacket the other night .. pulled it into the living room.. carefully pulled out all the papers in my pocket (not one ripped) and then pulled out the bag of treats which she half shredded to get every crumb

Someone mentioned the Sporn harness to stop pulling and I mean to get one and give it a shot. Offleash Safi stays within sight (unless she has to go use the bathroom or check out a chipmunk)

Every morning I see a couple with a Australian Sheppard jogging .. no leash.. the dog follows their every course change and I have yet to see it get distracted from the jog.. I wish.....


Steve

[efoley]

Hi Pam,

I remember those days of frenzied whirling biting puppy!! Cisko could be a real pain. Mind you he hated going for walks-- I always felt like the mean lady dragging her puppy along. What helped us was formal obedience training. Now Cisko is a real joy to walk about 95% of the time. He can still be stubborn and will dig his heels in or become reactive with unknown dogs on the walk (which admittedly we only come across once a month) but he's becoming quite a gentleman. Cisko is almost 2 and we have been going to training classes for over a year--first individual and now group.

Good luck. It will get better as long as you keep working at it.

Elena

[pamnelson]

Thanks for pulling me back from the ledge.     These stories help to put things in perspective.  It is true that the walk is mainly for him and a way for us to spend time together.  Eugene, you are right...there's nothing wrong with a dog that doesn't walk in a straight line all of the time.  I suppose if that were the idea, I should have gotten a robot dog.  This morning, I gave him a bit more slack (about 8 feet instead of about 4 feet) and let him go back and forth in front of me to sniff and explore.  Amazingly, he didn't pull at all!  I'm sure this isn't the end of the frenzied puppy and me looking like the crazy puppy lady (exactly as Elena described), but it gives me hope that I can be in control and he can have a nice time.  I think it was me making him crazy with constant commands of "come", "let's go", "no", "good boy", etc.  Maybe my frenzy of noise was driving him crazy. 

One thing I could really do without on the walk is the other dog owners messing up our mojo.  It's always the owner with the 400 year old lab who wants them to 'make friends.'  You probably know this person in your neighborhood too.  ARGH.  Nelson doesn't seem to get that the 400 year old lab doesn't want to play in the same way as a 5 month old puppy and the owner invariably seems shocked, even after I tell them that I think it's a bad idea because he is really young and full of energy.  We're still working on respecting our elders.   

Pam

[Safi]

Hi Pam .. It took Safi a while but she now respects the 400 year old golden on our road and the golden seems very appreciative while she gently wags her tail. However I am sure our neighbors hear the come/leave it/etc during my morning walks. I do have a great sense of satisfaction when I walk past one particular house and their black doodle has all four paws against the front bay window, barking for all he is worth while Safi just casually glances at him as we pass with no real reaction on her part.

Biggest problem on our morning walks these days is joggers (she wants to run with them) and shadow people .. she will growl pretty loud until she can identify them and then it is waggy tail and want to meet them. oh .. and of course the bunnies and the muslim guy who wants to be as far away from her as he can when he walks to the bus.

Dont worry .. 5 months .. You still have a way to go yet and then there is around month 12 when they apparently seem to forget all training and a month later everything is good again.

Steve

Oh .. can anyone enlighten me why she growls on morning walks with street lights going .. but not a peep when we are at the dog park after it gets dark and you can barely make out what is approaching you.

[Ari_RR]

Shadow people are the worst, that's for sure! But I sort of see the point in seeing a shadow approaching and putting on a bit of a warning show, growling, snarly face and all.. I would think the ideal case would be this:
- shadow is spotted! Let's growl and make a face, maybe it will go away, at least Dad will notice.
- Dad says "it's OK, Ari, it's OK"
- Ari hears that and becomes a wiggly butt instead of a snarly face again (this is the part where theory meets the reality, of course..  But we got the first 2 steps nailed down pretty good  )

Eugene

[caro]

I think it varies very much.  Misha was trained in a few days, but it sounds like your puppy is pretty strong willed.  You need to keep a pocketful of treats with you at all times and distract him when he misbehaves.  Make him work for the treat, but make sure he is focusing on the treat and not on what he is misbehaving over.  He should be trained by 5 months, so you are trying to do it at a time when he is testing his limits, so it could take a little longer than it would at 3 months.  I wouldn't worry too much about the pulling, provided he is out in front of you because you can always use a halter to control the pulling, but halters aren't much good if the puppy lags behind you or refuses to move.  Focus is what you need to work on.  He needs to focus on you and to achieve that you need super smelly treats and reward only when he does what you want.

