Hello, I'm a new member, this is my first post.
2 questions:
1) on our walks, Malik, almost 6 months old, likes it when we take a toy to throw around for him to retrieve. The thing he does if I don't throw that toy is walk right behind me and stick the toy against my legs until I try to grab it from him. Sometimes he has a stick he finds and that hurts! I don't like him doing this, not sure how to stop that behavior. Also, is it a good idea to take a toy with us at all (doing drive and focus work lately)?
2) my husband and I have learnt from Ed's DVD how to walk with the pup, but it's hard to have him stay close on leash. He's usually good at first, but doesn't remain close for long and pulls a bit to be ahead, in spite of a prong collar. So I wonder, should I spend the whole walk saying "Close" and correcting (how exhausting!), or doing it in small increments until he fully gets it and letting him walk ahead also? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
So many questions pop up, I will become a fervent poster, thanks ahead for all answers!
Aude

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but doesn't remain close for long and pulls a bit to be ahead, in spite of a prong collar.

First to make sure this is clear - the prong collar should be used in a swift "pop" rather than a persistent pull, which can desensitize the dog to the correction.

I make a warning cue "no" or "ett" and then a swift right turn if the dog is wandering or pulling. It works great - dogs aren't stupid and usually the warning cue will be enough to correct the pulling or straying.

Just my way - there are many others. There's no harm in trying other ideas, but remember that consistency is what will teach and train the dog. Be sure that you have eliminated the possibility of handler error, a lack of repetition (30+) or consistency.

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doing it in small increments until he fully gets it and letting him walk ahead also?

You are half right. Dogs do learn faster in short sessions, however, letting him walk ahead would be inconsistent in his training. He will learn faster and better if you take him on many very short walks.

I would not tolerate toy carrying while walking. It is distracting to the dog, which interferes with him learning to heel. However, reaching down and grabbing the stick is engaging him in his game and encouraging the behavior. If this was my dog, I would give a strong correction for trying to pick up a stick.

Welcome to the board!

First do you know how to put a pinch on correctly? I suspect it is on too loose. Is your dog going to be a pet or do you want to do sport training? I am not sure how he is getting the sticks while on lead, so more info would be needed. If you are doing sport work I would not correct for the stick in the legs thing, I would make it so he can't do that behavior in the first place. I have had a couple of dogs that did this so I know it can be unpleasant. I also would keep the toy in my pocket if you are working drive and focus, taking it away after your short session. I see focus to be one of the harder things for a dog to do, and so I stay with short intense sessions until the dog is a bit older and able to do longer work.

Yes, I do know how to put the prong on correctly and it's not too loose. But I don't use it on walks. It's on, and I only use it when I see other dogs we'll meet, then I get him back on flat. But today I tried the prong at the end as he was pulling, that helped, although I know now that he does that because he's tired at the end of the walk (usually 1hr +).
We are probably considering obedience for later, not Schuntzhund, not enough time to do that.
On walks, I let him free to move, I do little chunks of time with obedience commands like Heel or Close here and there, so if he picks up sticks, it's because I do let him run around, smell around, have a little fun (but he's on leash always).
I can see that I need to be tougher and correct him for what is not all right, from what you tell me. I always thought it was fun for him to get sticks, but now I wonder.
This is not easy, if a dog's world is black and white, training them isn't. Thanks for the answers, I'll stay tuned.

JMHO - a walk is a walk. from point A to point B. I might play with the dog - a little fetch, a little drive building but when I say "ka" (heel) we are walking from point a to point b at a heel, no sniffing, no nonsense. I might walk 30 feet and go back to play. If you are trying to teach a dog to heel - but you are not consistent - how can he ever figure it out?

It is fun for him to get sticks. Teach it on command and incorporate it into play, but not heeling. He will get his fun, he will learn to walk nicely, and you won't get sore legs.

I think you're on the right track, but need to seperate walk/heeling and play.

It is easier to prevent a bad habit that to fix one. I guess that apllies to children and dogs <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

The first step that I teach my dogs is focus. This is the first step to me for the heel. I want this crazy perfect. I learned to put the block on the stick by getting one of my own and throwing it if that helps. Most of the time I didn't go where the sticks were.

Yesterday was better, I followed your advice, no toys, it was fine as he's getting used to that, and I did the turn around trick each time he'd pull. That seemed to work good. As a note, he does better when he's a little tired, seems weird to me as their focus is normally better when fresh. Anyways, I then take advantage of it, and we had a nice walk around the block on the 6 ft leather leash. No real problems aside than when he needed to go eliminate, or when he smelled a dead mouse 30 ft away and went for it. Told him to drop it, he did. Ok, that's it, just glad we're making progress. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />