Hi all,

I would require a couple suggestions for walking my dog. Here are a couple situations I'm puzzled on how to react:

• After a 30-60 minute play session, I put the leash on him and bring him in the front yard. He begins to watch right and left, and sniff around. I give hima a "Watch me!" and he obeys, so I mark and give him the highest value treat I got for him... which he refuses to take, being too busy resuming his "work" looking for something to worry about. What should I do?
  So far I've 1)Turn around and cancel the walk or 2)Go take the walk anyway, and try to tease him with treats/toys to keep his attention on me and finally 3) Take the walk and try to correct his erratic behaviors.
  
• If I choose to take him for a walk despite his attitude, he behaves like a total brat. He couldn't care less about treats or even his favorite toys. He persists on walking 5-6 inches in front of me. He doesn't pull, but he takes all the slack I give him. If I say "No" he'll generally come next to me to avoid any correction, but keep his focus on whatever he was worrying about. If he does stay in front I give him a correction (he wears a prong collar) and he'll comply if there are not too high level distractions like a dog or squirrel closeby.
  
  
• I tried walking him with a DD collar. He seems to be even more nervous with it than a prong. He pulls (and chokes himself) persistently and becomes more and more excited. If he sees a walker or an animal, he throws a tantrum. I lift his front paws a couple centimeters until he sits down. I then slack the leash but all this time he never stops looking at whatever got his attention, and he generally resumes his behavior as soon as I give him slack again.
  
  
  
• I tried treats/toys and he doesn't mind them. Perhaps I should make sure he's more hungry ?But for some reason I think the problem is elsewhere. He certainly craves for them 5min before when I use them for play time and I make sure not to use them too liberally and overfeed him.
  
  
• I tried a more mixed approach of correcting him when he gets in front, then praising him when he gets back in position and keep reinforcing it when he remains there. But the praise generally makes him resume his bad behavior...
  

I'm totally puzzled with what to do. I'm wondering if he actually understands why I'm correcting him for, or if he keeps going just because he doesn't mind. It is really frustrating that anytime I try to make this a positive experience for both of us he begins to act up, bringing us back to square one. It's not like he's doing this on purpose (he's likely doing this because I'm screwing something up) but I find it depressing nonetheless.

Any kind of advices would be appreciated.

Foundation: I start the loose-leash walk INDOORS. That is, find a hallway or kitchen or cellar or room with no people on it and start the walk work there, only gradually changing venues to, say, the back yard (again, with no one there but you). By gradually, I mean after you have very good loose-leash walk indoors.

Then in the yard I walk around and around and back and forth for more sessions, reinforcing everything from indoors but only a tiny step up in distractions (change of venue). One step beside me, loose leash = marker and reward. Another step = marker and reward. String two steps together = marker and reward.

This is a gradual process. I think that the dog is allowed to get too focused on other dogs and walkers on the walk (rather than immediately re-focused on you and some basic ob), but right now you don't have the foundation of loose-leash work to fall back on, or the focus on you that you have to work for away from the heavy-duty distractions of a walk with other dogs, smells, sights, etc.

This CAN be a positive experience, no matter how long it has been negative. It has to be incremental and not sink-or-swim.

That's good that you do the game of fetch or other running game before the work, too.

 Quote:

One step beside me, loose leash = marker and reward. Another step = marker and reward. String two steps together = marker and reward.

This is a quite interesting way to keep focus on you.

My dog is trained to sit when I stop walking. That is, if I make one step, he will make one, then sit.

Which behavior should I mark ?

 Quote: Francis Daigle

 Quote:

One step beside me, loose leash = marker and reward. Another step = marker and reward. String two steps together = marker and reward.

This is a quite interesting way to keep focus on you. ...

Well, it's more that I am breaking down the walk on loose leash into incremental steps that can be marked and rewarded.

You can break down any command into its tiniest parts before stringing them together.

 Quote: Francis Daigle

... My dog is trained to sit when I stop walking. That is, if I make one step, he will make one, then sit. ...

This is incompatible with pulling on the leash and running ahead. He can't be doing both unless you follow along when he runs ahead.

You're making a good point. If I frequently stop, my dog can enter in "walk duty" mode. That is, he doesn't pay 100% full attention to me, but he always keeps an eye on my left knee.

But I can't really have him on duty for the whole duration or the walk... or can I ?

I don't get what the deal is but if you want the dog to do a focused heel the entire walk...........well, i don't see the point. If the dog is pulling just put a prong on him and go for a walk, if he pulls, correct, if he doesn't, don't correct, he'll figure it out.

 Quote: francis daigle

... But I can't really have him on duty for the whole duration or the walk... or can I ?

I have two walking commands. Loose-leash regular walk is one (I use "Let's go") and heel is a whole 'nother formal command.

"Let's go" does require walking alongside me. I do teach it the way I described, but a prong is fine too, which you are already using, if I'm not mistaken.

Then periodically along the route, I release them for sniffing, looking at bugs, etc.

For me, the release is when I stop and say "OK!" I stand there and they are released from the walk command until I say "Let's go" again.

So no, they aren't on duty for the whole walk, but the releases are when I give them. I give them pretty often, but in between there is marching along beside me, no pulling.

like Connie, my "regular go for a walk" command is "lets go", and a "come on" when they are lagging behind.
i don't require a focused heel, what i do require is the dog to not pull me, and to not keep bumping into my side.

*IF* i allow them out front, they also cannot pull, and must also come back to my side when i tell them too, without a scene.

i use the LB leather leash with the handle at the bottom, that is generally what i hold onto for all walks, and that is how much "moving around" room the dogs have, which generally keeps the dog in a unfocused heel position anyway.

 Quote:

if he pulls, correct, if he doesn't, don't correct, he'll figure it out.

Please allow me to clarify by examples.

A typical walk with my dog goes as follow:

1)Dog gets 5-6 inches in front of me
2) "No!"
3) Dog gets back

or

1) Dog gets 5-6 inches in front of me
2) "No!"
3) Dog doesn't come back
4) Correction
5) Dog gets back

Repeat steps 1-3 or 1-5 Ad nauseam. Over and over, from start to finish. Imagine a man walking down the street saying "No!" and cranking his dog every 5 seconds. That's me walking my dog.

Now for the worst case scenario:

1) Dog sees another animal
2) Dog begins to whine and bark at the animal
3) "No!"
4) Dog keeps barking/leaping
5) Low level Correction
6) Dog keeps barking/leaping.
7) Med level Correction
8) Dog yelps then resume barking/leaping (this is where he can also show handler aggression)
9) High level correction
10) Dog either keeps barking/leaping or totally shuts down.

Yank and crank simply does NOT work with him. I've corrected this dogs at levels I'm almost ashamed of, and he would still immediately go back to leaping at what got his attention (or even pick a fight with me). This is why I tried the DD collar, because there's a point where prong corrections only make him escalate higher and higher.

JRTs are notorious to disrespect physical abuse. While we could use semantic saying that it is not with the intention of bullying him, every time I put myself in a situation where I have to give him a strong correction, I feel my bond with him melting like snow in the Sahara.