# leash training



## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

I need some ideas for leash training~
One of my puppy buyers is frustrated because her little (4 mo old) guy flat refuses to walk on a leash. She lets him run around the house with it dragging behind him, he is fine with that. But if she picks up the leash, he flops down and won't move.
She has tried his favorite treats, and holding them out and giving them to him every few steps. He will do this for 2 or 3 treats, then flops down again. (this is the trick that always worked for me, so I am stumped!)
She is bringing him over tomorrow, and I am going to give him a haircut and see if I can get him walking on a leash~
Anyone have any other ideas for me?


----------



## Posh's Mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Katie Posh had a really hard time walking on the leash. I got her at six months, and I truly don't believe she'd ever seen a leash. She would sit down, do a spinning fish flop, etc...I started obedience class with her two days after I got her and it was a bit embarrassing how I was taking her for a "drag." I really wanted the trainer to give me some other advice then what he was giving...he told me to keep on walking, even when she stopped and really praise her when she was doing it correctly. Eventually it clicked with her, and she is little miss happy on a leash, so well behaved, she does her happy hav trot and looks nothing like the little muppet that I drug.

So I think really if your puppy buyer or you can just ignore his desire to stop, and keep going all the while feeling happy and not guilty about a little drag here and there it will click that walking on a leash is great fun.

I hope this doesn't sound terrible...she wasn't ever in any way going to hurt herself. She just looked really silly and of course, the softie in me felt like I was going to ruin my loving princess. I really tried to keep the guilt in check and talk to her in my happiest voice saying "silly girl, let's go" every time she quit walking and started flopping.


----------



## EstrellaVila (Nov 30, 2007)

I think the treats are the way to go, maybe the new owner is just frustrated with how long its taking. When we tried to leash train Tito he would just try to eat the leash/collar, then he realized the leash means fun walking and hot dogs. How long has she been working with him on this?


----------



## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

I use treats and that's worked great! How about holdign the leash when they are going somewhere fun. Like hold the leash and say "wanna go outside?" all excitedly and then you go out back and play and have treats and have a blast! Maybe that would help once the pup associates walking on the leash with going somewhere to have fun?


----------



## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

I have NEVER seen a dog refuse to walk on a lead like Tinky. She would lay down, lock all four feet, and flat out refused. Our trainer said we were doing it wrong by coaxing her with treats and to do it similar to how Amy described above. It looked like we were dragging her (because we basically were!), but she did actually catch on quickly because we didn't baby her about it anymore. When she moved her legs in motion with us, then she got praise, but otherwise we just used a simple, "Let's go" and started walking with her cooperating or not. By the class the next week, she was the best behaved out of everyone and outshined them all. She just had to know who was boss and that it was going to happen whether she liked it or not.

_*Edited to add:* Even after we started forcing it, she started drooling profusely. Throughout that training session she got herself so upset that she even vomited!_

Tinky's youngest daughter did the exact same thing! It took her a whole day to catch on, even after my mother-in-law kept picking her up instead. I think she would have caught on sooner if she realized she HAD to walk with us.

I would recommend that your puppy owner take the puppy to some puppy kindergarten classes. Sometimes they get it better when a trainer is explaining it.


----------



## Posh's Mom (Dec 20, 2007)

Kimberly it's really nice to hear this advice from you. I wanted to be honest, but I didn't want it to sound like I was being a jerk by "walking on." Posh is really an alpha dog, and I most definitely, in a kind and caring way need to let her know, as Dale so eloquently put it in another post, that I am "not her bone, but her pack leader." I think she also needed to figure out that this walking on a leash thing=fun!


----------



## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

With Jasper I sort of walked/ran backwards facing him with the leash in one hand and treats in the other and said Let's walk. he would follow if I was facing him. 

Cash, hated the leash but because I walked them both together he just fell in line with Jasper. 

Katie, maybe you can take the puppy for a walk with Heidi or another good leash walker. 

And if all else fails, you can have this puppy owner just send the puppy to me! :biggrin1:


----------



## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Kimberly and Amy, my trainer also taught us the same thing - to just keep walking, while encouraging them to walk with you. She'd have us start with the dog on our left, in a heel position, and then take a very deliberate step forward, pulling on the leash and coaxing the dog with an enthusiastic "Let's go!"


