help w/walking

I am having the worst time trying to get Rosco to walk, I finally had a free chance Friday after work I had it all figured out I left Max in the house so he wouldn't distract us and I cut up a baby carrot into like 7 pieces, I had Rosco on the least (short one) and I lined up the carrots and when he first took a step once we got down the stairs I praised the heck out of him and he took two steps first one he got a carrot well then I decided to line them up to get him to walk I kept saying "good boy" and then after those two steps he wouldn't move anymore, I tried dragging him he still won't move he just sits there, he doesn't even care about the treats (I have tried all of them before) he just won't move. If I could get him to go I would be so happy but he only moves 2 steps realizes that you are pulling him and then he won't move. :cry: I need advice.....

 

He walks normal with out the leash right? Get a stick and tie a hot dog on the end of it put him on his leash and hold the stick(fishing pole maybe) a foot ahead of him and see if he follows it without thinking of what he's doing. I'm kidding. It may be worth trying though. Make sure you use a harness. If you have any trouble finding one let me know. I can get harnesses for under five bucks at the swap meet. Just tell me the measurements around his chest. They are leather.
But really it just takes time and patience. Trying often too.

 

I think your little Rosco is going to take a lot of patience and persistence (I know, easier said than done)!!!

It took me 3 months to train this one Lhasa at the shelter to walk nicely on a leash. He would run around around and play just fine off the leash, but as soon as the leash was on, he flat out refused to move even an inch, literally. He was quite stubborn about walking on a leash, but day in and day out, I would practice walking with him for about 10-15 minutes several times throughout the day. Believe it or not, it took me about 2 weeks to get him to take 5 steps forward on his own (without me reeling him in). I introduced him to a training pole/stick, and that really seemed to help (not so much in the beginning, but more so once he started to take a few steps on his own.) He wouldn't respond to any other treat besides hot dogs :roll: (the smellier the treat, the more the dog is attracted to it). Week after week he would show more and more progress, and eventually, after 3 months of work, the little stinker was walking on a leash like a charm. Trust me though, it took A LOT of work, along with A LOT of patience and persistence! (I will admit, there were occasions where I felt like throwing in the towel and just giving up, but I was determined to get him to walk on a leash. He was an extremely smart dog, knew just about every trick in the book, but when it came to walking on a leash, he didn't want to have anything to do with it. [-( ) He was adopted out not too long ago actually, and would you know his absolute FAVORITE thing to do is going on walks with his family!!! \/

So, the only advice I can give you would be to just stick with it! It probably won't come easy, and may take a while, but I firmly believe with patience and persistence he will come around. The more you practice, the better!!! (Oh, just to see if it will help any, you could try a training stick - put a little peanut butter or squeeze cheese at the end of it.)

Keep working at it, and let us know how he progresses!

 

One more suggestion:

Have you tried walking Rosco with Max. I think I remember you saying that Max willingly walks on a leash without a problem, so you may want to try and walk Rosco with Max. A lot of times, dogs will imitate other dogs' behaviors, which can work against you with certain behaviors (i.e. barking, marking, etc.), but for walking it may really help. Rosco will see Max walking, and maybe (fingers crossed) he will want to join in and keep up with Max. (Just a note: You will probably need two people to try this idea.)

I don't know if it will work, but you could always give it a try!

 

I was having the exact same problem untill a couple of nights ago. Bailey was so stubborn when it came to going for walks. For a while he would go along with it, but when he realized he was on a leash he would immediatly stop... UGHHH.. i was gettin sooo frustrated with him. Welll we had a vet appt. the other day, and she told me to hook the leash onto him for the day... just let him do his normal activities... like running around the house with it on. After a while, he forgot about it.. and later that night i took him for the longest walk ever... I just kept praising him. So... try leaving the leash on.. maybe he will get used to it, and u will have some luck!...

GOOD lUCK!

 

YES...great idea!

 

I agree also... GREAT IDEA! I did the same thing with MY Bailey for a couple of hours... it seemed to do the trick!

 

Great advice:

Puttin-if I give you his measurments you can get one of those for me? I tried w/a cat harness but it didn't fit right it all went to the front and didn't hold him well at all so I took it back, now I just use the collar :cry: can't find a harness he likes. Rosco is tiny but he is still growing so I don't know if I should get one a little bigger or what.