Caroline

[Safi]

Hey Caroline,

   Speaking of strong willed puppies.. how do you deal with a two year old who will dig in her heals and spit out her favorite treats just because I am trying to leave the offleash dogpark with her? only time she does not is if she is dead tired/cold or its pouring rain. I have been trying to give her a treat right after she gets in the truck.. but getting her there has been fun at times.

Steve

[pamnelson]

Thanks Caroline.  I agree with your assessment...he is turning out to be strong-willed.  We started leash training when we got him at 3 months but stopped because it appeared to be too much for him.  He was completely out of control at times, biting & ripping at our clothes periodically throughout the walk and seemingly losing his mind.  In retrospect, I realize that we should have stuck with it rather than waiting until he got bigger to deal with this issue because we may have reinforced the idea that he is in charge on the walk.  So, we're back at it with a commitment to walk every day and get this right.  I will bring treats tomorrow and see how it goes.  When I was using treats before, it seemed to get him even more excited. So, I haven't tried to walk with treats since we first tried this at 3 months but he does seem to remember and go slightly into treat-crazy mode. When I say "Good job" on a walk now, he immediately looks for the treat with that wild look in his eyes.  I now give him a quick shoulder rub of praise instead, hoping that we can get out of the crazy-treat mindset.  I'll try to use treats tomorrow but intermittently to try to avoid his being too treat-focused.  Does this make sense?

Pam

[caro]

Yes, Pam, don't use treats all the time; intersperse them with praise, but always given calmly.  If he starts going crazy, then ignore him.  He has to earn praise and treats.  I am afraid he has got your number and it's going to take commitment on your part to establish that he can't do what he wants all the time.  Think of him like you would a spoilt child.  Always be firm but kind.  If he is really hyper, then I might use a herbal calming medicine like Rescue Remedy.  They take the edge off so you can get his attention without having to go through that awful, going crazy for a treat act.   I think the most important thing to remember is that he must earn all praise and reward.  Don't give in.  It's going to take a while, but persevere.  You will get there in the end.  At 5 months, you are not going to hurt him if he jumps on you and you use your knee to knock him off, or turn your back and shove him away.  He absolutely must learn that it is not acceptable to jump on humans.

Caroline

[pamnelson]

Great advice. Thank you. We will be working hard. It's interesting that in the past few days, after getting serious about the walk, his recall in the house is much better and he's been fantastic when we are eating. He goes to his spot and lays there until we are done without any reminders. Go figure.  I'll check back in with an update soon...

Pam

[NalaSA]

Hi Pam,

I think it was 3 weeks of pure frustration for me to teach Nala how to walk on a leash.  As a puppy she was the first dog I had that HATED going for walks.  At first she would just sit there and absolutely refuse to go anywhere.  Then when we got her going she would suddenly decide to go nuts on the leash by biting our ankles and feet, attacking the leash, jumping up - just being a real nuisance.  I had to work on it inside the house for a while before getting success outside.   We did heel, change of directions with a "Let's Go!" etc.  And even still back then I sometimes walked in fear she would suddenly launch into one of these puppy attacks out of nowhere (highly embarrassing).  Sometimes I would step on her leash so she couldn't jump up on me, or I would tie her to a post nearby and turn my back to ignore her until she was calm.  And I gave her lots of praise and treats if she went with me where I wanted in a nice fashion.  Finally she started to to get it.  This was really important to me as I'm only 90lbs and Nala could easily bowl me over if she wanted to.

Now, she's 15 months and she's very good on walks.  One thing that did help us a lot was using a harness instead of putting her leash on the collar.  For whatever reason, she prefers the harness.  She pretty much walks right beside me.  On rainy days she skulks a bit and tries to refuse her walks but I don't let her.   She sometimes pulls ahead if she gets excited and she is reactive to unknown dogs on leash (constantly working on this - she's fine off leash and highly friendly with her doggy friends at the beach, at daycare and in our home). 

I'm sure your RR will come around with practice and hard work.  i must say though, I sure don't miss those crazy puppy frenzy days!

