[riopup]

We bring Rio on daily walks, he seems to love them but when a person or person/dog is seen he gets barky, and want's to pull me to them. How should I deal with this?? I've done everything from having him stay in a sit position until the distraction passes, or tried to pass the distraction and keep his attention on me. Those that have stopped and talked he will bark and want to try and jump all over them. I can't really chat since I am so trying to keep him down and off newcomers. I feel I need to get a little more consistency when we have these opportunities to teach him, but don't know what would be the BEST for him.

BTW, when I say barky, it seems to be a very excited sort of thing, not aggressive. He seems to have a hard time holding back the excitement of new people! I want to socialize him, but don't want him to think it's ok to bark or jump on anyone.

 

[flyingduster]

you need to have someone who will work with you a bit for a start, and be CONSISTENT when you get out with others too.
If he's being silly, you turn around and go the other way and/or so does the other person. If he's behaving, he can go back towards them (for a start, it might be easier to control him if the other person can turn and leave when he's silly, and turn to come back when he behaves) he will learn that the ONLY way to get to go up to someone is if he's behaving. Ditto for still having to behave before anyone can pet or talk to him. Having a friend or two who can help you on a walk a few times will make it easier, but you'll have to be consistent when you go out otherwise too, and if he's silly as someone approaches you need to turn around and walk him away, cross the street if he won't settle so you can get away and carry on; silly behaviour = not what he wants to do!

 

[KPoos]

I just watched this great episode of The Dog Whisperer tonight. I think one thing is that he never ever lets a dog walk in front of him and he won't walk them if they aren't in a calm submissive state. Also if you aren't in a calm state, the dog won't be either so you have to try and regulate your emotions to these situations because the dog will pick up on it. There was a lady that had a dog that was terrible on walks and as soon as he was put in a sit stay when he got out of hand, he calmed down and they could continue on the walk. What I see Cesar do is "shht" (best I can spell it) as soon as the dog even begins to react in an inappropriate way. He also does touch if the shht doesn't work. I've seen him use his foot to tap the side of the dog to get them back into focus when they lose focus and start getting hyped up about something. The key is to keep the dog in the calm submissive state, keep yourself in that state of mind, and nip it in the bud as soon as it starts to escalate into something else. If the dog has barked, you've missed his body language that shows you he could have been corrected. Watch him and you will learn more than me repeating his shows to you. I'm sure I left a lot out.

 

[Mandycasey'smom]

I have that problem with my 18 month boy Casey it is embarassing as he bounces all 4 ft in the air and yips in excitement. Not sure why he never outgrew it but I am going to try going to the beach one day ( lots of walkers and just praise the look at me and treat if he walks by quietly. Gonna keep trying that and see if it helps

 

[Olie]

I just watched this great episode of The Dog Whisperer tonight. I think one thing is that he never ever lets a dog walk in front of him and he won't walk them if they aren't in a calm submissive state. Also if you aren't in a calm state, the dog won't be either so you have to try and regulate your emotions to these situations because the dog will pick up on it. There was a lady that had a dog that was terrible on walks and as soon as he was put in a sit stay when he got out of hand, he calmed down and they could continue on the walk. What I see Cesar do is "shht" (best I can spell it) as soon as the dog even begins to react in an inappropriate way. He also does touch if the shht doesn't work. I've seen him use his foot to tap the side of the dog to get them back into focus when they lose focus and start getting hyped up about something. The key is to keep the dog in the calm submissive state, keep yourself in that state of mind, and nip it in the bud as soon as it starts to escalate into something else. If the dog has barked, you've missed his body language that shows you he could have been corrected. Watch him and you will learn more than me repeating his shows to you. I'm sure I left a lot out.

I agree here as well and add blocking with your body or legs and wait for the calm. Move the distraction as well and once calm open back up. I am working on this with the dogs at the door when someone comes home or a visitor.........with 4 now they can go nuts.

BTW - I love Cesar, he seems to really know his stuff

 

[cbrand]

First, any barking on a walk is to be seriously reprimanded. Barking in public, even if it is excited barking, is rude and a nuisance. I don't allow my dogs to bark. Period. If the do, they are told once, "That'll do." If they don't stop, they get corrected and by corrected, I mean a collar pop. If that does not do it, boy, I get up into the dog's face. I usually grab them by the muzzle, look them in the eye and give a good squeeze. They know that I mean SERIOUS business. My Izze (age 3 years) left this fall to go live with her brother in Georgia and her new owner commented on how quiet she is. Yes! Dogs become nuisance barkers because people allow them to become nuisance barkers.

Does your dog know "watch me"? When you say this to your dog, they should look you in the face and keep looking at you. PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE. If they look away... collar pop. Graduate to the point that you can do this while walking. Then while walking with distraction. Delilah (Standard) is only 11 months old, but we can pass within 2 feet of another dog and she will keep her attention on me.

