I am working with my 18 week puppy and things are going well. We mostly focus on engagement work and in general how to behave. I have put in a lot of work and am able to achieve great engagement in our yard, house, surrounding building area and even with distractions. I go to walk him on the street though and I lose most of his engagement.

Here is where I am confused. I know we want to socialize the new puppy to many new environments but what if we can't get engagement in those areas? For example to take him on a walk in the neighborhood. Do we really spend months and months only going a few steps and when he disengages take a step back to familiar ground? Seems like we would never get anywhere and he would never be able to learn about new areas. Do I just keep moving forward with him even though he pulls a little and is engaged in seeing the new surroundings until he gets comfortable with the area? He is a rescue mixed breed saved at 5 weeks from the street. high prey and food drive which is great to work with but at the same time i think is what causing him to be distracted on walks.

More exposure, to all things, and your pup will learn to keep his focus on you.

At home, you are the most fascinating thing going. Not so much out in the world!

Better treats can help too.

Don't forget, he's a teenager. Teenagers, of all species, are not so into rules.

Are you bringing high reward treats on these outings? Fill up your pockets with hot dog slices and I bet you can get his attention back on you.

Feed as you walk into the new area to keep his attention on you. If he's not going nuts trying to get what you have the treats are not good enough.

are you regulating his food intake ?

meaning : is he getting all his food from your hand , and is he at his most hungry when you need him to be ?

if he doesn't really want what you have , it won't work so if you have to withhold food for an extended period , so be it .

Everything very true. High value food is a great thing to keep the dog focussed on us. But even this is not always enough. this may also differ from dog and handler and situation.
My personal experience is, that when I go with my dogs in a highly distractive situation then even high value food does not help any more very much. The dog then is overwhelmed with the fascinating (or scary, or confusing) surroundings.
I think, it only helps when we adjust the distractions to the dogs momentary capacitiy. Of course with the help of high value food and well trained engagement skills. But the dog has to get well used to the level of diversion he can deal with, before we can increase one or two levels higher. This doesn't mean to stay for months or years at home or in always the same neighbourhood with him.

If your in the middle of a very high distraction situation just be sure your not using the high value reward as a bribe.

thanks for all of the advise. I think i do catch my self using food as a bribe. Can you explain a little more the negative effects of this?

thanks for all of the advise. I think i do catch my self using food as a bribe. Can you explain a little more the negative effects of this?

A negative effect I have found is this -- if the dog comes to expect a reward, every time, for a certain behavior, some sorts of dogs who aren't desperate to please just might decide not to DO the behavior, even when they know it, if they can tell that there isn't any reward today.

My Pink will absolutely not go out and pee alone in pouring rain if there isn't a milk bone in my hand. Which is no big deal in the country, but when we are travelling I need his pee on command
skills to be reliable.