KateH

Thanks to Chelsea's Mum for the heads-up. I'd be interested in coming for sure, and my only question at this stage would be on pricing.

Yes, not quite what I meant there -- whoops!

Yeah, running away is the only way I can get my girl to come to me in the park. I'm planning on buying a long lead and doing some work, as well as using two balls etc, when my partner comes back to town. For now we're just walking a lot on the lead.

I've been feeling a bit demoralised as well and I've got a rather well-adjusted puppy. We're having training problems which I suspect are more to do with me than her. It's so easy to read all the opinions on offer, have some minor successes and failures, and become a confused and ground down. Every second person tells me something different, and when my dog (or myself) doesn't automatically just "get it" people seem to think I'm not putting any effort in. And both myself and the dog have bad days and good days, and the bad days are kinda crappy and it takes us two hours to walk to the park and back again when it should only take 30 minutes. And then I read stuff on these forums about some people "should just not own dogs" and I wonder... is that me? Am I ruining this poor dog through my well-intentioned but uneducated attempts at training? Sigh. I'm sure it'll all work out in the end... we'll all muddle through. Sorry about the self-indulgent post, yesterday was one of those bad days where Jasper just DID NOT seem to get what I wanted her to do. "Walk nicely? OK, I'll jump around at the end of the leash even though I've been walking brilliantly for a few weeks now. Ignore other dogs? Nope, I think I'll chuck the biggest tantrum you've ever seen and whine and throw myself on the ground and howl so much you'd think I was being beaten EVERY time I even sense the presence of another four-legged creature. Chase the ball? Nope, I'm going to run around you in circles for half an hour with the ball in my mouth." Anyway, good luck with your dog! I'm sure you're doing a wonderful job.

Wow. I didn't mean to start a minor controversy. pgm, I think you've defended the method quite well, I still don't know if it would work for me for various reasons. I'm willing to read the book, as I said, I'm just unsure I could implement the method consistently. In the meantime, I am seeing results with my dog. Perhaps not instantaneous, but I wasn't expecting that. She has very few behavioural issues other than over-excitement, and frankly, I knew what I was getting in for when I bought a GSP. As Kavik says, each to our own; as a newbie to dog training (though I've been around dogs my whole life, just not as the tariner) it can be very difficult to sort out what you should and shouldn't do. Everyone tells you something different. What seems to work for certain people doesn't seem to work for you. What to do? Read and learn. So as a newbie, I'd just say that I am trying to do the best thing for my dog in the most ethical and humane way that I can. If I don't agree with one method, I'll try another. It's been interesting reading what people wrote in this post. I think I'm learning a lot from these forums, even if I disagree with some things.

Hi Alibear, Going through the same thing now -- we've been using the tree method for about three weeks now and it's working. Jasper, my six month old GSP, will get to the end of the leash and if it goes taut, I stop, and she turns around and comes back. Every time we go for a walk it's an improvement, she pulls less and less. It's not instantenous but it's better than having my arms wrenched off. The first few times we did it she carried on like I was trying to murder her! I ignored the behaviour and it went away... hopefully never to return. Good luck, Kate,

Hi Greentea, Sorry to hear about your condition. I hope you can find a compromise that works -- perhaps you can arrange one-on-one sessions with a trainer in your home, for instance, who you can work with? Dogs are trained to work with people with eyesight problems all the time, I can't see why you can't do the same, with some help, with your dog before you receive treatment for your eyes. Good luck with finding a groomer too. Cheers, Kate

After researching Koehler, I've decided it's not the method for me. Thanks for your advice, pgm, I just feel that I couldn't comfortably implement the training methods described in the book. I appreciate your recommendation, thanks again. Anyway, I did try changing the direction each time my dog pulled, but Jasper and I would both end up wrapped in her lead and staring at each other in puzzlement. I think it's my lack of co-ordination that may be the problem. So stopping seems easier for both of us. And it is working -- yesterday saw a distinct improvement. Yes, we had to stop a number of times, but when we did she would quickly return to my side, and we made it around the block in a record-breaking 15 minutes instead of nearly an hour as on the first try. It's not perfect but it's MUCH better and I've only been doing it for four days. Thanks again to everyone for the advice.

Update: Tonight I tried the immoveable object approach and the results were much better. We managed to get about four times the distance we did yesterday and while she still pulled occasionally, it certainly wasn't as bad. Whenever I stopped she would return to me, so it seems, tentatively, that some progress has been made. Obediance training starts Sunday, so we'll see what they recommend. Hopefully for all our sakes it won't be years of 'one step forward, one step back'.

Thanks PGM, I'll google it. Saltwood -- aah, the thought of years of this behaviour makes me feel very, very miserable. I know any training takes time but since my dog picked up sit, drop, stay and a few other commands in about 20 minutes, it makes me wonder why lead walking is so different, is it me, or is it her? Cheers, Kate.

Hi all, Newbie but longtime reader here. My five month old GSP girl Jasper is, as you'd imagine, a bundle of energy and excitement, and very, very distractable. I am trying to train her to walk nicely on the lead without pulling by using the "you pull, I stop" method, with lots of praise when she walks with a loose leash. We're also doing NILIF at home. Yesterday we took a short walk using this method (with a fixed collar and 1.5 metre lead) and she went completely mad, throwing herself at the end of the leash and snapping around quite violently, whining and carrying on. Is this "extinction burst" behaviour or am I just going to hurt her this way? We're beginning obediance training on the weekend, but she needs to be walked otherwise she's a whirling dervish by night-time -- but I know the more we walk her and allow her to pull, the more ingrained a problem it will be. Any thoughts? Cheers, Kate.