Hello all, a long while back I made a post about my new GSD pup, Reesee. She was only 5 weeks old then and now she is 5 and a half months old and very energetic. She's grown into a pretty stable pup despite the age I got her and all the worry I had over that.

Anyway, I have been walking her nearly every day since she was comfortable on the leash, gradually taking her on longer and longer walks and she out of nowhere developed this horrid obsession with passing cars. For the most part she responds very well to a quick and gentle leash correction and I've just started enforcing her to walk by my side instead of in front of me and she's doing ok with that.

My first question is: Is there a better way to teach her to walk next to me? I'm handing her treats out of the pocket by her head when she checks herself and stays by me but it seems like I am constantly having to give her little tugs to remind her to slow down. I try and use my voice constantly, praising when she is doing well, 'No' when she starts to charge ahead.

Second: The car thing is really frustrating..How can I remedy this? She will begin to fixate on them even at a long distance as soon as she hears one and then begin ignoring me. If one is coming from behind she will turn around and trip me up as she tries to keep walking and stare, then when the car comes near she stiffens and lunges, ignoring everything I do until it's gone then back to normal. We've been on many many walks and still she isn't getting over this.

I could go on and on with questions but I don't want people bored with my huge thread so I'll only post one more, I swear!

Third: I've been trying to teach her to fetch so I can do something fun for us both to exercise her and I've tried the two-toy method. She will come back the first couple times but then decides to veer away the third time and try and play keep-away from me, running around me in circles. It doesn't matter which toy, she does it when them all. I don't chase her, I just pick up the other and ignore her until she loses interest but this usually takes a long time and it's frustrating watching her come a little closer each time, drop it near me over and over and just dares me to bend over for it. Lol. Should I keep a long line on her and reel her in?

Thank you all in advance!

These are such diverse items and such a long post that I'm going to make a helpful suggestion for next time: I would have posted three posts.

So anyway, you have

#1: forging on walks

#2: fixating on and lunging toward passing cars

#3: not returning the retrieve item

For #1, have you ever tried teaching loose-leash walking at home where there are fewer distractions? Also, is she now pretty much used to an always-taut leash?

For #2: More info first: Are there only occasional cars or is this a steady stream? Do you do marker work? Have you worked on focus on you? Do you ever do basic ob work on walks?

#3: Have you thought about teaching the release of the item into your hand as a separate behavior, to be marked and rewarded, before chaining it onto the fetch? This can be worked on even indoors, calmly, in less excited circumstances. I like to teach fetch by chaining the parts.

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=15&Number=188925&Searchpage=1&Main=18946&Words=fetch+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post188925

http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/activities/obedience.html#backchaining

Hi Connie, thank you for your speedy reply! Yeah..I didn't want to crowd the forums by posting so many!

1. She isn't used to a tight leash. When given a slight pop on the leash she will always slow considerably, glancing at me. Before now I would let her walk in front of me but when she pulled I would stop until she came back or walk the other direction, this kind of taught her to walk at my pace JUST before the leash goes tight so unless there's a distraction she won't pull almost at all but walk in front of me. I have a large, fenced back yard so I could try walking her around and around it-it's something I was thinking of.

2. On a normal walk, I take the more peaceful routes. I live on the edge of town where only an occasional car goes by but once this problem arose I've been taking her deeper into town around the time people get off work where at least one car goes by every 5 minutes, sometimes moreso but it's not a steady stream. ( I live in a town of 7,000 so no where is packed with cars. )

I haven't started using markers yet, it's something I planned to do but just haven't started. I want to use the word 'yes' and I often use it just as I give her a treat anyway and she already responds to it. I just haven't worked at it seriously as of yet.

Yes, on those walks I will have her down and sit randomly and she is good about focusing on me when I give the commands. I try to do this in groups of people or in pet stores too and she's really impressed me in that manner.

3. That sounds like a good idea. Outside in my yard she can run wild all over the place ( including away from me! )but in the kitchen I keep a baby gate up when I'm teaching her commands so she can't wander off so this might be a good spot to try this.