[pamnelson]

So, we've been going for 3 walks a day for the past two weeks and things are going really well!  I must have looked like a complete nut case changing direction every 10 paces in the first week or so but it finally sunk it.  Nelson has been fantastic!  It was worth the frustration because I think he's got it.  Yesterday, the leash unclipped somehow.  It must not have been properly clipped when we left the house.  Since he had been walking on a loose leash, he didn't even notice!  I calmly called him back and he came (thank goodness because his recall generally stinks outside!).  Phew.  The only craziness we've had for the past few days is his running around like a maniac when he gets back inside.  He does two or three big circles at warp speed, ears back, like a complete nut and then settles down for a long nap. 

NalaSA, we are still working on getting too excited about seeing other people.  It's getting better slowly but will take some time for sure.  During our walks, we periodically practice a proper 'heel' and do this when we see people or other dogs.  I don't enforce 'heel' the whole time.  To me, the important thing is respect for the leash.  In any case, I can imagine that being petite makes these issues that much more important.  This whole idea of getting complete control on the leash was prompted by him nearly knocking me over when he jetted in an unpredictable direction on a walk.  Ugh.  It's embarrassing and scared the heck out of me because he's already 60 pounds at 5 months old.  Have you had any success with this?

Steve, did you get any feedback about recall at the dog park?  I've basically given up on the dog park for now.  Nelson loves it and is great with other dogs but without good recall, it makes it really difficult.  My husband usually takes him every day but he's been out of town.  I think he's a bit more relaxed about the recall because he tends to take Nelson for an hour and a half, so he's wiped out and ready to go when my husband is ready.  I took him on my own last week for 45 minutes and decided not to go back until his recall is better.  Although he enjoys it, it's a total free-for-all.  Anyway, recall and ringing a bell to go outside are at the top of the list now.  I'm going to start with a really long lead in a field, as other people have suggested, then increase distractions to see if we can get better at this. 

Pam

[efoley]

Hi Pam,

Sounds like you are making good progress. It's hard work but definitely worthwhile. I also noticed that demanding good manners while on the walk translated into better manners indoors (as in better stays and no more jumping up.) Additionally a structured walk with heels, sits, and stays will tire him out and continue to instill discipline. It can also give him something to focus on if he shows any leash reactiveness. Keep persevering!!!

Elena

[Safi]

Hi Pam,
   Safi's problem at the dog park wasn't so much recall as it was not wanting to leave even when leashed Initially she would run back into the park, and then it was stop dead and not go within 200 ft of the exit and now its mostly just getting through the open gate to the parking lot. One thing I was told a while back was to get them used to being leashed so that they know it doesn't always mean having to leave. So call them, leash them .. walk them for a little and then let them off again. Seemed to work for us. As for recall.. its just one of those things that happened over time as we got a stronger bond with Safi. I'm sure there has to be better/faster ways. Right now she usually wont go out of our sight when offleash and she usually comes like a bullet if I call her and she has been out of sight too long. A foxpro whistle is great if they are not close and got Safi excited enough to come back and see what it was.

  Nelson will figure it all out .. Consistency and rewarding him in different ways will get results (either treat or play.. something that will get him waggly). If Safi got a little too out of hand or really didn't listen when she really needed to .. then I did flip her on her side and put her in submission.. keeping her on her side until she relaxed. Ive only ever had to do that less than a dozen times since we have had her .. but she responded well to the correction.

  If you can find a large fenced area that is not too barren and has some distractions .. its a good place to practice off leash recall. Even having another dog along that does have good recall could help. Wish I could remember who said .. "to teach perfect recall .. call them as they are running towards you" I found these rules on a uk web site

1. Never call your puppy unless he is already coming towards you
2. Never chase your puppy
3. Do not test your puppy

You can probably find the article The Puppy Recall by Pippa Mattinson

Steve

[NalaSA]

Hi Pam,

Nice work! sounds like it's paying off.  Incredibly, Nala has never pulled me down or knocked me over.  I think people always wonder how I can handle a dog as big as her! It's as if she knows I'm small and is extra careful with me.  I always never gave her any attention when I came home until she was calm and in a sit so maybe she knows from that?  However that hasn't translated to everyone in my family.  She has knocked over my brother and mother in law before- it's something we're still trying to work on but it's hard when other people in your family don't follow my rules (ie don't reward the dog for unwanted behaviours!).

