3 week plan for clicker training loose leash walking with Maddi - Please Critique

Hi,

Well after I had a really bad walk with Maddi yesterday, I have decided we are going to nail this loose leash walking once and for all!!

I have decided the next 3 weeks (as a starting point) will be devoted to training Maddi to walk nicely on a loose leash. I have read a lot of threads on here to come up with my plan and hope that you can have a read of it and see if you think any alterations are needed.

Firsty going out of the door. Maddi is a dog that likes to bolt out of the front door. I have decided that she will never be allowed to do this again. Today we spent 20 minutes getting from inside to the doorstep outside. It can only get better right! After 20 minutes we had managed to have Maddi remain in a sit until the door was wide open and I gave the command "Ok then". She still then bolted out the door like a train but its only day one and this can be worked on further.

The walk:
The rules ive got so far for the actual walk are. There is no end destination. I hold the leash at the end of the leash by the handle (40 inch leash) and hold the clicker in the same hand. I hold training treats in my other hand. When the leash is slack I begin walking. As soon as Maddi pulls to the end of the leash I stop walking and wait. I do not call Maddi back or encourage her to come to me in any way. As soon as Maddi releaves the tension on the leash (not necessarily comes all the way back to me) I click say good girl and treat and we carry on.

So will it work? would you change anything? and what do you think of stopping normal walks and devoting the next 3 weeks solely to training this method? I would like opinions on this as Im worried is it cruel? will she suffer by not having as much exercise as normal and no running free off lead? On the other hand I don't want to ruin the training by not been consistent, as she will be confused if she can walk as she pleases some times?

Opinions much appreciated.

My first comment (I don`t use clickers) is that it will probably take longer than 3 weeks. I walk everywhere (don`t drive) but my dogs frequently require 10 minutes refresher training at the start of a walk. Just to overcome the sheer joi de vivre and excitement of it all. And that`s after 4 years. I think training needs to be ongoing.
The second is - why can she not have offlead running? If you train all the way to the park (as I`m doing with Prince currently) what`s wrong with letting her off when she gets there? It doesn`t affect her training does it?

I would say that clicking for slack in the lead/heading towards you is fine to start with but I would use this as initial criteria and then start to make this more strict. E.g. initially she just has to make one step towards you but after a few days it's two steps, then three, etc. until you only click & treat for her by your side. Shaping the behaviour from that first step.

Also don't feel like you have to stop exercise altogether - one method that's recommended when teaching a dog is to use a different restrain for training and one for walking where pulling is allowed to slip. So if you eventually want to walk her on just a collar and lead, do all your training with the collar and lead. If you want to take her out during your training for a run down the park to burn off some energy, put a harness on her. She'll soon twig that the collar and lead mean it's time to get serious and pulling won't be allowed, but her behaviour on the harness is not quite so strict. Otherwise, if you have a car, driving her places where she can run off-lead can be a way to stop her from reinforcing bad habits yet still getting exercise.

This method is similar but slightly different to your plan and I find it very effective personally - within a few sessions Kiki had clicked on what to do
http://www.druidalegsd.karoo.net/300_peck.pdf

I'd be doing the onlead training on the way to a nice place to let her off so she can have a run. If you've managed to crack the heelwork all the way there, then she gets to realise it is YOU who has taken her to this nice place she gets to play in and not the other way around. Same for on the way back, it is you who is taking her home, not her!

Yes, I would stick to it for 3 weeks until you've got it under control, but she must have her runs, especially if she's trying to concede Praise, praise and more praise when she's doing well, coz a lot of people actually forget this bit, and I'm sure this is what instils good behaviour, never forgetting that praise! You can praise all you like as she's walking nicely, keep on saying good girl, good girl and she'll soon get the message. Even now, my youngster gets praised when she's doing what I've asked and I can see how much she likes it!

