loose leash walking

Hey Jess, have you tried some of the latest no pull contraptions.  Ie the "easy walk harness", "gentle leader", "quick step", my personal favorite the "illusion collar".....If you reward the dog while using the devices you can easily teach a heel.  you may also consider a "good dog collar" or a prong collar.
 
 
They may help in your progress. 
 
What techniques have you been using?

No, I havn't used any other colars then the normal buckel collar with a leash.  I heard that with the other collars the dog might not pull when he is on that collar but as soon as you use something else they will pull... did i hear incorrectly?  What i have been during is pretty much making him sit by me and wait to go outside...then i put him to my left side and i don't give him much slack at all... if he goes out of a little invisable box... i pull up on the leash and say heel... this seems to work if he feels like walking by me... but as soon as there's any type of distraction or if it's in the morning or when i just get home and he is exited or has extra energy... the whole time i seem to be correcting him... which isn't fun for me and certainly isn't fun for him... honestly i'm at my wits end with it... and i know it's because i dont' know how to teach him..... it's not him not wanting to learn.... he picks stuff up so quick and he always wants to learn... the good thing about that is it gets me to know that if he isn't getting something it's because i'm not communicating what i want properly... or in a way he understands.... any suggestions?
 
Thanks,
 
Jess

What is it you want?  Manners while walking for leisure or excercise or precision heeling.  Two VERY different things.  I have training ideas and management options for both goals.  Which is it you want?  Also, if this is the dog you wish to get a title for, make sure you get an ILP from AKC if you plan on competing.  Or you can go the UKC route since they allow mixes to compete without a specific breed label.

Also you can try a short lead so that he can only walk when you do.Try giving little treats or even kibble when he is walking and  when he starts pulling  pull back and in a assertive voice say"(i don't know his name) jack no" try playing fetch or ball before walking  show him that your alpha also if you and tense when your talking him he can feel the energy and will  start pulling

Sorry to go OT, but Mic, do you mean the Illusion Collar by CM? 

It is very difficult to teach a dog not to pull with a buckle collar - I have used a long lead (10 feet and a slip collar) and let the dog get to the end of the lead, turning quickly and going in the opposite direction - in a quiet place.  It can take a couple of weeks for this to sink in.  Holding the dog on a short, tight leash will never teach it to walk on a loose lead - just look at all the people in your neighborhood whose dogs pull year after year.  And a 4-1/2 month old dog is quite young, he wants to explore, smell, etc.  If you keep him on a snug lead he will just be frustrated.
 
I don't use haltis or harnesses as I feel that when those are removed, the dog slips back into the old behavior.  I am an instructor (25+ years) and find that the above method is the most successful  for loose lead walking.  As Mic responded, competition heeling is totally another matter -  and requires months of precision work.  There are many good books available on the subject at the library and Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.
 
Good luck - this is an easy problem to solve - really!
 
dianeg

Yeah, that was the collar I was talking about.

I really know where you're coming from. My dog is a 70 pound weimaraner who is very nose oriented. Meaning if he smells something good he wants to get there NOW! The easy walk harness, haltis and such will teach your dog to walk politely. However they will become collar smart.  I found that the best way to teach the dog not to pull is to take them someplace they really want to get to.  Like the dog park. I put the leash on the flat buckle collar  and I make the dog sit and wait until I've locked the car. Then I tell the dog, lets go.  We start walking. As soon as the leash gets taught I stop. The dog then gets to the end of the leash and is straining. I tell him to sit and wait.  I come up to him and tell him lets go and EASY.  I do this EVERY time.  And it can take up to months for it to sink in.  But the key is to do it every single time. Its really not fun at all at first, but consistency really does pay off.  I've been doing this for 6 months(at least) and Scout is really really good now.  I do have to keep reminding him, but he doesn't pull my arm out of the socket. 
We also do obedience heeling, but like others have mentioned that's completely different!

Dogs do become collar smart if the collar is used as a crutch and not as a training device.  I've trained my dogs on GL's, Easy Walk's, Prong, e-collars, etc.  They can now all walk just fine on a buckle collar.  It just takes training.

Hi Guys,
 
I'm acually looking for precision heeling... heeling that is good for the obedience ring.  How would i got about teaching him that?
 
Thanks,
 
Jess

To heel for obedience I would start training this in the house.  Its where he's comfortable and relaxed and probably the least distracted. Put him on lead and using a really yummy treat you can put it in front of his nose, walk and tell him to heel. He can lick your hand, but do not let him have the treat yet. Then you stop and tell him to sit.Drawing the treat up and back a bit and this should make him sit. You want him to sit every time you halt. If you want to get involved in competitions I recommend that you join an obedience club. They will help you learn all the exercises and you will have a great place to practice all of these things.  Once he has the heeling inside the house down you can take him outside and see how he does there.  Each time you have gotten him to be consistent, you increase the level of distractions... a busy road, the dogpark etc....
 
 

I would reccommend the prong collar, since it is good for not only teaching your dog not to pull, but other behaviors as well. You can continue to use that for heeling with the dog while training.....but you'll have to gradually start using the reg. buckle collar, since the training collars aren't allowed in the show ring.

I am working with my puppy on the Gentle Leader ( I used the prong collar with my other dog, found it very effective) since she is going to be a service dog, and that is what they want you to use. She is pretty resistent to that though, and does not like it. She'll fight with that instead of paying attention to what I'm trying to teach her. If the dog is conditioned to it, however, it might work.

Have you watched the Dog Whisperer TVshow with Cesar Millan on the national geographic channel?

He says theres more that you have to do than just pull, the dog senses your energy and if you are nervous when you walk him out he will sense that and he wont listen because in the dogs world there is no Nervous leaders then he wont see you as leader and he will do whatever he wants, the dogs "communicate" with energy, go to this webpage  and you'll find out more

[linkhttp://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer/]http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/channel/dogwhisperer/[/link]

When I start teaching heel, I start off lead.  I use a clicker, and reward my dog for catching up to me.  I work a few steps at a time at first.  Then, I up the criteria gradually, until the dog is in the correct position and taking more steps in the right position. 
This way, the dog learns the "vocabulary" word, heel, and you aren't tempted to pull on the leash, which produces an oppositional reflex.  Once the dog understands "heel" you start clicking for longer sequences, then you can fade the rewards until the dog only gets his reward at the end.
Once the dog is really in proper position for a long time, you can add the leash.