As for excitement when approaching other dogs on leash, as soon as I see another dog coming I try to get her attention (eye contact with Watch Me, or Leave It to get her to whip her head around back to me).  Depending on where we are, what her state of mind is, how the other dog is reacting, I may choose to put some distance between us and the other dog by walking around something or just crossing the road while I keep her eyes on me.  This is successful probably 90% of the time.  If everything is in a good place (both dogs calm, it's a place she knows, and she's exhibited calm behaviour), I'll allow her and the other dog to sniff bottoms and say hello.  Of course, things don't always happen this way - people approach us before I can make a move, or there's no where to "escape".  I am just highly aware of the situation though because if I don't manage it, she's likely to lunge first.  She used to also lunge at crows but that's under control now (she looks at me automatically if she sees a crow) however squirrels is a different thing!  It did take a while for her to respect and trust the leash - I was just happy when she finally stopped attacking and biting it.

It's funny how different they react on-leash to off.  At the beach and on trails off leash, she's fine with greeting other dogs.  She doesn't feel as trapped or threatened if she doesn't like the other dog.  As for recall, it took a while to get to a point where she's better with it in the middle of a rough/exciting play session.  I try to call her back every now and then when she's playing with another dog and lightly take her collar "Gotcha" then treat her.  After that, I say "Go Play" and off she goes again.  That is helping.  Her recall when she's not overly excited is very dependable.

Liv & Nala

[NalaSA]

Pam,

Sorry me again =) I just read that Nelson had ripped some of your clothes as a 3 month old and I just wanted to say I can SO relate to that!! Nala had wrecked a few pairs of tights and sweats for us doing the same thing.  Ahhh those puppy growing pains.   I also saw you said he goes crazy for treats.  I always do walk with some treats just in case I need that attention right away.  I know you said he gets even more wild when you have them but I think Steve's advice about asking him to wait patiently for his treats before he gets them will help with that.

Steve - you mentioned something about 3 rules on a UK website.  What does it mean "Never test your puppy?"

Liv & Nala

[Safi]

Hi Liv
   I guess I need to read through a bit more .. possibly dont call your puppy unless your going to reward them somehow? Or dont constantly call them to you perhaps?

Steve

[efoley]

Hi Liv,

I think the never test rule has to do with the stages of training. So start the recall without distractions and gradually move to more difficult situations but always on a long lead or other controlled mechanism until you are sure the recall is reliable. Otherwise you risk training your puppy into ignoring you. As a bad example Cisko now thinks a very fun game is to run away, have us call his name, and then chase him down...

Elena

[Ari_RR]

Yeah.. Recall is a huge problem. I have ordered 50 ft training rope, should be arriving any day. But still, what they do and how they behave on leash differs from off leash, so I don't know.. A long way from comfort zone..

Eugene

[Safi]

Found the reference on testing .. makes sense.

Leave testing for later


If you test your puppy by calling his name when he is not in the act of coming towards you, and he does not come, you will damage all your good work by teaching the pup that it is possible for the recall command to be ignored.  This early play learning should not include any testing, it is about conditioning. You are laying the foundations for a perfect recall in the weeks to come. Meanwhile if you need your pup to come to you, attract his attention with a hand clap, and make off in the opposite direction. He will soon come trotting after you.

If anyone would like the link for the whole article .. send me message and I can pass it on. I seem to recall I can not post some links on here without the owners permission.

Steve

[hannibal]

When I first got my Hannibal, we went to the ridgeback training grounds near the city to watch the older dogs train and get socialized  I remember sitting there with my little puppy on my lap and look at the attempts to train the adult RRs. And I have to say I was quite horrified. They were jumping on their owners, barking at them and growling, tearing loose and attacking eachother, refusing to move, refusing to acknowledge the presence of their owners or, simply, knock them over - male and females alike. And I looked down at the sweet little puppy in my lap and thought "what have I gotten myself into?" Later I did notice that there was also a large number of dogs behaving perfectly 

