Pulling and sniffing... Sniffing and pulling..

[SheltieChe]

yes, mine do their biz on command too, it really not difficult to train at all. At same time my dogs are not trained to let me know when they need to go so they have to wait until we get outside. To be fair, we are careful to let Leo out just about every hour when he is awake and Che can hold for longer so 2-3-4 hrs are fine with him.
When Che got desperate to meet every furry rat I found that Gentle leader saved my hands, Che being a bigger and very athletic sheltie is not an easy boy to handle if he wants something. Susan Garrett advocates GL as great training tool for distractions and I would not be without one from now on.
Another very helpful book I have found is "Control unleashed" by Leslie Mc Devitt. One of the games she offers is "look at that"- you ask dog to look at something and reward them when they turn back to look at you. The more you do that the more dog likes to check with you and less interested in surroundings.

 

[Mikos_Mom]

More great advice... thanks everyone.

Just to be clear.. I only use a 6ft leash with him... but we live in the city, so our sidewalk is only 5ft wide and has grass on both sides... when I say "short leash"... I mean 3ft

I tried the "we're not moving until you stop pulling sniffing" think on the weekend. We took a step and a half and stopped... step stop... step stop... it was excuciating! LOL We were down at our weekend place, though... and everything smells interesting in the forest! Not the best place to have started... I'll try again here at home.

 

[Toffee's Mom]

More great advice... thanks everyone.

Just to be clear.. I only use a 6ft leash with him... but we live in the city, so our sidewalk is only 5ft wide and has grass on both sides... when I say "short leash"... I mean 3ft

I tried the "we're not moving until you stop pulling sniffing" think on the weekend. We took a step and a half and stopped... step stop... step stop... it was excuciating! LOL We were down at our weekend place, though... and everything smells interesting in the forest! Not the best place to have started... I'll try again here at home.

Patience, Patience... lol
It's about waiting them out. Keep walking on short leash, make it fun, use good treats when he looks at you and play play play with him, you can tug in a city, I do, lol.. even if neighbours think I am a fool... I am one, so whatever... guess they are right hahaah

I also LOVE the book control unleashed and the gentle leader is also a good tool if it is needed.

 

[Mikos_Mom]

I just have to add, after reading my last post, that I typed that very early in the morning. I can't believe how many typos and spelling errors I made.

Note to self... have a coffee before posting on the sheltie board.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

When Che got desperate to meet every furry rat I found that Gentle leader saved my hands, Che being a bigger and very athletic sheltie is not an easy boy to handle if he wants something. Susan Garrett advocates GL as great training tool for distractions and I would not be without one from now on.

Toby is terrible on leash for not only sniffing everything, but attempting to drag you to areas where he wants to sniff.

The gentle leader has done wonders for him, not only for his sniffing and pulling, but also for his fear issues (barking/lunging explosions at things that scare him). He rarely ever even tries to pull anymore, but instead is allowed to stop and sniff when I allow my pack to do so. His explosions are a fraction of what they were and over much more quickly too.

I'm hoping to eventually wean him off of the gentle leader, but if I'm never able to break him of the sniffing and pulling, I'm happy to keep using it.

 

[Mikos_Mom]

Toby is terrible on leash for not only sniffing everything, but attempting to drag you to areas where he wants to sniff.

That's exactly what Miko is trying to do!!

When he gets "in the zone" and he forgets about sniffing, he's an excellent walker! Sometimes I have to check whether he's slipped his collar and is gone, because there is ZERO tension on the leash... BUT... once he's set his mind on getting to that grass... WHOA NELLIE... that little 4.5 month old, 12lb pup could pull a VW Bug!!!

 

[DPSheltie]

Riley has switched into 'sniff' mode recently also. He's fine on walks (mostly), but it now takes him 20-30 minutes to pee!!! I'm chalking it up to an adolescent thing, since he did used to respond to his 'hurry up' command until recently when smells are way more interesting than going potty. *sigh*

 

[corbinam]

One thing that I would recommend to reinforce the "pee as soon as you go outside" command is to not give your pup a ton of time to just sniff around. Lexi gets one tour around the yard (it's not very big) while I say "go potty". If she doesn't go, we come back inside.

When she was a puppy, she would come back in and I would put her back in her crate, and we'd try again 5-10 minutes later (this is assuming that I would take her out when I felt that she "had" to go).

Now, she pees literally as soon as she touches the grass. It's awesome--especially on car trips!

 

[SheepOfBlue]

Sca zips around like he is on fire until he stops and up goes the tail (he is like a fishing tipup). Of course no one can be looking or he gives them a don't WATCH look. I wish he was on demand like Lexi. I stopped at three rest areas coming back from the Sheltie get together before tooth float overcame his mr shy act