If I take my 14 week old out for a stroll by myself, she is still very uncomfortable about her leash. She feels very uncomfortable walking away from either the house or even the car. This morning I took her for a walk, and she just sat there, wouldn't move to save her life, even pulled back against the lead. So I carried her away from the car, about 100 yards, and she was fine for a few minutes, then started backing up again. If I would stop and wait for her to go, she would sit there all day long. She's fine as soon as we start heading back towards the car however. Or, if her friend Zeus is walking the path, she'll feel comfortable (or be distracted enough) to walk with no problem. I'm looking forward to starting some heal training, but not until we get this figured out. Is it just a time thing, or is there something I can do to help her feel confident about being out in the world on a lead?

Thank you

my pups are able to walk on a leash a week or two after i get them. i have puppy leads that are lightweight and not expensive in case they chew them. i start them letting them drag a leash so they get used to the weight. i teach them to follow me everywhere. when i pick up the end of the leash they don't even notice. they follow me the same way.
if they stop, i either get down on the ground and call them, or i just walk away from them. sometimes running away works, because it gets them eager to chase me, it also puts more distance between us and they have to catch up. pups love when they get a chance to run, so we turn it into a game. i run aay, they chase me.
if i stand facing them, it turns into a stand-off, or they think i'm going to chase them. (which would be fun for a pup. not a game i want to teach them.)
carrying the pup when she doesn't want to walk is only going to teach her that she doesn't have to walk.
start with short distances, and keep it fun.

Your puppy is feeling a little insecure, and this is completely normal behavior.
You do not want to pick her up, this will reinforce her insecurities.
If you have some space on your lawn, and there is no traffic, I would simply drop the leash and keep walking. I find that most insuecure puppies have a critical distance. Once you pass this distance, the puppy will come running!!! When she does, bend down and praise her with open arms. Just let her drag the leash for now if it is making her nervous.
You can let her drag the leash around, and pick it up and hold it once in a while.
I also like to use a squeaky ball with very young puppies, and play follow me - just let the pup drag the leash and run around squeaking the ball to keep her attention focused on you. She will chase you and you should encourage that behavior to help imprint your role as the leader figure. If you do this kind of training in an area where you are the only thing familiar to her, she will stay nice and close. You can use the leash to pull her in if she wanders off and the ball to refocus her attention on you. Eventaully, you can phase out the ball and begin using your voice, but always can reincorporate the ball as a reward for more advanced training.

Anyway, puppies at 14 weeks are so much fun. Be patient and enjoy her!
Michelle

Hello, I have a 12 week old that has been accustomed to a leash since 9 weeks old. We did what Ed suggested in his video and got one of those retractable leads. It has worked great! Take the pup out and let it play and retrieve toys while on this lead to get use to it (giving the pup the length it wants, don't jerk it back!) and the walk to the end of the lead and encourage your pup to come to you. Keep doing this and soon you'll be walking! When we go for walks and she stops and sniffs something, I keep walking until the end, then I will call her to come and she bounces happily towards me. I never pull or yank her and usually she is happy to keep up in case she misses anything! Have fun, what a great age!

Michael F.
Follow what Mike C. and Mags have to say here. DO NOT start heeling using leash corrections with a young, inexpierenced puppy. It should be TOTTALY motivational at this early age.
Check your PM.

Michelle C. Sorry Michaelle, and Hi!

You guys really give great advice. Elka and I just got back from a great walk. I brought her favorite squeaky toy and I let her drag her leash. She stayed right next to me the entire time. When ever she got distracted I just continued to walk and would squeak her toy and she would catch up.

The reason I worry about walking her not having a hold of the leash however is because of a bad experience we had a few weeks ago. We were walking on the trail and elk fell behind. This jogger was approaching us and Elka barked a little and I told her "its ok, he's just jogging bye" but she felt threatened because he kept approaching her. Well she took off running with her tail so far between her legs that it was touching her chin. And the jerk kept running towards her! So I took off after her, and after about 200 yard I finally caught up to her and stopped her and told her that everything was fine. She got over it quick but I didn't. When the gentleman ran bye me the second time all he said was, "that dog needs to be on a leash". Some people I'll tell you. Anyway, that is why I am very cautious of others when we are out on our daily walk.

Thanks again for all of your help, I think its gotten Elka back to her happy-self.

Mike

I'm glad Elka's enjoying her walks more. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

With regards to 'the jerk', well, the gentleman was right about the leash -- leaving a dog off-leash in a public place, most especially one that's not 100% rock solid in obedience is just asking for disaster. And a young, impressionable puppy, tsk, tsk, tsk... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Since joggers (and cyclists and skateboarders and other dog-ownerss etc) do have the right to use the paths, it's up to you to handle the situation.
Just a suggestion: you could proactively get her off the road and have her sit by you to one side until the person jogs by if it bothers her. Yeah you could say that you have the right to use the path too. That is true, just like you have the right to drive on the highway up to the speed limit, but it doesn't mean that you ought to do so on a foggy, icy day.

As with the leash, do not reassure her, do not praise her fear, perhaps Most important is that you're calm, you're confident and you're happy. In a doubtful situation, dogs tend to look towards us for direction and your attitude goes a long way to determining the response it gives. If you yourself are cautious, you're signalling that yes, there is something to be afraid of.

The reason I suggest taking her off the path is that there's much less chance of some unwelcome interaction happening (for example someone stepping on her paw), so she's never given a concrete reason to fear joggers. If you allow* an accident to happen, then the impression she may come away with is 'I can't trust you to keep me safe, so I'd better look out for myself' -- which can lead to all sorts of problems. And if she's on leash, if worse comes to worst, if she does freak out, you've got physical control of her.

Oh dear, so much for a suggestion, this reads more like a mini-lecture, sorry about that. Anyway, that's my one and a quarter pence.

Dei.

*I firmly believe that a big part of responsible dog handling is to avoid putting our dogs in needlessly risky situations.

Nai,

With young pups like Elka, it seems almost imposable to eliminate all bad situations. See, the trail we were on was indeed a trail for joggers and mountain bikers to use, but it is in a area that is very infrequently visited. I didn't expect to see anyone on this walk. Usually, when there are cars in the lot at the beginning of the trail, I'll leash her before we exit the car...but on this particular day there were no cars in the lot, so I was caught by surprise <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I do need to work on the fear thing. Whenever Elka runs to me in trouble, I grab her close to be sure she is safe. In a way this is praising her for fear, right?

Thanks for the help