walking on / off the lead

[Sue Loves Labs]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry folks this is going to be a long post.
As some of you know Dan was a rescue dog, we adopted him a year ago now. when he first came to us he was a year old black bouncy thing on the end of the lead whith no manners what so ever, and would charge up to any other dog he clapped his eyes on so he could play with them, wether they wanted to or not.

It didn’t take me too long to get him to walk to heal on a normal lead but getting him to egnore other dogs is a bit more of a chalange and still a work a work in progress.

When I walk Dan I use a short lead for when we are walking the street and a very long lead for when we are in the field, so he can have a run around. I use the long lead because I have control of him at all times.
In the past couple of months I have started to drop the lead on the ground and practise his recall, sit ‘n’ stay , wait and walking to heal without me holding his lead. I am happy with the results so far. So far so good.

I have also let him off the lead a few times when I know there is no one else in the field when I do this he goes running around at full pelt, he doesn’t run off he keeps me in sight and if I turn and walk away in the other direction he comes running back at full pelt, if I recall him when he is off the lead he doesn’t come back strait away he will stop, look around, sniff the air ( just to make sure there isn’t something more interesting ) then comes back to me the long way round.

Now when I drop the lead to the ground he stays closer, walks to heal when comanded will recall on comand and do all the sit ‘n’ stay, wait and so on.  So what I really want to know is should I carry on with dropping the lead and working it up till the lead is so short that it may as well not be there?
It seems as though I have stumbled on a way of getting him to do what I ask or am I barking up the wrong tree?

[dogloverwoooo!]

just a suggestion that i find helps, particually with recall, have you tried using a clicker? clicker and reward system is great for food loving doggies!
a really brief explanation….
you call your dogs name followed by command eg doggy ‘come’
as soon as he looks round and starts to move towards you CLICK and when he gets to you give him a tastey treat. he will learn the click noise means he is going to get something great. this will help strenghten his recall giving u more confidence with off lead exercise.

[Sue Loves Labs]

Hi Doglover,
I haven’t tried clicker training with him and don’t really know how to go on with it.
I have found that Dan is not that interested in food rewards. He will do any thing for a food treat in the house or garden but not when we are out in the field.

[Kerry_and_Beau]

sounds like you are doing great and you are almost there, i’m sure you’ll get great advice for moving this on.

treats may not work as he has probably had that much fun outside before you got him that he knows there are far more intersting things out there than you can supply  🙂

[dogloverwoooo!]

what sort of treats do you use when out in the field? When I train peoples dogs i encourage them to use really interesting treats such as pieces of frankfurters, dried liver, spam or cheese and only use them for training or when out and they need their dogs attention. they will b really interesting to your dog and help keep their focus better than plain biscuits/packet treats etc. also dont feed a dog before you walk/train it, dogs work better with a hungry tummy and it is also more confortable for them to.
and regarding the clicker, it is basicly a reinforcement tool. CLICK means ‘thats it, thats the correct behaviour’
so for example you start by asking your dog to sit, CLICK when he does (because he has displayed the correct behaviour) and then reward. this will help him learn CLICK means reward. he will be more likely to repeat the behaviour again, in order to hear the CLICK.
it sounds a bit confusing but there are great books you can get, Karen Pryor for example. and once you understand its a really useful way to train a dog.
hope this helps

[kizkiznobite]

sorry…but……
no novice clicker user should use clicker outside

no name should be used first…a name is a name …it personal…it a watch me/look at me cue is all in this situation…while you calling name you can call the recall stop sit etc….

loads on here re recall…you are rewarding him everytime you let him off leash with no fluent recall…why should he bother? the free run is a greater reward than any treat you have in pocket if you allow this as he has proven to you

we been here before….

stickies

the best place to be
general levels of criteria
recall
leash

[dogloverwoooo!]

i agree you shouldnt use a clicker untill you are are confident with it. but i think it may be a useful tool for you, have u looked into training classes in your area at all?

[kizkiznobite]

dog needs teaching recall at criteria 1 not 4…

look at crazy’s posts and how he has come on in a short time with a 8 week old girlie lab puppy…

classes are to teach humans and to socialise dogs – and to give advice to a non clicker user that invlolves clicker use outside breaks all the rules…

what we click for is what we get…..had the OP gone out in the field and clicked for a decision…which is basically what you were saying…and at the point of a charged click dog had started to turn on an attack……..with me?

it s brill tool…i use it for training and for remod….but it’s application has to be fully understood by the user
sorry…not having a go..you train …good…but…when giving advice then more info is required is what i am saying…

and

frankfurters…full of salt
spam..same and fat content yuk

training treats should match the criteria at which a behaviour is being trained at…

and a click means you done good treat on way but to get there it needs charging and the pupster needs to understand the concept…not the human but the pup….

[Sue Loves Labs]

Hi Doglover
I did take him to a few classes when we first had him but the trainer at the class, I felt, wasn’t all that good, so we stopped going.

Hi Kiz
So would I be better to carry on with dropping the lead and then working that untill the lead is so short it may as well not be there? I know it will take a long tome but to be honest I’m not botherd if it will get results. Dan does seem to respond much better this way.

[dogloverwoooo!]

i know the treats arent the healthiest thing in the world, this why i said only use them when you really need them. that will do no harm (unless dog has food intolerances). there are healthier options, fresh chicken, low fat/salt cheese etc. my dogs love carrot!

[Sue Loves Labs]

??? ??? ???

[Izzie]

[quote author=Sue Loves Labs link=topic=12168.msg234450#msg234450 date=1217859236]
??? ??? ???
[/quote]

You ok?

[Sue Loves Labs]

Not really, I seem to of started off a bit of a heated debate.
All I wanted to know is if I am doing ok with the lead thing or not, and if not why not ???

[kizkiznobite]

you need to teach what a recall is…what the behaviour is and that starts at criteria one up to 4 tested at 5…so no off leash until you can test it expecting fluency and without hesitation

the problem is you have already taught him that he doesnt have to come back on a recall…so you not now training you re-modifying learnt behaviour…..

the back of the hand touch is what i use…off leash in house at criteria one…the leash is completely irrelevant…totally….a recall is a recall is a recall …regardless…anytime anyplace anywhere….it the fastest way back to your feet …and it should be able to be ‘stopped’ and re cued into a sit a down a left a right whatever

loads on here re recall..as i said look at crazy with new lab puppy posts…get a whistle so recall has 3 cues…visual verbal and whistle…

you wont now get it fluent 100%…pup out off the classical learning stage as posted before but you should get a repair to 95% and the other 5% will have to be managed

[img width=468 height=351]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t15/bev_052/recall.jpg[/img]

and a short leash is all wrong…leash needs to be loose…held in right hand dog on left walking nice a calm no pulling….

[dogloverwoooo!]

didnt mean to  ??? u! anyway gd luck with it all. u sound really commited to training your dog which is fab!

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