To you. To her there could be all sorts of scary things.

In all honesty, if your mum is being dragged into the road by the dog then she shouldn't be walking her. Although I find it very hard to imagine a cocker spaniel puppy being able to literally drag a grown woman around.

Millie is big for her age we met a fully grown cocker that was older then she was and smaller she was an English cocker as well. Ive met a lot of scrawny show cockers and have notticed that Millie has bigger muscles and a chunkier frame and isn't fat either not sure if she is just better bred or what she seems to be better built the most other dogs. Her paws are huge but most cockers are too. I think she is strong or can be or maybe its just that mum does not hold her lead propperly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pippam
The problem is not as simple as getting a trainer you see she walks fine in a group so getting a trainer would probably make her habbits worse not better, for me the rules are the same the park is the same and route is amot all ways the same.

If she Pulls you the rules are not always the same....sometimes she pulls sometimes she doesn't. You have to ask what is different about the times she pulls, is it just the presence of other dogs, or other people that stops her from Pulling - you need to ask yourself why that is.

Usually when she is following her nose if people and other dogs were preasent she would sit down but now she is more weary then frightened of them

What does she gain from Pulling? Have you (inadvertently) taught her to pull, by giving in to it sometimes (when you are busy and only have so much time for walks - spending 10 mins getting 5ft down the road can be depressing)

I have never encouraged her to pull that im aware im not really sure why she would apart from when she has picked up an interesting scent. its just as depressing for me I wanted a dog to get me fit and once she sits down thats it she doesn't want to go. I have tried new directions but that makes her worse.

How many different methods have you tried? How long have you stuck with each one and practised it? I try to use treats as thats what she like to get her attention but if their is something on the other side of the road she finds more interesting she will sit down and watch them till their gone

Its when she is on her own for example if I walk her alone or mum walks her alone I get the problems, found out though that watching mum she allows the dog to walk her and this got me very worried because Millie is big for her age and people are often suprised when we tell them she is only five months and strong even at five months. The dog managed to pull her into the road three times in the course of ten mins on the way to the park. Problem is mum wants to make the walks fun for Millie but she doesnt realise that Millie is getting older and should be following us not the other way round. So naturally when I take Millie out and I want to go one way Millie doesn't we don't end up going anywhere -.-

How do you walk her then?

two hands on the lead if she pulls I use a shorter lead and I may stop if she is doing it too much but it doesn't work well when she pulls I just keep her on a shorter lead.

Its extremely frustrating but again mum wont see to reason she doesnt realise she teaching Millie bad habbits and she wont take my advice for hell on earth. Im hopping to get the same trainer we had last time to teach mum how to walk Millie propperly and hold the lead propperly.

So we come back to changes in the rules - your Mum treats her one way - you do it another.....there you have one of the inconstancies I was referring to

I know this ive been trying to tell mum but I can't seem to get through to her I had to get a trainer to explain everything id been trying to tell her.

In a group she is fine its on her own we get problems she even lies down in the middle of roads!!! She has very strong will id like to see someone try and change her (the dog that is) that would be something else.

Why would you want to change her??? Thats CM talking She does not need to be changed - she needs to be worked with. So far you have described everything I have seen in cocker spaniels. From your descriptions - she is not a difficult dog, she is a misunderstood dog.

Referring to a comment made previously someone mentioned she would be a different dog if she was in the hands of someone else with consistency. I would not want to change the way CM would I just want to be able to walk her nicely but its very difficult with a dog that doesnt want to go. She is fine in a group but not on her own with me.

Since I got her a Harness I have found some small improvement she wont pull anymore I dont think she realises she is attatched to a lead. Once she sits down though she wont go untill she is ready what do you do with that ??? I could be waiting a while with her but not even treets stop that habbit because once she has her heart set on going back she will stay sitting the direction sometimes she would stay their all afternoon just watching the direction of home. I can be as patciont and sweet and offer her as many treats as she likes but she wouldnt budge yet their is nothing scairy in the park and no real reason for it that i have discovered.

But she will see the world differently to you.....

She is only five months but it would take anyone weeks to change her themselves as she is weary of people and other dogs (getting better though her confidence is building) I do have hope for her yet ive heard im not alone others have had similar problems and their dogs just got over it within time they didn't really do anything differently or do any training.

She is a baby - dogs are not brought into the world understanding it - we have to help them. We have to introduce them to people, place, scary things and teach them that these things are not to be feared. To be able to do that the dog has to trust us. We have to be a source of confidence and security to the dog. I would talk to your mum about what Milly is scared of at the park - see if together you can work out what might have happened. Bearing in mind the kind of methods your Mum has used on Milly before, it might be worth asking her what kind of training she has done with her there.

I don't think the problem is trust or lack of trust its more her confidence she is getting more confident now but its the walk in general thats a bit stressfull for both. Ive all ways taken her them same place so she gets used to it but apart from people/dogs I can't see what would make her scaired, she has never had any experiences part from with the JR's but all other dogs that met her have all ways been friendly and she just didnt want to know unless their a cocker or springer. She is very paticular about people and dogs if they don't look friendly to her she doesn't want to know one guy she spotted she thought looked a bit dodgy and kept a very close eye on him until we had past o.0'


And I ask again.......what makes you think that CM can understand dog language?
Just the way he works with them

To be honest I'd guess at your mum not walking her properly or allowing herself to be dragged. Big for her age or not I simply can't imagine a cocker spaniel being able to literally drag a grown woman around

Dogs are smart
If you are consistant with training her she will learn to walk nicely for you even if she drags your mum all over the place

and while you are training her why not walk her somewhere else than the park? then once you have her walking well with you you can give her the added challange than the scary park

But a new walk somewhere different is more tiring for them than the same old same old

Heck, yes!
I give up. You wanna bully your dog, CM fans, you carry on. I`ll just concentrate on loving mine.
I really feel this is just an excuse for a few people to pass the time being `controversial`......... - it`s on a par with discussing quality of performance in the X Factor.

Claire are you stating that I bully my dog?, you should choose your words of statement more wisely, they could wind you up in hot water, there's a huge difference between an opinion and a statement, and that sure as Hell sounded like the latter not the former. I fully accept that he's not everyone's cup of tea, I used to hear the same for Steve Irwin, when I used to be on reptile forums. I guess what is strange though is that for people who detest him so much spend so much of their time on a thread about him, when there are plenty other threads and topics to be getting your teeth into, I apologise for writing this late after my last post but I've just come out of hospital, after missing out on a kidney and pancreas transplant.

It's ok tupac, it was my first phonecall since going on the waiting list last September and I was going down to oxford as a backup, as they always have 2 possibles ready to eliminate waste, I met the chap in first place and he was worse than me, so at this time he needed it more, and as he was in first place got them, so I'm really pleased for him, on the same note I feel for the family who are grieving for the donor aswell, it hit me as we were on the M40, here's me getting excited and someone has lost their life, its strange. Sorry moderators for being off topic.