Henry's Loose-leash training - a diary

[Londongirl]

Livercake!

I've tried it. He's not keen.

[bizzylizzy]

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.

Yes, I've done that in the past, and taken a mixed bag, so each treat is pot luck. I've still got loads of puppy kibble, which we had given as samples when we first had him and I mix those in aswell. I tried goats cheese this morning - lovely and smelly but by the end of the walk it was just a big soggy mess!
I started "proper" with the clicker on Saturday morning and although we've obviously got a long long way to go, he does seem to be getting the idea and as long as there's no distraction, he's not too bad but the hard bit for me is deciding at what point he needs to be corrected, sometimes he's just moving a bit further forward to follow a smell but the lead isn't isn't really tight. It seems a bit idealistic to think he'd walk absolute glued to my heel without his nose down at all for any great distance and wouldn't be much fun for him either. As anticpitaed, he does tend to just sit down as soon as I stop because that's what I trained him to do, -( I think that's what they mean by putting the cart before the horse!😂😂) Just out of interest, which hand do you have the lead, clicker and treats in and how long do you have the lead? It always looks so simple in the videos but I seem to get myself in a bit of a muddle - I could do with another hand!,

[Londongirl]

I have a double ended lead, fastened at the chest and on his back. I hold the centre of the loop with both hands at my belly button. I stop the minute I feel any tension against my hands (which is quite often!). There's enough slack that he can move a little ahead, or to the side to have a sniff without me bothering him. It's his walk, after all.

Now, onto the tricky bit! I have the clicker hanging from my belt on the right and a treat pouch hanging from my belt on the left. I can get to either while still holding the lead with the other hand. The advantage of the double ended lead is that I'm holding on in two places,side by side, with both hands. If I drop one hand to click or get a treat, Henry doesn't really notice and I don't accidentally tug on the lead myself.  I can grasp the clicker and click without having to let go at all as the cord is long enough. And because it's attached I can just let go again when I'm done.

I tend to always have a treat cupped in my left hand (as I'm training Henry to walk on the left) so I'm ready to give it promptly. As soon as I dole one out, I secret another in my hand ready for the next time.

[lescef]

Have you tried cooked chicken or roast beef?  Better fed than us our dogs!

[Londongirl]

He does like roast chicken - I'll be training him tomorrow with the left overs from Sunday lunch! But still not as much as he likes cheese.

[bizzylizzy]

OK! Thanks - will report in at the end of the week! 😉

[Alison D]

I shall enjoy reading about how you get on and shall hopefully learn some tips to help with my 16 month old. Millie can walk nicely when she wants to and then other times its a battle and she can be very tricky. I am keen to know how you progress.  Good luck

[Londongirl]

After a couple of frustrating days, a better walk today.

I realised that I've been making a mistake. When Henry pulls ahead, I stop. As I mentioned above, I've started waiting for him to correct himself and come back to me. I realised today that he was popping back to me, getting his treat then bolting forwards again. So I don't think he was associating the reward with loose leash walking. Just stop - turn - go back - get a treat - repeat. You have to be so careful about the erroneous associations they get in their heads.

I cottoned on to this about halfway through our walk today and changed my behaviour so that when he came back to me I shifted my position every so slightly to make sure he was just behind my leg, and gave him the treat when we started walking again and when he was still behind my hand at the seam of my trousers.

I let him off for a good run in the woods then put him back on the leash for the last five minutes walk back to the car. Which he did all by my side, my dropping treats into his mouth every few steps. Hurrah! That's the longest he's been able to focus on the training while out of the house and with lots of distractions. Obviously it helped that he'd run off most of his crazy already.

[bizzylizzy]

ha ha!! That was EXACTLY the conclusion I came to yesterday afternoon -  little Wotsit was doing just the same as Henry! I read a book about using a clicker for training (general, not just heel walking) and I gather the idea is, that the clicker eventually replaces the treat  altogether, the clicker becomes the reward and because of association with food, they're happy with that! (Wonder if it could work for us .. ) In order to get that far, you can leave a gap  of a couple of seconds between click and treat then start  to only treat after  every second or third click   then  gradually space them  out more and more until they only get an occasional treat. It's obviously quite a long process til we get that far but maybe just clicking without a treat occasionally would keep them on a their toes a bit. This is all theoretical, I haven't tried it but the concept of the clicker  was invented by somebody training dolphins and based on the research of a Russian scientist, so we cannot allow ourselves to fail!! 

[BonnieScot]

Hey.

For clicker training, a click always means a treat, always. But what your dog does to earn the treat should get more difficult over time. So, if you click and treat for ten steps at heel, you can then move to eleven. If puppy nails eleven, you can move to twelve. You want to get to the stage where the puppy does't know when the treat is coming, but knows that a click means something good will happen, and therefore keeps working for it. What you are aiming for is rewarding the best efforts, and that's what you'll then get more of.

If you click and then don't treat, the pup will lose faith that the click means something good is happening. So instead, just make it a fraction harder to earn the treat after the pup has been successful at one 'level', then keep baby-stepping up.

There's tonnes of great stuff online that will help- let me know if you want some links.

[bizzylizzy]

OK - that actually makes more sense, thanks!!
Presumably I can bin my book?     

[BonnieScot]

 

The positive reinforcement behaviour field is fascinating. I can draw parallels to how my daughter 'trained' me, how I might be inadvertently 'training' people at work, and all sorts of situations. For now, I'll keep practising on Bonkers Bonnie. 

Incidentally, we're just back a lovely walk with her on harness and longline patrolling the village. After a few months, we have widened and widened where we can go, she potters along collecting sniffs and village pee-mail, and checks in with me frequently. When I need her closer by the road or whatever, I shorten the lead and she knows it's time to stick close to mum (and by the way, that means lots of treats). Much more relaxed for us both. And I've noticed that she seems to need less entertaining at home since the walk is more enriching for her. Her recall is better too, but she's not getting off at the moment as she's in season and I'm not ready for a houseful of little Bonkers Bonnies.

[bizzylizzy]

O'h I think a bountyful of beautiful baby bonker Bonnies sounds beguiling!!!

[BonnieScot]

I'm thinking I will next summer- need to start interviewing potential daddies!

[Londongirl]

Quick update - we've made real progress this week, although it doesn't feel like it when we first arrive at the park and he is pulling and barking like fury! But he is settling into nice walking much more quickly. He's still orientated by get a treat, so walks gazing up at my hand. I'm stretching the length of time / number of steps before the treat comes, and he is also occasionally just walking by my side, looking around.

He still pulls more for my OH, so I got him to walk Henry most of the time this morning. As ever, the OH needs more training than the dog! He kept allowing the lead to go tight because 'oh, he's only pulling a bit, it's better than it used to be'. I insisted on zero tolerance on any tightness in the lead which is boring, but being inconsistent is what got us in this pickle in the first place.

The other thing I've noticed is that Henry is getting a little less reactive to squirrels, which has been a big issue for us and his recall. He stops and stares, and whimpers a bit, and still pulls towards them, but not to the point where he's on his hind legs. And I can get his attention back to me much more quickly now. There were a few times today where I noticed him get distracted but then very quickly turn his attention back to me without being promoted. Hopefully this is will help in re-training his recall, which I'm starting in earnest next week.