Quote: steve strom

Randy's post is a great idea for you Kelly. I would suggest teaching him to sit. I would work on making it so solid with him that he won't break it no matter who is coming near. Do you need any help with that?

See? This is why people mixed you two up in the other thread. It's because you have a great brain (between you, I mean).





"I would suggest teaching him to sit. I would work on making it so solid with him that he won't break it no matter who is coming near. Do you need any help with that?"

Big fat ditto! Building from one positive thing (especially such a fundamental, always-useful, and relatively simple to teach command) will help give you clarity instead of the overload that you have to be suffering from all these posts.

Not only that, but the confidence level (of both of you) will escalate.

Can we help with that? Got a baggy of high-value treats for charging your marker first? (All this means is creating the knowledge in the dog's mind that the marker means "Correct! Reward on the way!")

He will ALMOST always sit for me. However, if the distraction's too high, I will have to press his butt down. He doesn't always stay for long. He does know "stay", but again, if the distraction's high, forget it. So, yes, I guess I do need help with that. Today, I was stopped in my tracks when he started to pull and I just stood there and waited for him to relax. When he did, I was handing him a reward and I heard a guy say, "Bribing him, huh?" He was coming our way, but certainly not in a threatening manner. My neighbor was in his yard, and said Hi to Toby, just like he always has. Toby didn't growl at him, but his body posture didn't seem as excited to see him as usual. The dog was in a yard, just sitting and looking at Toby. I stopped and told him to sit, which he did. He tried to pull back, but I was able to distract him with food. He always had 2 very easy to read modes before. He would either wag his whole body and try to pull to someone and almost immediately roll over to have his belly scratched, or he would pull away. Now, he's totally unpredictable.
Which state are you in, Randy?

And it wasnt the heels.

 Quote: kelly schultz

He will ALMOST always sit for me. However, if the distraction's too high, I will have to press his butt down. He doesn't always stay for long. He does know "stay", but again, if the distraction's high, forget it.

I'd start over. (Believe me, there is never a downside, IMO, to backing up to Step 1 on a command that's not reliable.)

Also, MHO is that "stay" is almost irrelevant. "Sit" or "down" mean "sit" or "down" until released.

Of course, you're not there yet, and I don't introduce distractions or changes in venue or increased duration until I have completely reliable compliance.

Did you teach"sit" with a food lure over his nose?

Initially, yes. He caught on immediately, so we removed it quickly.

It's not that he's unpredictable Kelly, its more that he's been allowed to think for himself and then act on what he thinks. He's not focused at all on you. Also, I don't think you bribed him, I think you let him act like a jerk and then rewarded him for it. Does that make sense?

For the time being, I would forget the walks. You need some time to work with him with nothing around to cause you any stress.

Do you have a fenced yard?

"Initially, yes. He caught on immediately, so we removed it quickly."

Right. The lure is just to get started.



Do you know how to load your marker?

You don't have a clicker, right? How about an upbeat "yes" for the marker? (It should be a word that you don't already use a lot with the dog.

 Quote: steve strom

... Do you have a fenced yard?

Scott, yes I have a fenced in yard. I was trying to reward him when he stopped pulling. Someone suggested I stop when he pulls, and reward him when he relaxes. That's what I was rewarding him for? Was that the wrong way?
Connie, I do have a clicker, but I prefer a marker, simply because it's easier than carrying the clicker everywhere. I've started using "yes".
Also, I know the video says a big part of becoming a pack leader in your dog's eyes is aloofness and it says to basically ignore your dog initially. Although I wouldn't want to completely ignore a pup, should I be giving him less attention. He doesn't seem to really care if we pet him or not. He only seems to be interested in us when we have food! He will shove toys at us, but won't release them. Good Lord, what have we done???

Find it games will wear a pupper out. best of all it can be down indoors with big puppers. Focused healing and OB is also good and tug games are good for limited space. or you can move next door to me and have ten acres of cut pasture to work your dog

I know this is one of those confusing points, but to me he was allowed to pull until he didnt feel like pulling anymore and when he felt like relaxing he did. Thats what was rewarded.

These are the types of things you can avoid by working where the distractions arent going to encourage his reacting. Its a lot easier to reinforce what you want then.

At the risk of skipping around even more on you, trade him for the toy. Either the food or another toy. Lol, you havent done anything all that bad. You'll be ok.