How do I walk my puppy? :/
 

I'm trying to bring my pup out to walks, except she always walks in another direction or just sits there looking at me. Why does she do this?

I've been told that I should train the puppy how to walk when it is young, otherwise as it gets older, it'll be more difficult to walk it as I cannot control it when going out.

Armani did the same thing, I kept trying and them one day, he just started doing it lol. He doesn even struggle when I put the harness on him anymore cuz he knows its time for a walk :)

How old is your baby? That will make a big difference in what you should be doing. Also, what are you using, collar or harness? You should not be using a collar because their trachea's are so delicate and can be easily damaged. :animal36

Can someone help me with this as well? Sammy is 4 months. I use a harness, but when I walk him, he just pulls and pulls and wants to run all over the place. It has never been a good walk. Thanks
Mari

She's 10 weeks old a the moment. We also use a harness on her. I've been making sure to have some kind of tension between myself and the dog, not so hard but just enough to be noticable and say "your owner is the one who controls where you go".

Still having difficulties, though :(

The dog whisperer sometimes has dogs use a treadmill to get used to it (I know, not everyone has a treadmill...) He suggested that having them go on a treadmill and keeping a favorite treat/toy in front of them could help. Also, when walked your dog he also suggests to not have a tight grip on the leash, they somehow feel the tension/negative energy through the leash . . . . . . I'm going to try the treadmill thing with my 12 wk pup soon.....because he's a mess on a leash as well:(

How big is the leash? If it is a thick one I say try something smaller with less weight on it. We started Buzz early on the walking we would take him out on the track with us but I must admit it was more like we were taking buzz for a walk for we would carry him. He got it down now he walks but they do get tired easily. Puppies get tried out fast. Keep working on it dont give up ;)
Liz

Don't stop when ur dog stops and looks at u. Keep walking, but make sure to not drag her and hurt her. I had the same problem. Get Ceasar's book and read it. The book didn't make sense at first, but that helped a lot. He says to walk like ur the dominant one. Like Uno Baby mentioned, they can feel the tension. It's real weird how it worked, but it did.

I posted about the same thing when I first got my yorkie puppy. He didn't know what on earth to do when walking lol

Now he does the opposite thing...he lays down when I try to take him home from his walk lol



Don't worry... your puppy will figure it out !! I promise !!

Is there a PetSmart near you? When I was buying my new puppy supplies there I spotted the training center that they have. They have several levels of training, the first being puppy training. They can start at 10 weeks, and are sorted by size.

Wickett and I have been in class for 5 weeks now (it's a total of 8 weeks) with small dogs so he's not intimidated. Not only has he learned to walk on a leash, he's learned not to pull on it either. And also the basics: sit, lay down, off, come, leave it, take it, drop it.

It's been a very good class so far and I highly recommend it. 8 weeks for $109, not bad I think. And then the puppy gets off to a good start with training. Plus they get socialized and meet other people and dogs.

Do you know anyone w/ an older dog - where you could go for walks together? The pups always want to keep up, so it can really help them understand if there is another dog along.

How great that this question was asked today because I was going to ask it! Duffy is a year old now and he has just in the last month started pulling on his leash like a sled dog and sounds like Darth Vader with the breathing. He constantly wants to run ahead so he can lift his leg on every post and pole in town. I ignore his leg lifting and keep walking to try to discourage that but it hasn't been working. I walk him on a harness because I don't want to hurt his neck. He may be little but he is strong and as I have arthritus in my hands, keeping tension on his leash to keep him at my side starts hurting after a bit. Any suggestions to get him back to walking without the pulling?

Ugh I could just cry.
 

Uno is so bipolar with his leash I can't stand it! We can't really go for walks, he will plop his butt right down on the road (safe, eh?) and not budge. When I take him outside to do his business and he will want to eat, lick, play with every stick, leaf, bug, grass, weed, etc and when I try to get it out of his mouth he turns evil. He's on his harness/leash and he will jump and run circles around me, I look like an idiot to pedestrians:(

Today he scared the shiz outta' me he jumped and twisted so high and then plopped on the ground and there was a loud thud. I'm so afraid his leash hyperactivity is going to leave him in a cast. Not to mention when I try to get him to come INside he can be such a snot. I'm too afraid to pull too hard on his leash because I just think of his tiny little neck. I'm so frustrated I think I need a vacation. :p Pleeeeease convince me he will no longer be like this when he is a big boy....I tried asking friends, etc, how long their puppy stage lasted and my boss said "oh expect 8 or 9 months of this at least" :confused: :eek: :confused: :eek:

walking
 

Boston didn't like it either. I would take him out and he's sit down and wouldn't move. I'd try to tug a little and he's start dragging. So I tried a few things.
1. started with the driveway. If he even took one step with the leash, I'd praise him like crazy then stop for the day. I'd do this every single day until he'd get to the end of the driveway...then he'd stop
2. I'd carry him on the walk, put him down, let him walk a few steps, carry him again and so forth.

One day he just kept going on his own. It took me about a month.

My new puppy also didn't like the leash the first day and is still warming up to it, but the very next day he was walking with me. My little guy and I play a game of chase in the house at times which he loves (he watches me and chases me around lol), so I did that with him on a leash and that got him started.

Once I see him slowing down like he's about to sit I start walking faster or jogging and he quickly follows. If he does sit and doesn't want to budge I pick him up and carry him for a bit then put him back down and start jogging and he follows me. He no longer runs ahead of me...that he seems to have learned on the first day. Everytime he would try to go one way I would start running the other way and go back and forth (changing directions) so he was forced to watch me and move with me. I also try to keep him on one side of me. Just observe your puppy's behavior and try some different things that you think he will enjoy. Maybe carry some treats with you and reward him when he follows you or comes to you.

For what it's worth he's using a collar right now. He has two extra small harnesses, but they are both big on him right now (even the adjustable one :eek: ) so he slips his paws through the front part and plays with the harness. I'm not too worried about him wearing a collar at the moment because he's very good when we go walky now and he never tries to pull he just follows me or walks next to me and watches where I'm going. So he doesn't pull and I don't tug - don't think the collar is doing any damage in this case. I will try the harness though once he grows into it and see how that affects his walking behavior if it does. Good luck with your puppy!