[nagdu] Pulling

Sun Jul 5 15:56:49 UTC 2015

Tami,

thanks for your detailed reply! You gave me some great new points to think 
of and to try. :-)
Yes, I've already figured out I need to plan some extra time when going for 
walks now. But I'm glad to get some input now because I was starting to feel 
frustrated and of course this is not going to make us progress at all.

I'll write an update as soon as there is something new to report. :-)

Lisa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tami Jarvis via nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Tami Jarvis" <tami at poodlemutt.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2015 5:50 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Pulling

> Lisa,
>
> I've gotten the best results with something like the "be a tree" method, 
> with some minor differences.
>
> When the dog pulls, I stop. If the dog keeps pulling, I take a half step 
> back, then a full step if the dog keeps pulling anyway. As soon as the dog 
> stops pulling, we move forward again, or in the direction the dog wants to 
> go. I click or use a verbal marker ("good," in our case) the instant the 
> leash goes slack, which seems to help my beasts get the idea faster.
>
> It might help to start by just standing around with the dog for a few 
> minutes at home, in a yard if you have one or maybe just outside. Wrap the 
> end of the leash around your hand and put the hand in your pocket or some 
> such to keep yourself from pulling on the leash. Unless you're better at 
> remembering not to pull on it than I was at first. /smile/ When the dog 
> pulls on the leash, just take that half step backwards, away from the 
> pull, then reward when the dog stops pulling. Once the dog has the idea, 
> take a few steps forward until he stops to pull, then stop. If he keeps 
> pulling, take a half step backwards. And so on until he gets it enough to 
> walk a bit more. So you're using successive approximation to work up to 
> being able to walk nicely without pulling.
>
> It's important then to never let the dog pull and always remember to 
> practice loose leash. That is just incredibly frustrating, and at first 
> you may have to plan extra time here and there. Since you're retraining 
> your dog, it may take longer, with a few more set backs. But it will come 
> together relatively quickly. In my experience, it helped when *I* got the 
> hang of loose leash. Now it comes naturally, so I don't inadvertently mess 
> things up so much.
>
> If the dog keeps pulling after I take a full step backwards, I turn us 
> both around and walk the other way until the dog is going with the leash 
> slack, Then we turn back in the direction the dog wanted to go because 
> that is the reward. That only works when I'm using the cane while I take 
> the dog on a leisure walk or if I know I'm on smooth clear ground.
>
> I didn't know that technique with Mitzi, and she's also trained to leash 
> guide, so now that she's retired, I need to do more work with her on doing 
> loose leash in her collar. When we go walking, I use a walking harness and 
> have decided to let her pull some in that, since she still wants to leash 
> guide in it. I used the method to get her to pull less, and she's figuring 
> out that she can just hang back and walk and enjoy.
>
> With Loki, I started with loose leash in his collar from the very 
> beginning and a modified version to teach him the pull I want in his 
> walking harness. That actually worked, and it even worked to teach him to 
> always do loose leash with the leash I have attached to the front of his 
> walking harness, while he pulls to learn guiding skills with the regular 
> leash on the rear attachment. Yay! I wasn't sure if that arrangement would 
> work out the way I hoped or not, but after a little practice -- more for 
> me than him, since he got it right off -- it's working really well.
>
> In theory, the reward for loose leash is moving the way the dog wants to 
> go, so you can add treats or praise or not while you're training. For a 
> dog that has already learned to pull, I find adding a verbal cue and a 
> marker (like the click or word) helps get the new idea through. That could 
> just be a matter of personal style, though.
>
> Good luck, and let us know what works!
>
> Tami
>
> On 07/05/2015 07:43 AM, Lisa via nagdu wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Taylor has developed a very unpleasant habbit of pulling. But only while
>> he's not not in harness but on a short leash. Apart from that, I
>> appreciate his pace very much. But when we're going for walks or just
>> anytime he is supposed to stay next to me, the problem occurs. And it's
>> neither because of major distraction, nor because of having to relieve
>> very urgently.
>> He's actually always in front of me. I did some research and tried
>> several things, e.g. the "Be a tree"-method: Everytime the dog starts to
>> pull, you'll stand still. When the dog comes back to you, you praise him
>> a lot. It seems to work for a lot of people. The disadvantage of this
>> method is apparently the lack of info the dog gets. So, why his owner
>> suddenly freezes. So, when I tried this, Taylor would come back, get
>> praised and then just walk calmly in front of me again. Maybe I'm too
>> impatient and should try this again but I also wanted to hear your
>> experiences.
>>
>> My school only taught me to give him a leash correction anytime he
>> started to pull but I'm not convinced this is the right thing to do...
>> So, as always, I'm curious what you all say.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Lisa
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nagdu mailing list
>> nagdu at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nagdu:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/tami%40poodlemutt.com
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/dreamymarmot93%40yahoo.de 