Stopping on walks

[Berna]

Well, here I am with puppy issues.

I've never dealt with this before since Cookie as a puppy (and later on) had only one purpose on walks and that was to go go go and sniff sniff sniff.

Little Sonic on the other hand appears to be a stubborn little guy. He doesn't appear to be scared of anything, but his attention easily shifts and my guess is that if he sees or hears something and wants to go the other way, he just sits telling me he will not proceed in my direction. I am managing it with throwing sticks for him and sometimes treats, but I am wondering whether I am doing the right thing as I don't want to reinforce the behaviour. Oh, and when he realises we are heading home, he starts running, probably in hopes that he will get a snack or even better, lunch.

Any input appreciated.

[SunDance]

Huh...I thought he was purebred. It sounds like he's part mule. (sorry)

I'm one of the people who makes a big happy fuss over anything positive that a dog does. I have had only one puppy who sat on walks (more later) and I just acted like whatever was in the intended direction was going to be SO MUCH FUN and maybe, at first, involved a little treat (actually piece of kibble). I'm sure I looked feeble-minded to passers-by, but I got Hershey going. And then we'd run a little, which Hersh always appreciated.

It didn't take long for me. I was actually undoing something that I had inadvertently caused. Hersh was obviously not hurting and the vet was perplexed...then I realized that I had been reinforcing our need to stop and look both ways before crossing the two streets on our way to the park. Hersh had immediately picked up on the fact that I wanted a sit/wait every so often but hadn't associated it with street/traffic. So he'd just sit/wait, thinking he was doing exactly what I wanted him to do. I stopped the sit part of our street crossing routine and all was well in a short amount of time.

I was glad that Danny and Sunnie (well, mostly Danny with Sunnie mimicking him) had no problem with associating street with the sit/wait.

[smartrock]

It sounds like you're doing fine. Young puppies are hard to walk. They don't like their collars, they bite their leashes, they roll around on the ground, they want to check out everything, they sit down, pull back, everything but walk along. Some guidelines say not to walk them for more than about 5 minutes per month of age anyway, although they can play and run around off leash as much as they want. I'm fortunate to have a yard they can play in and I let them drag their leash around to get accustomed to the feeling of their leash. I also have the luxury of being able to take frequent short walks. When we walk I also use a lot of treats to get them to keep moving forward and to help keep their attention on me. I mainly use the kibble they get for meals as the treats. You can phase out the treats as they get better at walking along and watching you.

[Black Labbies]

Aww, you have a puppy . You're doing fine with Sonic. Puppies like to sit, watch and learn. Yes, use lots of treats to lure him and get really excited when he does what you want him to do. Also, you can do leash training in your house to get him more used to his collar and leash, then he's more ready for the outdoors.

It's hard not to compare one dog to another, so what Cookie did, Sonic may not. Walking Loua as a puppy was far different than walking Opal. When puppy-Opal refused to go further, I'd pick her up and we'd continue our walk. Loua, being very independent, did not like to be picked up. In the end, both girls walked/walk very nicely then/now.

Hang in there and good luck .

[Berna]

Thanks a lot for the input, I am glad I am not doing anything wrong. Phew.

It's been 17 years (exactly) since I had a puppy and I forgot all the puppy antics. Cookie was so much easier to walk, but Sonic on the other hand was much easier to housebreak. Granted, Sonic is 3 weeks older than Cookie was when we got him, but I swear that puppy knew he should do his business on grass straight from the start and has figured out the pad in three days!

[barry581]

Just remember, raising a Lab puppy is a journey and not a destination. Many adventures await!!!

[Toad]

OMG is he housebroken already? Johnnie figured out poop remarkably quickly, but couldn't hold his pee until he was like 9 months old - the vet said it was physical, not behavioral, and told me to keep rewarding his tries and be patient and we'd pursue treatment if he didn't develop bladder control by a year... I thought I was going to die 😂😂

Is Sonic pulling ahead of you always, or sometimes trying to go back the way you came? I don't think I have any great ideas, just trying to remember what we did for Johnnie. I definitely remember for his excited lunging ahead (toward really interesting things), the trainer had me stop abruptly so that Johnnie's tugging against my stop caused a little extra pressure, but *not* an actual pull from me (if that makes any sense?) Then I waited until he turned around and looked at me to proceed. It was pretty effective after a little while. But he was much older when we started that - I'm trying to remember but I don't think he spent much time (if any) on a leash when he was Sonic's age.

[Berna]

Well, I wouldn't say he is housebroken just yet, he hasn't pooped in the house since the first night, peeing is a bit trickier, he pees outside and on the pad (and sometimes goes on the pad just to get a cookie - smart little guy!), he did have two accidents in the past couple of days, usually during play, but we are figuring it out. But also he still doesn't have free access to the whole house (he is always supervised) so there is not much room for error. Cookie was so much harder to housebreak.

As for the stopping on walks - he just stops. It's definitely happening only at the beginning of our park for some reason. Once we are past the "critical point" which is about 50 meters from the entrance to the park, he will walk fine If I get him in the car and we go to another park, he walks fine. He does pull sometimes, he runs sometimes, but I don't care just yet about that, he is very food motivated so I guess he will figure the "heel" command fast. Cookie was more difficult to train because he was not interested in food when he was outside, he was much more interested in the scents on the ground.

[Black Labbies]

It sounds like you and Sonic are having fun . His house training will click in his brain when you least expect it. Try reversing your walk and go the other way. I sometimes do this with our regular walks and the girls like the change. We also go to the grocery store and stand near the entrance for people to pet them...good socializing.

Ursa pooped in the house earlier this week (and has done this off and on) and we thought she was housebroken, lol. We blame it all on her aging and the sudden urge to go, we never blame her. Puppies also have weaker bladders and poopers, just like the older dogs.

Hang in there, Sonic will do better once he's able to.

[Berna]

Cookie also lost control of his bladder and bowels in the last year of his life. He also had dementia and kidney disease so not really sure what was the culprit.

I am glad to report Sonic is doing much better on his walks. I think he will be a joy to walk in no time. I just wish he wouldn't put everything in his mouth.