You expect me to believe that dogs are smart when my puppy has zero (0) lifetime wins against me and the leash but tries to pull away 250x each walk?

[feelinbroken]

@libra111 I tried every harness under the sun for my chronic puller combined with serious training. The only thing that worked for us (surprisingly) quickly was the gentle leader. So just something to keep in your back packet if harnesses don’t work out. I wish we had tried the gentle leader much sooner than we did- would have saved soooo much frustration!

 

[libra111]

@feelinbroken That’s the next option after the harness. I’m still in my infancy trying things out.

 

[sallama]

@libra111 Be sure to properly condition using a gentle leader. Some puppies can find it aversive and you can't just slap it on and go. Needs to have proper training to use it.

 

[fire]

@sallama Yessss! I’ve heard horror stories where people didn’t put in the time to condition a dog to the gentle leader and now the dogs are leash reactive and hate walks! They’re amazing tools when done well with proper conditioning. also OP some tools even with the best conditioning are going to be too aversive for some dogs. So some dogs really can’t use gentle leaders.

 

[kdbeats_91]

@libra111 We love our freedom harness! The petsafe easy walk harness is great too.

 

[amoskaeg]

@libra111 Resisting restraint might not be obedient, but obedience isn't the same as intelligence.

 

[blessedwithhope]

@libra111 Are you rewarding your puppy for a loose leash? That made a world of difference for me. Also walking in crazy unpredictable patterns and at different speeds has worked for me. If they don’t know where you’re going they pay more attention to you. I turn it into a game and reward for the dog staying in a heel position. You look crazy but it’s kinda fun!

 

[calebzane15]

@libra111 Leash pressure game worked for us for loose lead walking. She had great heel before we started with it but can't keep that up for a full walk, she would start to ignore us and go smell things after a few minutes if we tried. Now if she hits end of leash she comes back to us unless we are few meters from park entrance, haven't quite got that down yet but I'm starting to get hopefull

leash pressure

 

[dominatio]

@libra111 Well when my older dog was a puppy he figured out he could literally chew through anything if he used his back teeth like scissors. He cut through a seat belt in under a minute. Leashes were no challenge.....

 

[chris516]

@libra111 Also my dog: "Yum! Imma eat all this grass"

hours later: "wow my vomit smells like grass"

Next day: "imma eat all this grass!"

 

[onceawaretwiceempowered]

@libra111 Mine is so intelligent, except for the stuff where he doesn't want to do what I want him to do. There he's dumb as a doornail.

I was told this breed aims to please.

And then the trainers told me "oh that breed has a mind of it's own".

Woo!

 

[fire]

@onceawaretwiceempowered How old? Pups can have their teenager phases where they start acting like they’ve forgotten everything and push boundaries. It’s really frustrating when you’ve put in all that time to train and they decide to be bullheaded

 

[onceawaretwiceempowered]

@fire He just turned 10 months a few days ago. It's supposed to be the start of a calm period, where he's easy to train. He was pretty good during this first phase of adolescence though, never forgot his commands or anything. But tricks is one thing, sit, down, stay's all that jazz, ez pz. Not going on tables, dropping items he picked up, or leaving something alone, those he's dumb as a doornail about. I've said "down" so many times last few months as he's counter surfing. He listens, he goes down pretty much immediately for the most part, but he's still going up in the first place. I suppose I need to get ahead of him, and say down before he's even up, but ya know... I was able to watch him pretty 24 7 in the first few weeks. At month 10... that's not happenin'..

 

[fire]

@onceawaretwiceempowered Have you tried crate training? Or if you’re able to keep him from the rooms her counter surfs. You’re dog isn’t dumb he’s testing boundaries and may also not completely know that he shouldn’t ever be on the counters/table. If he can get up there when you’re not around then he might be learning that as long as you can’t see him he’s okay to do so

 

[onceawaretwiceempowered]

@fire We do not crate, but I am also home all the time. And my "he's dumb as a doornail" is tongue in cheek I know he's testing boundaries. But he's so bright about everything else, it's just funny he's "feigning ignorance" at the rest somewhat.

 

[eliotfield]

@libra111 Bruh relatable asf shit irritates me hahahaha

 

[legnorub]

@libra111 I have never related more to a post!

I’ve tried standing still and he doesn’t stop pulling,

I’ve tried going back in the other direction, and he just pulls in that direction too!

I’m trying the watch me, and then scatter treats exercise as a way to get him focused, but he only focuses when he wants to (inside and outside he doesn’t listen!) and if he doesn’t want to then it’s 30 mins of me trying not to get frustrated and angry at him

 

[theory33]

@libra111 I think you also need to distinguish / clarify the type of walk. we have two types of walks - a sniff walk and a human needs to get some place walk. On the sniff walks I follow the puppy’s lead like 90%. On our ‘human needs to get somewhere’ walks, I use a shorter leash, treats, and verbal prompts like “good walk” or “go home”, or “no sniff”

 

[libra111]

@theory33 It was mostly a joke, but this would be a good clarification to teach him. Right now, to him, every walk is about him and about where he wants to go.