But that experience made me decide that Hannibal would never become like those dogs. Especially since I'm quite petite too and Hannibal is a large male. Actually, we weigh pretty much the same. During his initial leash training I must admit I thought we would never make it as he threw all kinds of tantrums but he's now 17 months old and perfect I made it by never slacking. If I wanted a certain behaviour, I always wanted it. He has never ever been allowed to jump up or pull on the leash, or refuse to go anywhere, or even take his dinner without my saying GO; I have always corrected his behaviour each and every time he was off. So now he just doesn't see the point of doing things I don't agree with. Oh, and by correcting him I mean doing pretty much what you've started doing now - changing directions and such He likes treats, hugs, and kisses and playing with ropes and stuff so I have done lots of playing and rewarding. He has never gotten what he wanted out of unwanted behaviour but I have always been kind, happy, and understanding, of course. Equal amounts of love and consistency

As for the recall it is quite important for me as I live on a farm with lots of other animals and Hannibal has to answer immediately no matter the situation (say a horse gets loose or deers are running by) so I have practiced this over and over. What works for me is to reward Hannibal for staying close to me and keep checking back with me regularly to see if I should want something from him. I always make sure that I have treats or toys with me that Hannibal finds absolutely delicious/fun. His taste seems to change all the time as do my treats When I'm just training, I will call him only when I'm confident he will react. Then I reward him lavishly; 5 or 6 treats and a kiss on the nose. I then use my command for ending an excercise (in my case it's FREE as in ok, you're free to go). I have used this command to avoid him obsessing over treats because it's all over after that word And when I call him, he ALWAYS has to answer, not once have I let it (or him) go. And I think this is important too.

Best of luck with Nelson, sounds like you're doing great already 

[Ari_RR]

And when I call him, he ALWAYS has to answer, not once have I let it (or him) go. And I think this is important too.

thanks, that was a very encouraging post! But what does mean in practice, how do you make sure that he ALWAYS answers? what I have with Ari is that the value of the treats goes down in proportion with the value of the environment.. I haven't found a treat yet that can compete with even some scents in the woods, never mind a treat that has higher value then chasing a deer..
So you call the puppy, he pretends that he doesn't hear and keeps his nose glued to something in a pile of leaves..  Then what??

[hannibal]

Well - I started recall training when Hannibal was 9 weeks old and in the beginning, I only called when he was coming towards me already and when I knew that he would respond - as advised above. I didn't take him anywhere where it would be neccessary for me to be able to control him off the leash until I was absolutely certain that he would come to me immediately. If I were to re-train a dog that didn't respond, I'd go back to basics I wouldn't put him in another situation where he could get any sort of excitement out of disobeying me. I know, I know - not easily done...lol - Also, I would get started on getting his attention. I used a clicker for this. Every time he looks at me, I click and reward him. This has ensured that he sticks around at all times. Even if he doesn't want a treat during some excitement, he still remembers that I'm cool to hang with - for some reason I don't really use a clicker for anything else...

I also think it all comes down to what you expect of the dog. When I decided that Hannibal was going to be perfectly well behaved, I fully expected him to be so. In every situation we have ever tackled together, I have expected him to behave perfectly. So he has. I think it has something to with exuding confidence because we all know how dogs will pick up on how we feel If I present Hannibal with a new task thinking he's NEVER gonna get it right, chances are he probably won't. If I'm nervous, he will be alert and unwilling, and so on. So try to exude "I have a perfect dog" I learned this from training stallions for breeding situations (they can get seriously dangerous for everyone involved) and since I'm just a girl I have to radiate high self esteem and tell the stallion that "I got this" - that I own the situation completely - without getting anywhere near a fight that I will surely loose.

I have a border collie and a RR. What I have found is that the BC responds to my recall "because I say so" whereas the RR responds because he thinks I'm cool and might have point. In order to work with Hannibal I've had to convince him that I get the best ideas and that I'm more fun and have more tasty things to offer than anything he can find elsewhere. Which I don't, of course So the secret lies in the "convince him" part

If Hannibal one day did not respond to my recall, I'd pretend to have found something insanely interesting - cheering, laughing, jumping and running in the opposite direction. He would want to come see what all the fuzz was about And then I'd play with him and stuff him with treats.