Iluv my bailey-thanks I will try to leave the leash on all day but I have two dogs do you think he would get tangled or hurt w/my other dog playing together all day long, I work so I wouldn't be able to watch them all day, unless I do it like after work or on a weekend? :|

Mybaby-that is how he is too he is just too darn stubborn, I can't believe it, that is Max's favorite thing to do is walk, unfortunatley we don't do it that much anymore becasue of Rosco not walking. :cry: I actually did try walking the two of them Max walked wonderfully but Rosco we dragged him we tried the harness, collar you name it he just wouldn't move no matter what we gave him, we actually had to carry him he would have let us drag him down the street, that doesn't look too humain. When you say training stick what do ya mean? Just a broom handle or something like that? I never tried giving him a hot dog I would imagine that might help, I just feel so bad when I take him outside and not Max :cry: Max is so sensitive, he just stays in the house barking his head off, wanting to come. I will try today for 10 minutes w/a hot dog, do you recommend a stick like puttin said or just linning them up and holding the leash? I want him to walk.....

Monster-as always you are up on things, you tried the leash on all day thing too? I just wonder w/both dogs I wouldn't want him to choke ya know...... :cry:

 

As far as leaving the leash on, ONLY do it when you are home and able to supervise them 100% of the time...like you said, there is a big risk of them getting tangled up and choking!

Well, they make "professional" training/target sticks for trainers, and that is what I used at the shelter, but honestly, save yourself some money and use your imagination! :wink: Basically, it is, well...a stick, approx. 3-4 ft. in length and made out of sturdy plastic or aluminum material.

Here is a picture of what target/training sticks look like:

http://store.yahoo.com/clickerpets/targetstick.html

As you can see, they are a little pricy for just a simple stick. That's why I say you may want to try and think of other alternatives. I tried to think of where you might go to find something similar that would do the job, but I am not quite sure. (Just don't go out to your local hardware store and get a wooden stick...you don't want the dog to get splinters when he eats the treat off the end. I guess you could get a wooden stick and securely cover one end where the food would be placed with some sort of rubber or plastic material?)

And what you do is put a little bit of food at the end of the stick...food ideas: peanut butter, squeeze cheese, small low fat hot dog pieces (if you can get it to stay on the end w/out falling off), turkey, low fat/fat free bologna etc. Like I said earlier, the smellier and tastier the treat, the more the dog will be attracted to it!!! I suggest you get him used to the stick, follwing it and eating off it, before you start using it for teaching him to walk on the leash. Put some really tasty smelly treat at the end of the stick, put it in front of his nose to sniff and eat. Do that a couple of times, then hold the stick out a few feet in front of him and have HIM come up to get the treat off the end. Again, do that a few times, then put it out even further in front of him, and once again, have HIM go up and get the treat. (Do all that without the leash on.) Once you think he is comfortable with the stick, and realizes how it works, then you can start using it for walking and see if it helps any! (When using the stick for walking, even though he will be rewarded when he gets to the stick and gets whatever is at the end, don't forget to go crazy with lots of positive praise when he takes steps on his own!!!)

I completely understand your frustration, and I know it is easier said than done, DON'T GIVE UP on it, he's a smart dog and is more than capable of accomplishing this daunting task of walking on a leash. You just need to peel away at that stubborn attitude, which is done through patience, persistence, positive attitude and lots of practice and praising when successful (even the least bit successful)!!! :y_the_best:

Hope this helps some!

Kind regards!

 

I honsetly did not even know about the training stick. I was just trying to think of something he could follow that was tastey.

Pappy yeah measure around his chest , then from were the collar sits at the nape of the neck down his chest to where the attaching mid part of the harness fits aaround his chest. I will go this weekend. I can get two different tiny sizes. They don't have alot of colors so it will more than likely be browsn or black. Once in awhile a different color like white or green. But I will get what I can. I was browsing thru petco and noticed they had small harnesses in nylon for $9.99 :roll:

 

Yeah, they are great...very useful in training a dog - big or small!!! :y_the_best:

 

I was almost joking, well about the fishing pole. No hooks.. But its something I would try. LOL honest.

 

LOL puttin...I figured you were joking before, trust me, I had a good luagh with your fishing pole idea. :lol:

(Oh, and I forgot to mention, the target/training sticks are great for agility training as well!!! :y_the_best: )

 

:cry: I tried on Friday when I came home I left the leash on him for a hour or so he didn't notice a thing, except he was chewing it once but I decided it was going well I picked up the leash and he walked
The only problem was that he only walked to follow his brother, if Max wasn't moving he wasn't either, [-( as soon as Max stopped he wouldn't go anymore no matter what treat I gave him. ](*,) I thought I had him :cry: nope he had me still, I have to think of something to use for a training stick that doesn't cost a fortune. :-#

 

Maybe an old pool stick or a wooden dowl from the hardware store. Go to the hardware store you will find something maybe in the wood section. It will happen. He will not want to stop walking. :y_the_best: