[korslava]

i got my puppy last night and this morning i tried to take her out with the leash
but she is backing back and i do not want to apply to much pressure.
what is the best way to make her walk after me?

 

[OliviaB]

How old is she? Why type of collar are you using? With very young puppies, I try to make it fun. I do things to encourage them forward such as using a high happy voice or even luring with a small treat. Gunner wasn't very good on a leash when I first got him, but I didn't pull. I just made it as positive as possible and soon he was awesome at walking on a leash. We also go lots of fun places on the leash so he associates it with good things. Of course, according to your pup's age and where she is with her vaccines, I would be careful about going out in public. Try not to force her forward...instead make her WANT to go forward with praise, a toy, or treats. Wearing a leash and collar is a weird sensation so they can take a little bit to get used to it

 

[korslava]

she is only 9 weeks old and i am just taking her out around my building.
also she afraid to be out.can it be because she is not really used to me yet?

 

[dobebug]

She's very young. You haven't had her even 24 hours it sounds like. She's away from all that was familiar to her--her litter mates, her breeder etc.

Everything is new, unfamiliar and probably pretty scarey to a baby dog.

Take things slowly--she needs some experience with you and her new surroundings. Carry food with you and coax her along on the leash--it's entirely possible that she's never been on a leash before.

Don't expect so much from her right off the bat.

 

[OliviaB]

Sounds like she's just really scared and unsure. The best thing that you can do is to bond with her and help build her confidence. When you take her out, maybe just sit down with her and let her explore on the leash at her own pace. Don't push her to do what she isn't comfortable with. Just stay calm and encouraging and let her figure things out. Praise like crazy when you see that she's gaining her confidence and take things slow. She'll come around...she's going through a lot of changes!

 

[CH4Sure]

I went through the exact same thing a few short weeks ago. Our pup was 9 weeks and what I first did was just put a leash on her in the yard, she was having none of it. Took that off and tried again the next day with food bait, didn't really work she still hated it. Went on youtube and watched other people leash train and decided ( I know I am going to get alot of flack for this) to put her on a flexi lead retractable leash I had, its sixteen feet long. Took her in front of my house and just started walking, at around the ten foot mark I think she started getting nervous that I was walking away and with the flexi lead it didnt have that heavy leash feeling to it so she ran and caught up to me. I praised her, gave her a treat and then she ran ahead of me, we only walked about a half block to my mailbox then came back and went back into the yard, I took the leash off her. I repeated the flexi lead the second and third day, she loved it. On the fourth day I put her regular lead back on and used that, this time she did not resist or back up or dig her heals in the grass she actually ran ahead of me, we have done this three times. Next I am going to have to start working on heal because I am not going to be one of those people being dragged by their dog. I think the initial use of the flexi lead was great for leash training but I won't be using that on her again because its just in my opinion not something you want to walk a strong dog on. I found a great leash training video on youtube if you want to check it out, she is using the flexi lead too to leash train and I borrowed that idea from her. How to leash train your Puppy - YouTube

 

[vivienne00]

Can you tell us where you got the puppy from?
Who is the breeder?
Did the breeder get the ears cropped?
When were they done?
Are they still on a cup or are they posted?

Do you have a nice breakaway collar on her?
If so, attach a piece of rope to her collar and let it drag on the ground when you are with her and not expecting her to be on leash, this will get her used to something around her neck pulling on it occasionally without blaming you directly.

What do you want the puppy to do? Any particular role or activity?

When you go out in public, given that you are worried about parvo, I would carry her but make sure she gets to meet people and children, and hear and see strange sights. If you need to put her down in public areas, take along a towel or a mat and place her on that and keep her on it.

In Oregon, I would go to Home Depot and put her in a shopping cart and wheel her around (making sure she stays in there). Have your girlfriend help you by pushing the cart while you walk alongside holding her in there but seeing things and hearing and meeting people. Get people to give her small treats (tiny tiny pieces of food) from their hands (assuming they don't have a dog with them).

You HAVE to socialize her. But you have to protect her from parvo until she has had her shots.

You also need to get her enrolled in a puppy kindergarten class to socialize with other puppies - ONCE SHE HAS HAD HER SHOTS SHE SHOULD START CLASSES.