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  1. #1
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    Leash training. Just shoot me.

    Seriously. I have zero patience for it. Archie is just so distracted by EVERYTHING. The wind blows the wrong way and he's scared. Yet, I can take him to an outside event where he's surrounded by dozens of people and he's totally fine. I don't get it. Exercising him just in the yard is not sufficient anymore. He needs walks. I'm trying to do the anchor technique. I'm trying to give treats when he gets it. The first 5-7 min of the walk he's great. But on the way back he's freakin crazy! Like all over the place to the point where I can't even walk straight because he's under my feet. It's DRIVING ME NUTS!!


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  2. #2
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    LOL, it was kinda like that when training Wrigley. How is that breed with a prong? I never put one on the Griff, but I didn't know if the Welch's neck felt sturdier...

  3. #3
    House Broken jenfarm's Avatar
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    Haha. Chutes has been a fun one too. He's slowly getting there... but he's a puller. We'll stop, he'll eventually stop and sit so then we go again and it's immediately back to the pulling. It's so frustrating. We're slowly making progress, but we found a slip collar to be really helpful. He learned pretty quick it's not fun to pull with that one.
    Josh & Jenna. Texas.
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  4. #4
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JenC View Post
    LOL, it was kinda like that when training Wrigley. How is that breed with a prong? I never put one on the Griff, but I didn't know if the Welch's neck felt sturdier...
    Prongs are not recommended for this breed because they're soft dogs. I was trying to find breed specific info about this. Came across some old forum and discovered that apparently springers in general are horrible on a leash because of their hunting style. They were breed to be in front of the handler. Some folks had better luck using slip leads. I've never used them before so will need to read about it. But I feel like Archie is not fearful of the lead anymore. He's just so distracted that he doesn't pay attention. For example, we're walking, he pulls, i stop, he stops (sometimes). I walk and same thing happens. I ask for a sit and he'll sit but sometimes he won't even look at me when he does it. He's just sniffing around all the time. This breed is suppose to have a great nose. His is always working. I literally shove cheese his mouth because he's so distracted. Can I just pay someone to leash train him. Ugh!!


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  5. #5
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    I had a full glass of wine last night before our walk. Didn't work lol


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  7. #6
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    "No pull!" and an immediate 180 turn (and walk in the other direction for a bit)...let him know that when he pulls, he doesn't get to keep going in the direction he desires. It'll take time but this has worked for me with many dogs.

    I'd recommend a Martingale collar....it's like a choker but is adjusted to get only as small as the dog's neck. To the dog, it's like pulling on a regular collar...but it can't be slipped off...and if you get the kind with a chain loop (my preference), there's also the sound of the chain pulling to tighten and that reinforces the command.

    That sweet baby....I find it so hard to believe that his behavior isn't just perfect.

  8. #7
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    Honestly, I use slip leads the majority of the time. mostly because I don't put collars on the dogs and they are easy to noose up that way and move. This is one of my favorites and it's soft on your hand: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R1UXR3E...ing=UTF8&psc=1

    I like the martingale collars, but I don't think they are going to do anything for training. They are particularly good for making sure the dog's head doesn't pull out of the collar when being wrangled....

  9. #8
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    He's a puppy. Distraction is normal. Is he food motivated at all? As soon as dog is out of position -- and that is up to you as to what that means; some people want their dog at their side (not recommended for walks) and some want their dog wherever as long as they are not pulling -- use your cue for side (side, heel, with me, here, etc. -- I prefer to tell my dog what I do want instead of what I don't want) and lure if you have to, reward in position, step forward, rinse and repeat until the dog gets it. Then, when dog gets it, slowly introduce dog to distractions. If you just need to get the dog from point A to point B, manage it. Use food stuck to his nose and lure, carry, hold by the collar, whatever you need to do. And yep, spaniels quarter, it is in their blood. I imagine that makes loose leash walking even more interesting!

    I disagree about dogs needing walks; it does not provide the exercise they need. If you live in an apartment, then of course, walks are pretty much mandatory. For the first several months, you train, you don't walk. It's like with dog shows, you don't do the whole Novice run in the ring until every little part has been trained. I don't think I take my dogs out for actual walks until around 6 months and practice position in the house and yard before taking them out in the real world. I have a large fenced in yard and my dogs go on play dates, to the river, to fields, etc. so walks are not a necessity.

    Spaniels love flirt poles! With a fenced in yard and one of those, you can really get them good and tired. Although, you want to be careful so the dog does not injure himself.

  10. #9
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    I disagree about dogs needing walks; it does not provide the exercise they need. If you live in an apartment, then of course, walks are pretty much mandatory. For the first several months, you train, you don't walk. It's like with dog shows, you don't do the whole Novice run in the ring until every little part has been trained. I don't think I take my dogs out for actual walks until around 6 months and practice position in the house and yard before taking them out in the real world. I have a large fenced in yard and my dogs go on play dates, to the river, to fields, etc. so walks are not a necessity.

    Spaniels love flirt poles! With a fenced in yard and one of those, you can really get them good and tired. Although, you want to be careful so the dog does not injure himself.
    Can you come leash train my dog? lol I just see that the yard doesn't provide the stimulation it once did. He seems significantly more chill when he had at least one walk a day outside his yard. Even if it's only for 15 min. I wish he could have more play dates. That would be awesome. We recently had a play date with Archie's brother, Cosmo (he lives in NYC and was visiting in NJ). They ran around none stop for about 2.5 hours. Archie was an angel for like 1.5 days after that lol Furthermore, I love taking walks. And I really, really would love for Archie to walk with me. I haven't had that with Jules (my choco lab that passed) for such a long time. I miss it.

    I had to look up what a flirt pole was. Yes! I can tell you that he made one out of our tree bush lol We have a few Thuja Emerald in his yard that are half dead and hanging to the ground. I was going to remove them but Archie LOVES to tug and play with them so I just left them.

    He graduated his kindergarten puppy class and we're now in a Puppy Basics 1 class. I can tell that this instructor will fail a dog. I don't want to pay to repeat this class. It aint' cheap! So I'm starting to get paranoid that Archie will not develop the attention he needs soon enough. Maybe I should chill. The class is 6 weeks long and we only had one session so far.

  11. #10
    Best Friend Retriever annkie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Labradorks View Post
    He's a puppy. Distraction is normal. Is he food motivated at all?
    He has times where he's food motivated but nothing like a Lab. It's not reliable. I would say the chance of someone displaying affection towards him trumps food.

 



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