Henry's Loose-leash training - a diary

[Londongirl]

We are into the second week of my 'I'm determined to crack it this time' loose-leash training with Henry. As many of us here have darling little pullers, I thought it would be useful to record what I'm doing, and with what success (if any!). It will keep me motivated knowing I need to report in, and if things go wrong it might help to pinpoint when and where the cause is, if I keep a record. So here goes!

I started at home using this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DayHrhoSJZc&app=desktop

I did this for a few days. It took a while for Henry to work out exactly where I wanted him to stand when I started moving around, I'd say we had this sequence down in three days, practicing for ten minutes twice a day.

I then added the leash and did the Kikopup loose-leash training in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFgtqgiAKoQ&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop

I also like this video, especially the tip on holding the lead at your belly button, which I've been doing this week and find really helps. For one thing, my shoulders no longer hurt!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Th5z-mnnUE#action=share

I did this training in the garden rather than out in the street as our roads are really busy. I did this for another three days, a few times a day.

Meanwhile, we went on our normal walks but I tried to keep pulling to a minimum by changing direction or stopping. I know the trainers say it is best to not walk them on a lead if they will be able to pull while training, but it's impossible for us, especially as Henry's recall is currently so poor.

This week I've been doing loose-leash training for all our walks (bar some free running in the woods where for some reason he is very good and stays close). I let him run around on the longline first to burn off some energy then put him back on the regular lead. I have the clicker attached to my belt on one side and the treat bag on the other - so glamorous! On most walks it took him at least ten minutes to settle into the training. Click then treat for being by my side, or for looking up and turning back (click on the look, treat when he gets back to my side).

He's still forging ahead, but today I noticed him correct himself a few times. So I've upped the ante a bit. If he pulls ahead, I stop. I don't turn or walk backwards to try to reposition him, because I can see he knows what I want. So I just stop. I don't say anything. I just wait. Henry stops too. After about 20-30 seconds he remembers what I want and turns and comes back to my side. So I am now getting him to make the choice to come back to my side. As soon as he gets there, I start walking again and feed him the treat behind my leg while we are moving. After about 30 minutes of this, we were steadily increasing the amount of time he was walking by my side rather than ahead. I rewarded him a few times on the hoof when he was walking nicely for any length of time.

So that's the strategy for the next few days. He knows what I want, he knows the potential rewards, and that's the foundation to build on. Here's hoping we are both on the right track.

[Murphys Law]

Thanks for the great post. I will check out the vids and keep an eye on your progress.

[bizzylizzy]

What a great idea L.G.!!!
I'll have a look at the videos a bit later and will prepare to join you in the Great Struggle 
Its a super way of staying motivated and I'm sure if we make a united effort we'll get there in the end!
Looking forward to everyone's progress reports! 

[Londongirl]

What a great idea L.G.!!!
I'll have a look at the videos a bit later and will prepare to join you in the Great Struggle 
Its a super way of staying motivated and I'm sure if we make a united effort we'll get there in the end!
Looking forward to everyone's progress reports! 

Yes! Join me and together we shall bring the little darlings to heel - quite literally. The more the merrier.

[bizzylizzy]

👍👍👍

[Dzr]

I am in to day two and its hard work. I am sure people think I am completely crazy until they realise i have a dog on one side of me! I am going to try the clicker method, i was trying just the word good  then treat with some success but not too much. What treats are you using? Loubeelou has quite a sensitive tummy so don't want to give her too many treats as we both suffer later!

[Londongirl]

I haven't used a clicker much before, but I do think it's really helping because when we are in motion it clearly marks the moment the good behaviour happens. Have you tried doing the clicker training videos first at home before trying it out on your walk?

Henry's tummy is pretty sensitive too. He can have a little cheese, or hot dog, cut into tiny pieces. I bring a small bag of one of those plus a pouch full of Harrington's liver training treats. He can eat a whole bag of those with no adverse consequences! When we're training he mostly gets the liver biscuits with the occasional jackpot of cheese or hotdog.

[Ernies mum]

I'll be following this with interest . I posted about using the halti front fastening harness on a different post . Ernie isn't on the lead much & when he is he's pretty good but if we go into town or he's on lead somewhere new he's not great & I spend my time constantly stopping & waiting for him to come back to heal . My recent bad back forced me to try the harness ... the difference is unbelievable it's like he's had months of loose lead training  . I know it's cheating really but it's really changed things for the better & he's quite happy wearing the harness 

[lescef]

I've been doing a similar thing for ages and Maddie is better. I too stop and wait for her to return to my side. You can see the cogs going in their brain. I actually now don't carry on walking until she has looked at me but I feel it focuses her and she concentrates a bit more.

[Londongirl]

Weekend update:

Henry walked really well on his evening walk yesterday, but he generally does, wearing his WYDWL harness. He started pulling about half way back to the house so I really focused on not letting him move forwards when pulling. Something I'll be watching out for I need future.

This morning was the first time I walked Henry with my OH as well since I started the training. I showed OH what to do and Henry was quickly correcting himself with me. But when I handed him over to my OH, Henry just started pulling again and when OH stopped, Henry took FOREVER to walk back to him. So he knows what I want but hasn't generalised the behaviour to someone else holding the lead. I'm going to try and persuade OH to do some practice at home and in the garden with the clicker and treat pouch before tomorrow's walk.

[bizzylizzy]

I think it'll be a while before he starts to do it automatically, whoever's at the other end of the lead. If you think how long he's been pulling, he's going to need a while to break the habit - its like us trying to alter a life long behaviour, it doesn't happen overnight. I think we need to be realistic otherwise we'll get demotivated and we are dealing with cockers afterall!
My situation is the reverse in that OH is always with me and I find it hard to be consistant when he's standing around like an abandoned suitcase and wanting to get on with the walk - I really need to go out separately, just to train.
On a lighter note - we started doing an exercise at class this morning to teach the dogs how to follow direction without using a command but using body language. In order to get the hang of it, we had to do it without the dogs to start with -, we were in pairs, one person was "the dog "and held one end of the lead and the other person holding the lead had to show what direction to go while we all trotted round in a ring!! ! Talk about a Monty Python sketch, if anyone had been watching they'd have thought we'd all gone balmy! ...... The lengths we have to go to......   

[Londongirl]

That's hysterical!

During the week it's just me and the dog. When it comes to the weekend, OH joins me and either has to stand around like a spare part while I train or he tries and has me barking orders at him and telling him where he's going wrong. It's not conducive to harmonious marital relations.

[AlanT]

Both of you can train independently. It's not necessary to be totally consistent.

Three people trained my dog. He works fine for any of us but it's a bit different.

My son uses a kind of swiss-yodel to call him, daughter-in-law uses a whistle because she can't bellow.
I just yell "COME".

Makes no difference we all get him back most of the time.

The kids use his name a lot. I stick to one-word commands. None of us does significantly better than the others.

However we ALL use the same reward/ignore/ methods we never do any punishment kind of things.
Just once as a puppy I gave this dog a telling off. Would not co-operate for a week.

[Londongirl]

Not so good today, but I can think of two reasons:

1. I couldn't give him a run around on the long lead when we first arrived at the park because the mowers were out cutting the grass.

2. I didn't bring good enough treats. He LOVES cheese but too much upsets his stomach. Ditto for hot dog. With the amount that he gets during training, his stomach was getting very upset. I am going to try a trick I read somewhere, where you put training treats in a bag with some cheese and leave them there in the fridge overnight so the biscuits smell and taste like cheese! The biscuits I had today definitely weren't tasty enough to keep him focussed.

[AlanT]

Livercake!