Walkies advice needed!

[Brummyrat]

Hi, Im new to this section and dogs in general so bear with me please! The weekend before last, myself and my parents re-homed a gorgeous 8 year old Jack Russell. He had been living in a flat, or more to the point, on the balcony in all weathers, and although he has obviously been loved at some point, I dont think he was walked an awful lot. Now I appreciate its very early days but Im asking now as in every other way he has settled in like he's been here all his life, we have absolutely no problems with any aspect of him, he's such a loving adorable boy, but.... when it comes to taking him out he's a dreadful puller and when he spots another dog all hell breaks loose. My mother wanted him mainly for company but I would worry about her walking him as she's almost 80 and he'd have her over he's so strong. He sits and stays in the house, does everything to please, but on walks he doesnt even notice we're there, he goes into "JRT mode"! I can walk him but even I find his constantly pulling annoying. What Im asking is, is 8 too old to re-teach him how to walk and if not, where do I start? He's currently in a padded harness and I use an extendable lead, mother doesnt because I dont trust her with it! How do I start socialising him? I have access to a friend and another dog but what I dont have a lot of is spare time, work seven days a week and do the horse in the evenings but Im open to any suggestions. Thanks everyone for listening to my waffle, no doubt I'll be back at some point

 

[CorvusCorax]

At eight, it will be harder to correct ingrained behaviour, not lying!

A padded harness will facilitate the dog to pull harder - think about sled dogs - they harness them so that it is easier for them to pull things, you're attaching yourself to the strongest part of the dog.
And it's padded - there will be no discomfort or correction or negative consequence of any kind for the unwanted behaviour - so, just keep pulling!

A flexi-lead is no good for a puller at all, you've nothing to hold on to apart from a lump of plastic and when the dog pulls...it gets more line.

So that set up just teaches the dog to pull.

The ideal thing is to go back and teach him to walk to heel. However you might need a bit of power steering in the interim. He has only been in your house for a short period so you need to build his bond, teach him that you are the bringer of all good things (toys, balls, food) I do this by only ever feeding the dog when he is behaving in the manner that I want him to and no free access to balls, chews, toys - they belong to me and I produce them and take them away - it gets the dog keyed into you much better.

Bin the flexi and get a nice training lead.

If you want to proceed with a harness try something like a Lupi (which tightens when the dog pulls - however dogs do not like the feel of pressure and will try to evade it - they can also rub the skin) or a front-leading harness which will whip the dog round to face you when it pulls.

In any case I would use a thin flat collar or a half check on a small dog like this. Lots of stopping and starting, directional changes and checking and reward when he is walking on a loose line and paying attention, it's best to start this with no distraction and then build the distractions in later. It takes time and consistency and the day you think 'sod it, I just want to go for a walk, off you go and pull' is the day you throw all that hard work out the window.

If you are interested in using a choke, half shoke or slip collar or line I can go into that but I prefer people are taught how to use them in person and I know they are not everybody's cup of tea.

 

[Jools2345]

At eight, it will be harder to correct ingrained behaviour, not lying!

A padded harness will facilitate the dog to pull harder - think about sled dogs - they harness them so that it is easier for them to pull things, you're attaching yourself to the strongest part of the dog.
And it's padded - there will be no discomfort or correction or negative consequence of any kind for the unwanted behaviour - so, just keep pulling!

A flexi-lead is no good for a puller at all, you've nothing to hold on to apart from a lump of plastic and when the dog pulls...it gets more line.

So that set up just teaches the dog to pull.

The ideal thing is to go back and teach him to walk to heel. However you might need a bit of power steering in the interim. He has only been in your house for a short period so you need to build his bond, teach him that you are the bringer of all good things (toys, balls, food) I do this by only ever feeding the dog when he is behaving in the manner that I want him to and no free access to balls, chews, toys - they belong to me and I produce them and take them away - it gets the dog keyed into you much better.

Bin the flexi and get a nice training lead.

If you want to proceed with a harness try something like a Lupi (which tightens when the dog pulls - however dogs do not like the feel of pressure and will try to evade it - they can also rub the skin) or a front-leading harness which will whip the dog round to face you when it pulls.

In any case I would use a thin flat collar or a half check on a small dog like this. Lots of stopping and starting, directional changes and checking and reward when he is walking on a loose line and paying attention, it's best to start this with no distraction and then build the distractions in later. It takes time and consistency and the day you think 'sod it, I just want to go for a walk, off you go and pull' is the day you throw all that hard work out the window.

If you are interested in using a choke, half shoke or slip collar or line I can go into that but I prefer people are taught how to use them in person and I know they are not everybody's cup of tea.

all the above is great advice as always from CC

but

i am curious how much excersize is this dog getting daily?

it great your mum has the dogs company and the dog has your mums, i would not expect any 80yr old to be able to provide enough excersize for anything other than a very old dog. i also agree that your mum walking him is not a wise idea if he is not reliably well behaved. so who does the daily walking?

 

[Brummyrat]

Thanks for your advice CC, I'll have a proper read when Im not at work but I can see where you're coming from re the harness, a friend of mine mentioned the choke chain route but I wouldnt mind investigating the training lead first. Ive not heard of one of these. I will start by walking him in the garden when the snow clears. He's a lovely little boy but once out on the pavement his head's full of other stuff and he doesnt even notice me!! I want to at least give it a try!

Mandy x

 

[Brummyrat]

Jools, I live with my parents, needs must and all that, so he gets a long walk in the morning before I go to work, probably about 50/60 minutes, then my sister calls in during the day and he gets another mammoth walk at lunchtime. Between these though he has the garden and mum will take him round the block. When I get in each evening we go for a walk/run which is another hour easily. I did want to take him for long weekend walks too but want to get some of these issues addressed if I can before I do that!

 

[Jools2345]

sounds like he is getting plenty of excersize then, you may find that once he starts to settle into the home and new routine of seeing the outside world that he begins paying more attention to what you are trying to teach him.

I wish I still lived with my mum

 

[CorvusCorax]

A training lead is just a double-ended lead with two clips and a variety of rings so you can have it as long or short as you like or you can fasten it around yourself.

If he's a smart chap as most JRTs are you can try tiring him out with brain games as well, hiding objects, hide and seek, object identification, new tricks etc.

 

[Goya]

I found a CaniCollar good for a pulling dog.