# 15 Week Old Puppy-Pulling on leash



## TheAttachedMama (Feb 20, 2018)

Hi Everyone,

We are proud owners of Ruby, a gorgeous golden puppy of 15 weeks. Ruby was the boldest female puppy of her litter. This means that she is fearless and can be a little hard to train. She has gotten into some really bad habits with leash pulling when we take her out on walks. (She is only 26 lbs, but I have bad "leash burns" everyday when I walk her. Plus, I worry that all of that pulling is NOT good for her neck. She makes these wheezing sounds even when I simply stop because she is trying to charge forward.) 

When we go on walks, her attention is everywhere but on me.  She is not very food motivated, so that also makes her a little harder to train as a puppy. Even if I practically put the little piece of chicken in her mouth, she will sort of spit it out because she is so excited. (She would much rather run after birds and smell things than take a treat on a walk!)

What i have been doing is immediately stopping when she pulls on the leash and not take another step forward until the leash goes slack. (On our walks this means that I can usually only make it about 20 steps because every step I take she chargers forward.) I call her back to me and I don't take another step until she lets the leash go slack. I've also been trying to change directions when she pulls really bad to try to get her focus. (Calling her name and clapping my hip, etc.) So far, we are not making any progress.

I know she is young, but I don't want to let these bad habits keep forming as she gets stronger and bigger. What would your next steps be? (She starts puppy kindergarten training class on April 9th. But I would love some tips on some things I can work on until then.) 

Thanks!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

A Golden puppy is definitely a long term commitment to training and patience. If you brought home the boldest girl in the litter and she is not as food motivated as most Goldens you have set yourself up for a project. Have you ever trained a puppy before? Is she your first Golden?

Is she getting a chance to explore the world off leash or go hiking with you off leash? I would invest in a 30' nylon rope from the hardware store and attach a clip to the end. Get her out and about and let her enjoy being a puppy and exploring with you. How many times a day is she fed and how much are you feeding her? 

I would cut back on the amount in her bowl and take her out hungry to train. 

Have kibble in a baggie and use it as rewards but also intersperse it with something yummy and stinky like liverwurst or gooseliver lunch meat. You can also make your own liver training treats with some garlicsalt on them to give them flavor. There are dog safe treat recipes on this forum if you use the search feature. Experiment till you find something she LOVES. My picky eater collie will do backflips for frozen Biljac dog food. Frozen section in the grocery store.

Practice recalls back and forth on the longline with a partner. Back and forth between you and reward with food - use a squeak to get her attention if she is slow. Work on a couple successful repetitions and then stop. Training with puppies is done in tiny increments.

Since she is not food motivated, you need to figure out what does motivate her. Try using a special squeak toy to get her moving on walks. Be creative in switching out different toys or have one that is just for walks, just like children they have favorites and novelty is highly attractive.

I strongly suggest that you purchase a DVD called "Sound Beginnings" by Jackie Mertens. Sound Beginnings Retriever Training with Jackie Mertens DVD. $39.95. She is a legend in the retriever world and this teaches a formal retrieve from the ground up with a young puppy. It sounds like your dog would be an ideal candidate and as she grows you're going to need a good way to exercise her. If she has high prey drive, she will LIVE to retrieve. Use it as part of your bag of tricks. It will be highly rewarding to her as she learns that the only way to get another retrieve is to return to you with the bumper. (A bumper is a retrieving dummy that is only used for retrieving and will be high value to her if it is associated with the exercise only).

In addition I suggest this book: https://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall...r=8-1&keywords=total+recall+dog+training+book Read it and apply the principals at your house. 

