Avoidance game

[swanska]

Shadow can often be like Archie. I usually just sit down on the chair by the door, continue holding the leash but start reading the mail. Soon Shadow comes up to figure out why I am ignoring him and I hold open his harness and he realizes that games are not being played and sticks his head thru.

Since I adopted Shadow when he was already partially trained, I had to figure out what his commands were. Because Shadow didn't seem to respond to "Let's go for a Walk" I'd calmly say "Let's get Dressed". This seems to be close to what his previous owner taught him. I also would hold open the collar or harness and then have a treat (or even the toy) held on the other side. He had to stick his muzzle then head thru the collar to get the treat. This seemed to help with the "over the head shyness/fear" that he arrived with because it made it seem like it was his choice to do the work to get the treat. This collar exercise has been very beneficial recently since Shadow has to have the dreaded CONE put on every morning -- he just slides his snout thru and I glide his injured ear in.

[Snowshoe]

I will second, third, fourth the training classes. I also wonder if she associates the leash and you grabbing at her with negative things. Most dogs want to go for a walk or go outside and that desire will usually overcome their apprehension. We actually learned in class how to give grabbing a good association - we started out by simply touching the collar (collar on the dog) and treating. Because sometimes you do just have to grab but it should not be the norm.

DOES she like to go for a walk? If so, here's an idea that worked for me. My problem was not quite the same, all I had was fidgety 5 month old who couldn't stop squirming enough for me to put his collar on. He knew SIT and was working on STAY. One day I got fed up and put the collar and leash on my tall rubber gardening boot that happened to be nearby and out the door I went with the boot for a walk around the house. Out the front, in the back, took off the leash and collar, told the boot it was a "good boot", gave it a treat and ignored the pup for 10 minutes. I tried not to look at him but the expression on his face was priceless. 20 minutes later he was good as gold and sat quietly so I could gear him up and has been mostly good ever since.

[Sue]

One day I got fed up and put the collar and leash on my tall rubber gardening boot that happened to be nearby and out the door I went with the boot for a walk around the house. Out the front, in the back, took off the leash and collar, told the boot it was a "good boot", gave it a treat and ignored the pup for 10 minutes. I tried not to look at him but the expression on his face was priceless. 20 minutes later he was good as gold and sat quietly so I could gear him up and has been mostly good ever since.

That is all I have to say.

[Meeps83]

We actually did a training exercise in class for that.

To start, and I think this helped us a lot, is that we kept Maverick's leash on him at all times except for when he was kenneled. That way there was no weirdness or excitement when we went to take him out or walk or anything.

The exercise in class had us very calmly unclasp and re-clasp the leash many times. When the dogs all sat still and patiently for this, they were allowed to play. In your case, I'd do this and give her a nice reward in a calm way. So when she lets you put her leash on calmly she gets to go outside. When she lets you take it off calmly she gets to play fetch or something else that she really enjoys. Once she learns that both leashing and unleashing are good she should calm down a little.

In the meantime, you can try bribing her to you with a very high value treat that she cannot refuse. My dogs LOVE turkey. Once she comes to you and lets you put the leash on calmly, TURKEY. Once she calmly lets you take the leash off TURKEY. Once she starts calmly leashing up and unleashing but expecting TURKEY change it up.

Good luck with the training!