----------



## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Amy, at first I thought the trainer was a jerk, but it really did work and the refusal was short-lived. I just edited the above post to note how bad it really got during that first training. She was drooling and drooling when we quit babying her. Eventually she even vomited, but then it was over. She quit refusing!


----------



## gelbergirl (Jun 9, 2007)

I brought Henry to a trainer when he was still 12 weeks old.
We taught Henry his name, and how to walk on a leash.

We cut hot dogs into teeny tiny pieces, and with the leash on, said "Let's Go" putting the hot dog in front of him, After 2 steps he got the treat, then again Let's Go, two more steps. We did htis in her small basement in a big circle.

Henry was so proud of himself! Then when we went outside, we did it for real, and I always had treats, well until we did not need them anymore.


----------



## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

They are really all different and sometimes you just have to get creative. For a young one like that I would definately try treats without any leash in the house and see if he will follow. It's much easier when one just wants to stay with you and will trot along. I'd try to get to that stage first. No dragging.

Once the pup is following and you ad the leash it still requires the right touch on the leash. If the dog pulls the handler has to immediately-that's IMMEDIATELY-correct and take back with only the slightest more pressure than the dog is using.

Leash training is best accomplished on a long brisk walk.


----------



## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

While I have been lucky with good dogs. I watched a friend with a Cairn puppy suffer. They finally went the route of a prong collar and that worked for her as she just refused to be taken anywhere and they were nervous they would hurt her. I would also recommend puppy classes to find different methods if possible.

Amanda


----------



## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

I think that sometimes new owners forget that to make treats be effective, the dog needs to be hungry. So make sure that no breakfast is served prior to leash training.


----------



## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will take them all into consideration tomorrow when I see him. He started puppy kindergarden, but all he does is flop and watch right now! That is her concern, that he needs to learn to walk on a leash so he can participate in class~~~


----------



## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Sounds like she might need a new trainer if the trainer can't get him to engage in class (or train the owner how to get the puppy to walk on a lead). Just my two cents.


----------



## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

I believe he has only been to one class~
I will see what I can do with him tomorrow.


----------



## Esperanita (Jul 12, 2008)

I'm a new dog owner. I am pretty allergic to dogs so I'm glad I found the Havanese. I got Cuba two weeks ago - he's 10.5 weeks old. I also used the "drag" method as well. I made sure I was right next to him and he has a harness so I didn't feel too bad.

I'm at the point now where he will go on jogs with me. He also still has his moments when he wants to stop and sniff in the middle of the street or frolic in the grass, but for the most part he walks well. In fact, sometimes he will run ahead (of course trip me up) and then wait for me to catch up. It's so cute


----------



## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

MopTop Havanese said:


> I believe he has only been to one class~
> I will see what I can do with him tomorrow.


how did it go?


----------



## RikiDaisyDixie (Apr 15, 2008)

*obedience*

My trainer had me do sits and downs repeatedly before we put Riki on the leash. This way he already understood who was boss. We had a very tiny pinch collar designed for toy dogs that was much lighter than the normal kind. I put it on my wrist to feel what it did, and it did not hurt in any way.

Both of my dogs only resisted one time with this collar. Sue Nelson purchased it for me as she had been training havanese for fourteen years. She used clicker training methods and positive methods.

Riki was trained to walk right at my side and to sit at each curb and not to go out in the street until I say okay.

We did everything slowly and with tons of praise.

Both of my dogs do agility and are canine good citizens. We repeated over and over again these things with tons of love.


----------



## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

I was lucky both my boys had no problems with a leash, Monte still likes to play with the leash jumping up and biting it as we are getting ready to leave but as soon as we are out the door he is great.

In all the classes I have taken (too many to count LOL) treats are only given as a reward for the behavior you are asking for. Even when we want to lure a dog into a certain position we target them with our hand (empty) using the touch comand.
I LOVE clicker training and would recomend it to any one.

Hope all went good with you training session Katie, let us know how you made out.


----------