I did all this training at the end of every single walk when mine was a puppy, 5 mins from the end of our walk, she had to walk nicely next to me, offlead, but we were safe, but it didn't matter, she knew when the lead went on she was also to walk nicely and not pull! She's 3 years old now, and still, at the end of every walk, she has to walk "with me" and if she breaks into a trot, she gets told to w-a-l-k coz I mean it! Persistence and consistency is the key, so keep at it on a daily basis and it'll be a doddle

Instead of letting her get to the end of the leash then clicking when she turns back to you why not click for 1 step by your side? Then 2 steps, then 3, any time she fails go back to the 1 step and build up again. The problem with what you're suggesting is that what you're rewarding is the dog getting to the end of the leash and turning back to you, not walking next to you.

I didn't use a clicker to teach loose leash walking, I simply turned and went in a different direction every single time Rupert got out of position. I didn't wait for him to start pulling, as soon as his shoulder got ahead of my knee I turned with an "ah!" and walked the other way.

When training I used a regular collar and leash. When I didn't have time to train (ie vet visits) I had Rupert on a halti. This was suggested to me by the behaviourist we had out about some of his issues. These days if he's on his harness he has a tendency to pull but if he's on his collar he doesn't.

I know it will take longer than 3 weeks, but 3 weeks is a starting point and is something for me to aim for. Some noticeable progress by the end of the 3 weeks. The training will be ongoing for the life of the dog.

The issue with the offlead running, is getting to the area that is safe to let her off the lead. Its a 10 minute walk away (if I spend that ten minutes walking in the right direction of course) but if Im strict with the correct walking we would never ever get to the safe place. I like and will use the suggestion of driving to a local park or using a different type of collar/harness/halti for her to know when its serious training and when its just fun. Ive ordered her a dogmatic halti for this purpose, so im taking all this advice on board.

To the person who raised the issue of am i clicking to reinforce the bad behaviour of running to the end of the lead. I understand that for the dog to get the click and therefore the reward she has to in fact do the wrong thing and pull before she can correct herself by slackening the lead. I did see this as a pitfall of my plan, however i was going along the lines of im rewarding her for making the correct decision to slacken the lead? I would rather click and reward when she's at my side, but at this stage in the training thats never!! I do see your point though. Anyone else any comments re this?

Thanks for all your replies so far they are much appreciated!

Today it took me 40 minutes to get to the local park - normally it takes 15 - 20 mins. It has taken longer.
Because when he pulls we (according to the terrain) weave, halt, walk back the way we came from or sit and treat.
On the upside - dogs rarely pull on the way home.

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/lo..._diagramed.doc
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/le...lktogether.pdf
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/strolling_on_lead.doc
http://www.learningaboutdogs.com/aca...alktogdvd.html
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/wa...headhalter.pdf

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/541

Look under loose leash walking here:


http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...ndex.htm#basic

I don't think she needs to correct herself to learn to be at your side and you risk the dog learning to yo-yo. If the dog is never at your side then you are following the dog. NEVER follow the dog then the dog can never pull you. If you change direction, when the dog has nearly caught up with you click, for the correct position.

This is what I do with a dog that has learnt to walk ahead and pull. I just walk in random directions and praise and feed whenever the dog is fractionally behind me. I never follow the dog. They learn quickly the best place to walk and stop pulling and then to maintain the loose leash walking I just stick to my mantra of NEVER following the dog and just randomly rewarding position with praise, food and allowing a stop to sniff.

I dont have a huge amount of experience with dogs pulling on the lead but just a couple of comments:

- I agree with those that have said to click when the dog is next to you. The idea of a clicker, is not just to change incorrect behavior, but to mark correct behaviors. You are right, when she moves back you can click for that too, but do make sure you reward the times shes actually doing what you want.

- Have you tried walking around the house first? I would try walking round the house, with or without a lead, holding a piece of food in your hand, then click and treat when the dog is in a correct position. Then add a lead. Move to the garden. Move to a boring road.
The trouble with walking to the park at the very start is that the dog has an incentive to pull - if you are walking round the house, garden, street which he already knows it is a little less motivating to walk faster.

- I would allow some off lead exercise. If you don't, I think after a week you might have a very energetic dog making your job harder!

- Make sure the treat is motivating enough. Some real meat will be much more appealing than standard dog treats. Walk your dog before feeding to keep motivation for food high.

Good luck with it, keep us updated!