Does your dog know a "sit-stay"? When you meet another person, your dog should sit quietly and not move. This needs to be trained at home before you add the distraction of other people and dogs in public. ON LEASH always... tell your dog sit. Put your hand in front of his face and say "Stay!" Move two steps away. Count to 20 and then break him off and PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE!!!! If he gets up, DON'T SAY ANYTHING. Take his collar and pop him back into place. Work it in small steps until you can stand at the end of 6 ft leash for 2 minutes without your dog moving. At 11 months, Delilah can sit in a row of 12 other dogs, off leash and not move or sniff/bother other dogs.

Finally, and I know I sound like a broken record, get a prong collar. It will back up your corrections. Just today I showed it to my running coach. He has a Cattle Dog who he can't run with because the dog pulls too much. He had tried different methods including a Haltie and a Harness, but they had not worked. We put the prong collar on the dog and after 2 collar pops, the dog was running at his side on a loose leash.

 

[riopup]

Thanks cbrand... I always love how you well you detail the process dealing with training issues. I will work on the "watch me" command and his sit/stay to go longer. When I feed him I'll have him "sit" and put the food down.. I have him wait about 30 or so sec until I say "okay" and allow him to get up and eat. He's done really great with that, and I'm sure would stay longer, but I'll have to start practicing w/out food to "stay" for!

Is it too early for a prong at 13 weeks?? I've also wondering about how ceasar uses just the training leash loop around the top of the neck... thoughts?

 

[riopup]

Also can treats be incorporated in the praise? or no?

 

[cbrand]

Oh... this guy is a baby. That changes everything and means that you have a great opportunity to set good behaviors early.

13 weeks is not too young to start with a prong, especially if he is so feisty on a regular buckle collar. Are you using a collar or a harness? If a harness, ditch it.

Everything at this age needs to be in baby steps. His attention span is like 15 seconds long. You can't expect him to hold it together for long, but you can expect him to try and give you a few seconds of correct behavior.

Everything must always be done on leash. This will allow you control the puppy. Everything should be PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE and TREAT TREAT TREAT, but non-compliance must be corrected.

Before you start....
You should also have a clicker or a "correct" word. I say GOOD when the right behavior is offered and I treat. I prefer this method to the clicker because I just can't take the clicker everywhere with me, but I always have my voice. Some people use a word like BING, but I think that sounds awkward in public. You also need a "break off" word that tells the dog the exercise is over. I like OK!

The watch command....
It is hard to have compliance if you don't have a dogs attention. Attention exercises should be the first thing you teach. You can teach it with the dog sitting in heal position or for this age, sitting straight in front of you. Pick an attention word. I use READY! because I do competitive obedience. You can choose, WATCH or some people use the dog's name. I think using the name is a problem because it gets diluted over the course of the day. Say WATCH. If the puppy looks at your face, (correct word) PRAISE TREAT PRAISE. If the puppy does not look at you, collar pop it. When it looks up.... PRAISE TREAT PRAISE. Do this many times a day. Be consistent with praise, treats and corrections and soon your puppy will look you in the face every time you give the WATCH command.

If you can do this reliably in the house. Move outside without distraction. Once you can do this outside, move on to doing it with something more interesting than you. It is all a process. Progress in baby steps.

Next.... barking in public. Nip this in the bud. If a collar pop does not stop it, try graduating to a prong or bring a squirt bottle with you on your walks. Barking is a NO NO NO NO! Give the WATCH command. Praise or correct as need be.

Dragging you to other dogs. Is this a Standard? Nip this in the bud! Your dog goes where you tell it. Not where it wants to go. You are the leader at all time and you will make all decisions.

 

[riopup]

Thank you so much!! I will start the "watch" command tonight. I don't let him drag me to the dog, but he get's all "floppy fish" on me trying to get over there, while I'm trying to get him to sit and sit still! He did it today again while I stopped to talk to a friend and a dog and person walked by... though, the rest of the walk, with distractions, he did do very well, and I could tell it WAS a challenge for him!

Up until last week we were using a buckle collar, we got a Gentle Leader and have been using on walks, it has stopped his pulling. I do want to wean him to a normal collar eventually though. Do you have any experience with these?? What about just a leash in a loop like Ceasar does for pops? I have another training book that recommends this, but I'm not sure about all these things and how it applies to PUPPIES... as like you said it's a whole different story.

I've been using my key word "yes" but think I might change to "good" since it seems to pop out of my mouth more naturally (on accident when I am meaning my YES) I don't think he's gotten too used to YES since I haven't been able to be consistent with it!

And yes, this is a Standard, one of the reasons I am SO devoted to getting him trained correctly! I am a small woman and he looks like he may be on the larger side once grown, I don't want him trying to pull me around, or anyone else for that matter!