She is going to require consistent training and management and need a lot of mental work and physical exercise over the next year or two, she is a puppy and will have to learn self control and develop attention. I would really get on with an obedience club that teaches classes with a long term goal of higher level competition obedience so that you have instructors who will understand how to work with a bolder retriever puppy.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Also, she should not be giving you leash burns on walks. I don't understand what you're doing to get rope burns from a leash, but when you're out for a walk (not an exploration hike, but a walk) she should be on leash next to you. Here's a link for the world's softest most wonderful leashes. Stibbar Soft Leather Get a 3 or 4 foot leash and use it for training and walking only. It is super soft and won't give you burns, but she should be close enough to you that you're not getting burns. 

When you're out training with a long line, be sure to wear boots or higher socks and watch the long line doesn't wrap around your ankle because that will leave a major burn, no fun.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Kikopup training videos are also a great resource. Start working on attention at home. It's the basis for successful obedience work. It will take hundreds of repetitions to get a solid and reliable foundation out in public, but this is how it starts:


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## TheAttachedMama (Feb 20, 2018)

Thank you SO, SO, SO much Kristy!

To answer some of your questions, we had German Shepherds and an Akita before. However, we had them professionally trained through a "board and train" program. I'm trying my best to train Ruby myself (with the help of the local obedience club), but classes haven't started yet. I am very thankful for your book and DVD recommendations. 

To answer your question about the off-leash training, she isn't getting a whole lot of that. We have a fenced in yard that she plays in off leash. However, we haven't taken her on any off-leash walks mainly because it wouldn't be safe to do that near our house. Now that she is vaccinated, we can start driving her to public places to explore. 

We feed her twice a day (6AM and 6PM). We have been giving her about 1.5 cups each time.

(I love your squeeky toy idea. I am going to try that this afternoon. And I will keep trying other treats until I find something.)


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

You've gotten some great advice here. Just remember that she's only just about to turn 4 months old. You've probably only had her for 7 weeks. Of course she's going to want to focus on everything except you outside. She needs patience and consistency. In my experience, a lot of the store bought dry training treats or just dog kibble is likely not high value enough in a very distracting situation. In addition to the above treats, you can try something like string cheese--my dog goes nuts for that. 

Could consider putting her in a harness if she's pulling so hard that she coughs. But I would avoid a no-pull harness that tightens, since it doesn't necessarily teach walking on a loose leash. 

Play with her first, before the training session begins. Its easier to train a slightly tired puppy who isn't bursting at the seams with energy. Before mealtimes. 

Teach her "watch me." Its a great way to get and keep your dog's attention. 

Its hard to keep a puppy's attention outside, even if they are ordinarily food motivated. My puppy would absolutely ignore me, and she's highly food motivated. So I would bring two types of treats, a medium one that she really liked, and then high value treats as well. Usually we would start with the medium and when she was bored with that, move on to high value. My dog has a strong retrieving drive, and when I first got her I built that by playing fetch a ton inside. So if she hears the squeak of a ball, she will immediately be at my side and looking at me. Even now at almost 2, if we are inside and doing some training--after a bit she gets bored with treats and will go get a toy or ball. So then the retrieve is the reward after she does what I ask her to do. 

I personally think it takes a lot of work to teach a puppy not to pull on the leash. Its 100% not as easy as "sit, down, paw etc," and for me, its not nearly as fun to train. Its why there are a million no-pull harnesses out there. With lots and lots of practice and consistency, its really very rewarding in the end.


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## HudsonRiver (Oct 23, 2017)

Agree with everything above! Also lots of patience and consistency! Hudson went through many phases during leash training, pulling forwards, pulling backwards, refusing to walk at all! It can be frustrating, but as long as you stick to one approach, it should make it easier for her to learn over time! If you keep changing your approach, you could risk confusing them (...sorry to my Hudson for that one! Now he doesn't really like walks and refuses to take a treat on a walk regardless of how hungry he is). 

Good luck!


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

All Nolefan's suggestions are spot on.

I would just emphasize that attention is something you need to teach at home, not out on walks. The behaviour you describe sounds like it's caused by a general lack of basic obedience training. Have you taught her the basic commands: sit, down, stand, stay, etc.? If not, you should be doing that. Don't wait for class: 16 weeks is quite old for a dog, especially a bold one, to start puppy class (I always start mine as soon as they come home at 8 weeks). Once your pup gets used to obeying you for simple things, you'll be able to address the leash-pulling problem outdoors more easily, using the methods Nolefan has suggested.

