How can i walk my dogs without fighting??

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spottydottypony

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I have 2 JR terriers and a patterdale cross all between the ages of 2 years and 9 months. When i attempt to walk them out of the door all hell breaks loose and they all fight. I have tried walking them seperatley but trying to get out of the door is a joke. I have tried putting the leads on then taking them off when they misbehave and going back in the house but this doesnot work. if i do get them into the car when i get out of the car the same thing happens, fighting and barking!! People look and stare because they look so bad dread to think what the neighbors think!! I am at my wits end has anyone got any suggestions please !!
 
I would walk and train separately. or have someone follow you up the road with one, and then give it to you once settled.

Are they actually fighting or just over excited at the thought of going out?
 
I'm no trainer but have you tried putting their leads on and not actually going out the door until they have calmed down? Just ignoring it?


ETA how much and how often do they actually get walked/exercised?
 
If I didnt have order in my door ways I would be flattened in the rush to get out. They need to be trained separately and once they are sitting nicely you can invite them out by calling their name. Once they have gotten the hang of it add another dog and so on.

To make things easier do your practising/training when you come back from a walk that way you are reducing the excitement but be very careful that you are not adding to the excitement by your voice, keep it very low key.

You have quite a mixture then and its going to be a challenge and if you have a couple of persistent fighters you might want to consider a muzzle.
 
I have tried putting the leads on and off but they still fight. I have even sat down for a while and taken leads off but the behavior carries on. On the plus side for my other half they are very well behaved and never put a foot wrong i do spend more time with them too
 
It sounds like over enthusiasm and frustration and the re-direction of that onto each other. It will take time to correct. You do need to work with the separately.
They are all young feisty types trying to assert themselves, also, who goes through the door in what order and in what way is very important. If you get frustrated (sounds it) you will not help.
Entry and exit points can be a huge area of conflict with dogs.
They say training a command takes 200 repetitions, can you actually tell me you have done that or do you just say sod it, I am tired and running late, let's put up with the bad behaviour and leave? Because every time you do that, you go back to square one.

My young dog is not allowed to go through the door in front of me or in a hectic fashion. Period. Controlling that aspect alone has filtered through to a lot of our other training.
In the morning he has to sit at every doorway before he goes out and in the evening when he comes in and every other entry and exit in between.
He has to follow me, not charge on through. Yeah, it takes a while, but hey!

Are they food or ball orientated or does that all go out the window when they are going out?
 
Also change all the routine, they know all the signals now, the leads, the door, the timings, start from scratch if you can, different signals, different noises, different cues. They all know what the cue for going for a walk is now, then go ballistic, and that will be hard to break, you need to switch things round a bit.
 
I do tend to give up especially if i'm running late. Its just so annoying they behave so well for my other half no fighting or barking at all its just me (who spends most time with them) who they misbehave for
 
Well make this your pet project then - the training/having to think will tire them out as much as two 30 minutes bursts around a field every day. Oh and get firm, the fact that you freak out and give up is why they probably play up with you and not your OH and he probably doesn't tolerate the scrapping.
Is he of a calmer demeanor than you generally?
They act up - they get out the door faster. If you are frustrated and panicy, they will feed off that.
 
spottydottypony said:
I do tend to give up especially if i'm running late. Its just so annoying they behave so well for my other half no fighting or barking at all its just me (who spends most time with them) who they misbehave for
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Two things strike me here.....one you admit that you give up when on a tight schedule and two the woofs behave for the OH.

Sooo....firstly, I would pick a time to start training when I had no other committments looming. I would probably also enlist the other half to start with to speed things up, although you will need to ultimately manage things on your own....however, his presence to start with may make things easier.

Each dog individually needs to be trained and after you have done that, then you need to train them as a group.

My house dogs know the sequence of events....I go to the loo (yes, of that age!), pick up dog treats from a certain cupboard, pick up game bag, car keys, dog leads....and....by then...all the house dogs are lined up in a sit by the door to go out. Leads are put on and off we go.

My dogs aren't perfect.....far from it....but to get to that point you need ot invest time one on one. You need to teach them that the sequence of events that THEY think leads to a walk doesn't always result in that...in other words, go to the loo, pick up dog treats, pick up game bag, car keys or whatever it is that you do AND then go and do something else! Read the newspaper for 30 mins, have a bath, drink a bottle of wine or whatever!

My dogs all have a visual cue for sit; very soon however they teach themselves that a picked up lead is also a cue, so you could teach this yourself....new cue, old cue.

If a dog breaks, shows an undesirable behaviour, then I shrug and go and do something else.....weed the garden for 30 mins, make a phone call, do my accounts...whatever. They soon learn that they don't get what they want unless I get what I want first! Yes, it takes persistance and bloody mindedness, but it ain't half worth it in the long run!

Also, watch your other half with the dogs closely....his body language, demeanour....you may pick up a lot of tips.
 
I was starting to go down this route with my three staffords. Not fighting but a lot of noise, leaping up, dog trying to mount the bitch, snapping. BORING! So now I sit on the stairs and call them one at a time to sit and have their collar put on. No sit down, no collar, no going out. Originally used treats but now they know they have to sit to have their collars put on. Took a bit of time but ultimately worth it as we are out of the door a lot quicker. They are monkeys when my dog walker comes though!
 
My three were similar. I trained them to stay on the bed in the kitchen while I opened the boot, moved the mats etc. Nobody gets to leave the room til they're all calm, on the bed, they now don't move til they're told.

Persistence, use your voice and body language. Repetition on a constant basis helps. :)
 
if they're only getting an hour a day that is most of your problem, young excitable pups should be getting at least 2 hours a day and you will find every aspect of their training easier because you wont have to fight through the frustration and excitement to get their attention!
 
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