Hi! I am hoping to get some help with teaching my puppy to walk on a leash. We adopted Cooper 4 weeks ago from the humane association (we think he is about 5
months old). He is a wonderful dog! He is so sweet and willing to please and easy going. He has already fallen into a nice routine with us. He does great at
going to the bathroom outside and can sit and lay (for a treat) and loves to chase his frisbee.
The problem is walking on a leash and it is a huge one. He pulls on the leash so hard and chokes himself and tries to chase every car/bike/leaf/person/dog/cat/child around. Today my hands were so sore from his pulling that when I was trying to adjust my grip I lost control of the leash and he took off after a pair of boys on bikes. He was running in the street and cars were screeching on the brakes. It was awful. I finally got him back and ended up sobbing on someone's front porch. We have gotten a woodhouse collar but I can't seem to give a correction that he pays any attention to. We live in a very urban neighborhood and don't have a fenced in yard. He is super active and needs the exercise of walks but he also has to be on a leash the whole time. What do I do? Do I try some of the pulse-squeeze techniques in the yard? And then just take him on an exercise walk just to get some of that puppy energy out of him? How do I know he is getting it? Should we get a pinch collar? I understand he won't be perfect overnight but I want to start working with him and I don't know where to start. Right now walking is terrible and we have to do it 3-4 times a day so he isn't a crazy dog in the house at night.
We are starting group classes tomorrow but walking on a leash isn't covered until the third level (we are in the intro) and we need help now! I am interested to see how he does in class. He is very distracted by other dogs so maybe the class will help him learn to focus.
Any comments/suggestions would be very much appreciated. We have Good Owners, Great Dogs and My Smart Puppy but even getting him outside on a leash and not pulling to start doing some training is a challenge. I don't know where to begin.
Also, Cooper is a hound-terrier mix (don't know if that makes a difference).
The problem is walking on a leash and it is a huge one. He pulls on the leash so hard and chokes himself and tries to chase every car/bike/leaf/person/dog/cat/child around. Today my hands were so sore from his pulling that when I was trying to adjust my grip I lost control of the leash and he took off after a pair of boys on bikes. He was running in the street and cars were screeching on the brakes. It was awful. I finally got him back and ended up sobbing on someone's front porch. We have gotten a woodhouse collar but I can't seem to give a correction that he pays any attention to. We live in a very urban neighborhood and don't have a fenced in yard. He is super active and needs the exercise of walks but he also has to be on a leash the whole time. What do I do? Do I try some of the pulse-squeeze techniques in the yard? And then just take him on an exercise walk just to get some of that puppy energy out of him? How do I know he is getting it? Should we get a pinch collar? I understand he won't be perfect overnight but I want to start working with him and I don't know where to start. Right now walking is terrible and we have to do it 3-4 times a day so he isn't a crazy dog in the house at night.
We are starting group classes tomorrow but walking on a leash isn't covered until the third level (we are in the intro) and we need help now! I am interested to see how he does in class. He is very distracted by other dogs so maybe the class will help him learn to focus.
Any comments/suggestions would be very much appreciated. We have Good Owners, Great Dogs and My Smart Puppy but even getting him outside on a leash and not pulling to start doing some training is a challenge. I don't know where to begin.
Also, Cooper is a hound-terrier mix (don't know if that makes a difference).
Here are some pictures.of the new puppy . . . .
.
~Big feet fill big shoes.
