[TomAndKing]

Ok, so ive been doing a bit of the "Stop and Go"(When he pulls, i stop. when his sits and looks at me, i go) technique with king to get him to walk like a gentleman while on the leash. It is working pretty well. What i was wondering is, why does this work?

 

[th.ng]

When the dog starts pulling that means that his attention has been diverted. He is focusing on a smell or something which has caught his curiosity, perhaps just being playful and trying to run off.

When you stop, the dog is "brought back" to reality, and when you move again, the dog's attention is back on you for that time being until his attention wanders again. I have to say that if just stopping and going is enough to correct his behaviour, you are on your way to a well disciplined dog.

Just a suggestion, to increase his attention on you, keep working in short stints. I will leave my dog in heel while walking on a leash so that his attention is on me all the time. In order to do that, keep working the dog in heel-sit-stay, heel-sit-down-stay, heel-down-stay, heel-down-sit-stay and all sorts of variations. This makes the dog understand that he has to keep his attention on you to anticipate a command while in heel.

Make sure that during your heel you incorporate wild, sudden turns to the left and right and do not hesitate to use your thigh to bump his head while turning left if he does not respond. This will teach him to learn your body language.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
TH

 

[TracyJo]

Isn't it fun to see how quick they pick up on these things? I've been doing this with Chi for a few weeks now and she's doing really well... Every now and then she'll dart out and hit the end of the leash and then just stand there looking at me like "Would you please c'mon???" I can practically hear her sigh in defeat when she finally walks back and sits so we can go again

 

[th.ng]

A lot of people don't know that by allowing the dog to dictate where to go they are actually giving the dog the impression of increased authority.

By correcting the dog, you are actually enforcing your role as the alpha.

I have no experience in the learning curve of dobes as yet, but with Rotties, yes it is amazing how fast they pick up on what they should be doing.

Regards,
TH

 

[Prettydobie]

I would say it works because the dog thinks it can get away with it if u let him do it but if u stop then they learn u will not let them do that and they evetually figure out not to do it.

 

[TomAndKing]

Thanks for the info guys. King seems to be responding to this method much better than any method ive tried(choke, pinch, treats, clicker). I just like to understand what exactly is causing his reaction.

 

[TracyJo]

He could very well just be figuring out that he'll get to the desired spot faster if he doesn't pull...