What treats have you tried? Hannibal seems to be especially fond of dried liver, it smells terribly but what do I know Does Ari have a toy he's obsessing over? Hannibal loves carrying stuff for me so I often reward him by letting him carry the newspaper or his own blanket. Or play with a plastic bottle. He LOVES bottles. I just have to get it back from him before he can bite through

Another trick is to teach him some useful commands that you can throw at him instead of a recall. When he's excited about something and maybe even going into hunting mode, the last thing he wants is to break it off and turn around. But he's also a dog, they like team work. I bet he wishes you'd run through the forest WITH him I have taught Hannibal to STAND, STAY and FREEZE. So if he sees - say deer - I don't call his name, I say FREEZE to make him think I'm in on it. He wants us to hunt in a pack and he loves it when I seem to be interested. So I say STAY and creep closer. I walk up to him and pretend to be stalking deer as well, him shaking in excitement. And then I grab hold of his collar and tell him how awesome he is while the deer escapes I have success with this because he plays the stalking game with the BC. He will lie in wait for his playmate to come closer and then (at my signal) he will "attack". Of course, it's just fun and games and the collie is totally in on it, it just gives Hannibal the illusion that we're hunting together, and he thinks it's super awesome that I call the shots.


Here he is under the FREEZE command with 4 deers in an open field

Wow, look at me typing away Sorry about the novel - hope just a fraction of it can come in useful Training with ridgebacks sure is inspiring

[caro]

Its very important to learn to read your own dog.  There is no generalizing with Ridgebacks.  Some live to please their owner, some are super independent and cannot be relied upon to listen when there is something to be tracked and chased, and some simply have no interest in hunting.  I've had one of each and some in between.  The hunters while seeming to be well trained and responsive to commands, will become stone deaf if they see something that their heritage and instincts tell them they need to chase; you need to recognize that if you have one of these, it is wisest to always keep them on a long line.  It gives them freedom but it also gives you control if they decide to take off and can save their lives if there is a busy road nearby. 

Caroline

[pamnelson]

I just read that Nelson had ripped some of your clothes as a 3 month old and I just wanted to say I can SO relate to that!! Nala had wrecked a few pairs of tights and sweats for us doing the same thing.  Ahhh those puppy growing pains.   

Ugh.  The clothes grabbing was terrible!  Two down jackets, two pairs of leggings and two pairs of jeans.  We are finally through this phase but I thought it would never end.  Phew!

Pam

[pamnelson]

Fantastic responses!!!  Someone mentioned this same kind of thing to me.  They said when I see someone coming, I should put Nelson in a sit/watch me and when he's focused on me, start pumping him full of treats until the distraction passes.  Living in Boulder, runners and cyclists are all over the place and unfortunately, are Nelson's Achilles heel (they are clearly having way more fun than we are simply walking).  I suppose that if I can convince him that I am way cooler than anything else that comes along, as you said, he will pay attention to me eventually rather than the passing distraction without tons of treats (but with treats in reserve for when the ultimate distraction comes along...a group of runners with their dogs?).  I love the idea of simply expecting him to be a great dog.  In thinking about it, I think you're absolutely right!  As of a few days ago, Nelson hadn't really developed a good way of communicating to us that he had to go out.  I mentioned the possibility of using a bell when I was talking with my dad and he said there's little to no chance that I can get that to work.  WELL, I taught Nelson to 'touch' my hand and moved him to the bell a few days ago.  After a few rings and me squealing 'Outside!!' and nearly doing cartwheels, I think he's got it!  Since I wanted to prove that he could do it, I think I sent the message that I 'expect' him to do it.  I'll try to exude the same kind of confidence when we're out walking.  Just might work!

Thanks also for the tips on recall!  I'm sure this one will takes lots of time and work, but we are ready!

Pam

[pamnelson]

Update:

Nelson has been doing really well on his walks and practicing a sit/stay especially when children pass has been great. He mostly just shows vague interest in other people when we are hiking but still needs some redirection when it comes to kids running by and other dogs, especially when they are off leash.

On a side note, the bell training went really well though somehow the bell has come to mean not only "please let me out so I can pee" but also "I just really want to see what Dan is doing in the garage". Sometimes it also means "Boy, it looks really nice out there.  Perhaps it would be nice to go out and sniff the air a bit".  We are working on refining this. 

Thanks again for all of your advice!
Pam

[hannibal]

So glad to hear this, good job! Really interesting with the bell, sounds like your little Nelson is very smart I might try the bell thing too now after hearing about your success.. Hannibal doesn't really communicate that he wants to go out either, I can usually tell by his activity level but it would be nice just to hear the bell!