Small Dog Training

7 Responses

1. 1 Jen
   2009 Sep 13

   Definitely enroll in obedience classes when they have an opening. If she’s headstrong and doesn’t enjoy leashes and/or likes to pull or lead you, buy her a harness. They’re about $5-$10 at Walmart, and most are adjustable. What I had to do with my boxer (who was incredibly headstrong) was walk her with the harness, and keep her on a short leash so that you’re holding it directly above the dog while she’s walking directly beside you. If she shows interest in going elsewhere, give the leash a gentle tug. There’s nowhere else for her to go, so she will fall in beside you. Reward her for this good behavior, and make sure when you give the tug, to give her a command such as ‘heel’, so she’ll get the idea that when you say that, she needs to walk beside you, and not in front or behind. Be patient, too. Your girl is a puppy, and she’s naturally curious.
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2. 2 Madison
   2009 Sep 13

   I would go to classes at PetSmart- they are pretty good and not expensive.
   As for the walking on a leash, use a leash that isn’t too long and have her walk right next to your side (never infront of you). You’ll have to hold it lower so there isn’t much room for her to pull forward or walk infront of you. Anytime she starts running or pulling- pull her back and go "ssssst" loud. Make her sit if she gets too excited when she sees another dog or won’t stop pulling. It takes time so make sure you do this daily and she’ll catch on. Also, Walmart sells a harness called the Anti-Pull Harness- it works great.
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3. 3 Leigh .
   2009 Sep 13

   try this..get a long leash and loop it around your waist. Its called the umbilical technique.. clip it to her collar and walk..she will follow you.She may put on the breaks and itll seem that youre dragging her..but dont give up..she will start to follow..this is a great technique for her to learn who the pack leader is
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4. 4 kimsva
   2009 Sep 13

   Invest in a Gentle Leader. It’s great! Humane and keeps the dog from choking itself. Walk with a standard leash. If the dog pull ahead then make the dog sit. Or you can just turn in another direction. Point is, keep the dog from roaming away from you. You can use treats as well. Make your dog sit and then let the dog smell the treat in your hand. Once you have your dog’s attention, say "walk with me" or whatever command you want to use. Hold leash on the side that you have the dog walking on. Keep the treat in the other hand. As incentive is needed put the treat back in front of the dog.
   You will not have to use a treat forever….just until the gets the idea.
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5. 5 besiaka13
   2009 Sep 13

   don’t take her to places like petsmart / petco etc until all her shots are done. Doberman especially are prone to catching parvo and it is more serious for them as well as Rottweilers and other black / tan breeds. Although puppy classes are good to start before all the shots are done, make sure that its a clean environment and that they check vaccination records for puppies.

   Take the training one step at a time
   1) get her used to the leash: put the leash on her, even around the house and let her drag it around. (don’t let her bite it) she should just get used to it being there.
   2) don’t get a retractable leash (because that just reinforces her pulling on the leash) get a short one, like 6 feet. When you walk with her, if she pulls, sharply yank the leash back a little bit (don’t just pull) and release and tell her "heel". If she does it again repeat it. When she is being good and walking next to you, praise her "good girl for Heeling!" and give her a treat.
   This is not something you will achieve in one day, but she will get used to

   Oh and one more thing, its best to do it when she is at least a little bit tired, (like she had at least some play time before). Mine is a ball of energy, and her attention span is about a millisecond when she is 2 excited. so i play with her first to let some of that energy out and then it is much easier to train.
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6. 6 Ming R
   2009 Sep 13

   when we trained our puppy to walk with us we did this shadowing thing…we got a leash long enough to reach our belt loops and her collar and we put the "handle" end through our belt loops and the other on her collar and had her follow us through the house until she was able to come without being coerced and now when we walk she is right by our sides. she was about 10 weeks when we started and it took about 2 weeks. but our other dog took about 4 – 5 weeks.
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7. 7 Nancy M
   2009 Sep 13

   One way I leash train my pups is to make me more interesting than anything else I take them in a familiar place on lead — usually in the house actually — and before meal time and after potty time and have little treats (their food works fine since puppies are usually only interested in food anyway!) and when they pay attention to me while wandering around on lead, they get a marker word and a treat and then they get used to paying attention to me. As they get good at this I take them outside into their yard and do the same thing. Sometimes you can use a toy but honestly the food thing is much easier as they tend to get overly excited about toys where they get moderately excited about food so they still can actually focus on you. As they progress with desiring to be with me on the lead, I take them to less familiar places and reinforce their desire to pay attention to me even in strange places. You can start entering commands into the ‘play’ as well so that being beside you looking at you can be ‘heel’ position and if they sit to look, you can always reinforce the ‘sit’ directive. Dogs are social and just want to interact with you so if you give them sufficient reason to really want to be with you, then leash training can be a breeze. If they are resistive to being on the leash at all, then as someone else suggested, have them drag it around the room for a while without applying pressure to it. My dogs all love to see me go for their leashes. Make it a pleasureable time for them and it becomes one for you too! Congratulations on the pup and good luck!!
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   Dog/Doberman owner/trainer/breeder for 50+ years