I also second her comment that if you choose "the boldest puppy in the litter", you're making a lifetime commitment to training. I had one of these dogs: she was also called Ruby, and she was my dog of a lifetime (I lost her at age 8 to cancer and it literally broke my heart). But as a puppy and adolescent, she was, as Nolefan noted, somewhat of a project. For example, she once ran through a closed glass door to get to a squirrel (broken glass everywhere, thankfully no injury). She smashed furniture and lamps. She developed a very effective method of breaking through screen doors and windows. Outdoors, she once used a table full of picnic food as a springboard to jump over the 4' fence around our pool, just so she could swim with my daughter and her friends (they had shut her out of the pool enclosure because she kept "saving" them by pulling them out of the water). Nothing I did ever broke her counter-surfing habits: we just learned not to leave food within reach, and always to keep her under supervision in the house. And so on. Training and a job weren't optional for her - they were a necessity. The breeder chose her for me because I was looking for an agility dog, and told me, when I went to collect her: "I chose this pup for you because she'd drive a pet home completely crazy". And she was right. Ruby was outstanding at her job, but she would have been an awful pet for someone who didn't give her a job to do.

Best of luck with your puppy. She sounds wonderful!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

TheAttachedMama said:


> ...I'm trying my best to train Ruby myself (with the help of the local obedience club), but classes haven't started yet. I am very thankful for your book and DVD recommendations.
> 
> To answer your question about the off-leash training, she isn't getting a whole lot of that. We have a fenced in yard that she plays in off leash. However, we haven't taken her on any off-leash walks mainly because it wouldn't be safe to do that near our house. Now that she is vaccinated, we can start driving her to public places to explore.
> 
> ...


You're welcome. I hope that the input you're getting from everyone here will help you. At 16 weeks, you really don't have a day to lose. She is in prime learning mode - she's a sponge and everything is a lesson for her, it's up to you to determine whether it's something you want her to learn or not though. Good lessons or not so good.

I would absolutely dial her food back to about 3/4 -1 cup at each meal. Measure the remaining cup into a couple different baggies and use that with training treats. She's most likely not appearing too food motivated because she's not too hungry. Her weight sounds pretty appropriate for her age, but you don't want to end up overfeeding her and it can happen when you start getting into frequent training sessions. Don't forget that when you're working on finding a treat she loves that stinky people food tends to be a favorite for them more so than a commercial dog treat.

Almost forgot: here is a link to the retrieving bumpers. Don't let her play with them or chew on them. They are for retrieving with you only. http://www.gundogsupply.com/avery-hexabumpers-regular.html

If your budget allows, I highly recommend calling the instructor from your class that starts next week and asking her to refer you to someone who will do some private sessions at your house. It is worth every penny to get some pointers from a good trainer before class starts so that in class you can focus on learning the exercises instead of finagling with leash and treat delivery and timing etc. You can take the class and have private training sessions at the same time. It will really help get you up to speed. The more confident you are, the more likely you will inspire you bold puppy to look to you as the leader in your relationship.

Hope you'll keep us posted.


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## PattyMcN123! (Oct 15, 2017)

I also have an 11 week old “fearless female”, we don’t get very far on our walks either for the same reason. She seems very smart and I’m hoping that eventually she learns that in order to go forward to the many places to explore she has to walk beside me hehe. Also she has totally disregarded my recall that I was so proud I THOUGHT she grasped two weeks ago, because she LOVES to chew everything outside, rocks, sticks,bark mulch and prefers to grab one of those when I call her and RUNS as fast as she can AWAY from me so I won’t take it away! Oh sometimes like this I feel like I’m too old for a puppy hehe good luck if you live in MA maybe a play date is possible


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