Puppy Walking

[Beedee]

I am about to enrol our dachshund in puppy kindi and in an effort to get her ready for that I’ve been trying to do some lead training. The problem is she turns into a zombie puppy whenever I put the lead and collar on! She plants her bum and won’t move a muscle and stares into space. I understand she is probably just scared, but I’m not sure what to do now. We have tried keeping the collar on, but given that she won’t move while she is wearing it I’m worried this might interfere with her toilet training as she won’t toilet with it on either.

I’ve even tried enticing her with a treat whilst trying to walk her on the lead, but I’ve also been told that the lure and reward method isn’t really suitable for lead training. My next step is to try a harness instead for walking, but we would like her to wear a collar eventually so she can wear an ID tag if she were to ever escape.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks kindly

[poodlefan]

Toilet puppy.

Take her inside and put her collar on. Ignore her. My guess is she'll start to realise she's not going to die pretty quickly.

Once she's got the collar sorted, buy a cheapie lead from the Reject shop or similar, cut about 30cm from the clip and let her drag that around.

I think you're being played.

Incidentally, as Dachsies are prone to disc issues, walking her on a good harness isn't a bad idea.

Lure and reward can be used for lead training in the initial stages.

Edited September 8, 2009 by poodlefan

[WreckitWhippet]

I would arm yourself with yummy treats , toys or anything that she finds interesting and pop out in the back yard. Put the collar on her and wait for her to get up and do something. She can't sit there forever and it will get boring, that's when you can start with the toys and playing with her.

When she starts moving about with the collar on, encourage her to follow you on the left and give her little treats and lots of praise when she gets close enough to you.

Next step is to add the leash ( this might be in a few days when she's ignoring the collar ) . I'm not much of a fan of having pups drag leads around behind them. I prefer to put it on ( make sure it's a light weight leash with a light clip ) and lift the leash up behind the pups head ( not tight but just take the bulk of the slack out of it ), from there I feed them little treats or play with a little toy infront of them. Whatever takes the mind off the leash.

Next step is the same as with the collar, keep the lead up and encourage the pup to go with you, reward and praise when the pup is walking.