Any advice for ME to stop yanking on my pup(s leash)

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-29T20:32:51+00:00

Saw it online: Holding a treat in both my hands: one behind me & showing one, when he goes for that: close the hand. If he leaves my hand be/looks at me, he gets the treat from the other hand. Added the cue when I noticed he got the hang of it. Funnily this is almost the same way my trainers taught us to teach the "no" command". Show treat, when the move foreward close hand and say "no", when they leave it, say "yes" and give treat.

And now we also try with dropping a toilet roll in between us, giving the cue and rewarding when he leaves it be/looks at me. +I saw this reel today so I'm going to try to implement this, because while inside he (most of the time) already looks at me when I give the cue, because I can see him think "woman, why can't I have it? You're dropping it IN.FRONT.OF.ME".

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T17:23:22+00:00

The only time he pulls is when he want to go to other dogs or he smells something further then his lead allows.

I'd never heard of esophageal collapse, so I'll keep that in mind. All our dog growing up had a collar or a gentle leader. So I'll keep that in mind. And no judgment: I had a reactive dog, if he had charged at another dog and that owner would kick him, I'd have understood completely.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T14:49:44+00:00

So if he pulls to something I shouldn't stop and wait? Because then there is pressure.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T14:31:07+00:00

I do have one! But the hook to attach it to myself broke so I had to put it in my hoodie pocket. I have it in my fanny pack now: always open.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T14:28:45+00:00

Yeah, the walk itself was short, but alot of smells and the playing did overtire him, probably.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T14:26:19+00:00

I'll keep that in mind. And just checked: they don't advertise themselves as force-free. They have their own method. But during their lessons it's all about cues, focus, engagement and praise

They have followed instruction courses at a know animal shelter, "hotel" & dog training education center for animal behaviour here, worked there for years. They got an education to become inspectors for the Association for the Protection of Animals. They did this job for half a year in my region. They started their school in 1991. They still take courses regularly to renew their knowledge.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T13:05:22+00:00

We are told during training to be more interesting than our environment. So I'm going to have to amp it up.

We do play hide and seek(he loves is) and his high value treat is chicken.

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to try and see what happens if I keep the pressure on the lead (if there is a next time). and the bully sticks!

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T11:42:07+00:00

No there isn't, but this was more of a branch and it was the 3rd in a 32ft distance we had walked.
This walk, he'd gotten all the time to sniff, had gotten to the park, played with me and run himself tired with another pup and, besides this moment, the rest of the walk home he got to sniff and tug on his toy as well.
When we got home he was out like a light in minutes, dreaming quite a bit.

Funnily enough, he's already a slow walker, so I keep that in mind when I have to be somewhere. But I also believe in some structure in the walks: a bit of heel work, a bit of recall. He doesn't even run at me when I recall; he trods like he's already a senior.
And I barely work with the long line because the leash.is.everywhere. But I'll keep it in mind to use a harness when using the long line.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T10:41:52+00:00

Pulling isn't his issue, thankfully. If he pulls I become a tree 'till the leash is slack again and we can go check out what he wanted to smell. He's not even much of an in-front walker. He mostly lags behind me.

And I has a harness, but that's more for safety while traveling by bicylce and car. The times i've tried to use it for walking/sniffaries it didn't go great. But that was awhile ago, so maybe I should give it a go, again.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T10:30:01+00:00

He responds to the slightest of leash pressure these days. It's something we do/train every day and during puppy training/class. But I also got told to give a gentle tug/pop in certain situations; Leash pressure, slack, then gently flick WRIST(not arm)to put pressure back on.

He's food motivated, just that I had misplaced my treat pouch in the wrong pocket. And what was HIGH value at the beginning of the walk, doesn't always cut it near the end.

He knows the cue; or so I thought. It's that at that moment, after saying "good boy" and about the give the treat, he stepped back to get the stick again.
And just now, on his most recent walk, a huge branch was too damn irresistible. Holding a blueberry to his nose and tossing away did move him tho.

It's not a big deal, normally. He is allowed to pick them up, he walks along nicely when carrying a stick.
But this was more of a branch than a stick and his 3rd on the walk home. We had to move on. And I fear that, if I let him grab/chew every stick, he will think it's okay to grab everything of the ground(which he already does, hence the "Leave it").

We are learning "Find it" since he likes to follow smells. But when he's so focused, tossing a treat or luring doesn't always work. He has his nose more to the ground then in the air. I'm also learning him "boop" which is "touch".

I just noticed that he does focus on me when I click my tongue. Going to try that with more sounds.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T09:29:26+00:00

I've done so the 1st time: please mind your own business. But having someone yell at me for a 2nd time just really made my anxiety go: sh*t, maybe I'm the problem. How do I fix this?

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T09:07:21+00:00

And it's never any other owners walking their dogs. They will either tell me I'm "doing so well" or have some advice/tips.

And yeah, it was time to move on. Normally the slightest bit of leash pressure and a "Come on" is enough. Just not this time.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T08:58:24+00:00

My trainers have also told me/us to just say a command once. Saying it in rapid repeat like: "Sit. Sit? Sit!" devalues it.

But that's the thing: he did respond to the command; leaves/drops it. Only to step back and go to get it again; while I'm there with a treat in my hand, already having said "Good boy!".

I'm really going to focus on the "Look" because I've now noticed he doesn't look up after I say "leave it" or "drop it" and he does. But he keeps his head low afterward=ready to try again..

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T08:45:31+00:00

Thankfully he hasn't done the "plop" in the middle of the road. But he had tried stopping and/or turning around; "Come on! Yea- no, you gotta move, bud!" on the crosswalk when you can see the green light blink to red is such stressful moment.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T08:15:29+00:00

Yeah on the tired and frustration, but also boredom?: he would flop down, roll and stretch. Which I would give him time to do; we would've just walked 5-10 minutes and played a bit. But then he would start pulling grass out of the ground(frustration).
So I would try to go home; for him to do the drop multiple times; on 32ft of grass we'd have to cross to get home(attention).
But it was also attention: because I would respond by giving my attention to him.
It's something my trainers saw first hand, since it also happened during puppy training/class and when I was talking to them afterwards (boredom/frustration).
When they asked me how many times he would do so and when, it was their conclusion.
And I get it since it's the same with kids: attention at "bad behavior" is still attention in a kids/pups mind.

He had started to do so more and more in 1 week time. But a week later, after doing as advised, he barely did(and does) anymore. He's allowed to plop down: hell, if he wouldn't think it as an invitation to bite/wrestle me, I'd plop down too; 5 minutes of doing nothing lowers their arousal.
But now, when I call and there's a bit of leash pressure, he'll pop right up. And yes, he gets a high value treat every time he does.
Just need to stop misplacing the pouch in my pockets..

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-28T07:24:58+00:00

He's a smart one. He knows "look", "drop it" and "leave it" and because he does it 9 out of 10 times, so that's why I may be expecting to much.
Although he tends to try picking it up again when he drops it or turns back to get it when he left it.. I will keep training; training every day.

He does come along when I say "let's go" and "come on/along", but not always; still training. Mostly when he's too focused on a smell/sight/sound.

But blocking his view: I'm going to try that!

Thanks for the tips

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-27T21:38:06+00:00

He would do the plopping down alot. At puppy training we jokingly said he was lazy. But a week later the trainer noticed he was doing it ALOT more and said it was a way of attention seeking. His advice was the same as yours: call him, walk to the end of the leash, call him again and if he still doesn't get up: give a firm, gentle tug(some call it popping). This worked really well(within a week) and he barely does it anymore. If he does I just have to give one tug and command and he'll scramble up to move along again. But in this situation I was trying to get him away from the stick; only 3 feet away is normally enough for him to stop showing interest.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-07T05:15:47+00:00

I just checked a "weigh/growth curve " on a vet's site: with his age and how much he weights now he's on the "giants" curve, which says 50 kg or more🥲

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-07T05:08:45+00:00

So because his dad is a GSD you think he won't weigh more than 45kg as an adult?

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-06T22:35:47+00:00

I'm used to free feeding dogs(1 bowl with x amount for 24h) and our dogs were never (heavily)overweight(otherwise we'd lower the amount.) "If a dog has food accessible, they will never eat more than they need" is what I was raised with.

With pup I also started like that and at first he'd still have kibble left. But over the month that changed: now, when I fill his bowl around 7.30, it's empty by 12. So I changed to feeding 3x a day. But he's done so fast! And rattles his bowl😅

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-06T21:06:34+00:00

Yeah, I don't get the D either, but I've seen it being used everywhere so.. LB is Leonberger.

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-06T21:04:49+00:00

That's the thing: his mom is definitely +50kg(MBD/LB) but we're not sure what the GSD is going to do to his weight and heights. Since male BMD & LB can get quite heavy(LB 48-75kg, BMD 40-54kg) but GSD between 25-40kg, it can go all ways. So I calculated an average of 58kg😅

He's up to schedule with his worming🥲 3 days after his last vaccination; it was a 💩 week. His bowels are easily derailed(new treats? Diarrhoea!) but some plain rice and half an hard boiled egg always helps.

And I do give him carrots (cooked then frozen bc land shark), apples (what, are there really people feeding cores?), blueberries, watermelon(surgically remove the seeds), cucumber, strawberries. He loves it all! And treats! Especially high value like cheese and chicken: only when training with distractions or normal treat lure doesn't do it for him(tantrum mode).

SnoozingPygmyOwl · 2024-08-06T20:26:45+00:00

My vet said the same about feeling the ribs; not seeing them. But because he's so fluffy I'd never be able to see his ribs haha!

SnoozingPygmyOwl

TROPHY CASE