# Standard poodle leash training?



## Swink (Dec 2, 2013)

I think it's pretty easy to train a spoo for anything. They're so smart and willing to please. My Rosie didn't even need formal leash training, she took to it right away. But she's also pretty laid back and very much a Velcro dog. I love her proud trot when we go on walks.

Noah took a little more work. He's enthusiastic and interested in everything, so he's much more easily distracted. But even with him, once he realized what I wanted he cooperated. He just needs reminders once in a while.


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## Deanna (Dec 4, 2013)

Didn't need formal training? Wow! 

What does 'velcro' mean? English isn't my native language, and I've never heard it before.

How do they reply when seeing another dog?
My rottie walks just fine, until she sees a dog. Most of the time literally jumping off with 4 feet off the ground. Ouch.

(I know each dog is different, but teaching a husky not to pull, or a beagle to ignore smells, is known to be a difficult task. I just wondered how poodles are in regard to this topic. )


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

I know 5 standards very well (my two and their three friends) and also know my sister's 3, but she lives out west. Out of the 8, none are easy on the leash. They are energetic, curious and territorial. Most walk best with a gentle lead walker. The five here are all under 3 years of age, and all get easier as they get older. I see mine learning self control more and more.
What I see about the spoos in my life is that Poodles are smart and if you aren't a confident leader they will gladly take over because they know what they want. They are easier to walk than their 100lb lab friends.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I have two standard poodles, and I would have to say that you have to do a lot of training before they are good on a leash. They are very strong, they are super-smart, and have a strong prey drive. Which all translates to draft team-like pulling if you don't train them! Some dogs don't pull for some reason by nature, I have no idea why, because mine would literally pull a sled like a dog team if I didn't train them not to. But if you gently insist that they are never allowed to pull, they get the idea after a while, just like with anything else. Repetition and treats are the key!


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## Swink (Dec 2, 2013)

Velcro dog means that they are right there all the time. They follow you everywhere, are always right next to you, etc. Rosie always has to be right with me, usually touching.

Noah wants to know where I am, and is usually in the same room, but he's not usually touching. When it's time for a good nap he usually goes off into the other room by himself where he can stretch out (he's a big dog and our house is small). But he does come by quite often to get loved on.

To elaborate a little further: 

Rosie took to the leash like a natural. Noah, not so much. He is curious about everything. He does get easily distracted, but I can bring his focus back to me. I will come to a dead stop and not allow him to sniff or anything. In the beginning he tried to ignore my commands and pulled with all his might. But now it seems to click. He'll look at me, I can see it dawning on him, and gets focused back on walking, and we are on our way. 

Now, in the beginning we had to stop every few feet and he would pretend not to know what I wanted (We live on a busy street and our neighborhood has a lot of dogs and squirrels). But he's gotten much better. His stops are a lot less frequent and when they do happen they don't last as long. 

We do make sure to play a nice game of fetch (he's a natural and loves retrieving the tennis ball) and had a nice romp outside with Rosie before we go on the walk. He learns better that way. Otherwise he's a bundle of energy and has a lot more trouble focusing.

I don't walk them both together yet. For now they each get separate walks. I'm afraid Noah would be a bad influence on Rosie.


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

velcro is the sewing stuff (like shoe closures) with a fuzzy side and a prickly side. Poodles are called velcro dogs because they stick with you. 

Poodles have to be trained to walk nicely on the leash. Start when they are young and you should not have a problem.


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## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

I can only speak for my spoo, who is not yet 2 years old, but he can be very difficult on the leash, mainly because of prey drive and interest in other dogs. He knows how to heal, but sometimes gets too excited to actually do it. He was a dream on the leash as a puppy, but around a year old became a bit more stubborn. So we are now in our second obedience class, working on it. I have no doubt that he will be wonderful as he matures, but for the average (non-dog-trainer) owner I'd say yes, they take quite a bit of training to walk nicely on the leash. 

I am the first to admit though, that were I a better trainer, this would probably not be such an issue. My obedience instructor can get my spoo to do amazing things after spending 15 seconds with him, which I then struggle to imitate. So a lot of it comes down to your experience as a handler. It is so worth it though, they are amazing dogs, and so so smart. It is very rewarding to accomplish something with them as a team.

If you don't think spoos can be strong pullers, look for the youtube video on the guy who did the Iditarod with poodles!


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

My spoo Billy was very good on the lead when I first got him at 8 months,but when he got to about 11 months he started to pull. He is now on a mekuti harness and lead. The lead goes through a hole in the front and goes across the chest. This seems to stop the pulling. Billy is unbelievably nosy,while walking he is always looking across the street,behind him and has bumped into bins while nosing! He does get excited when he sees other dogs,he loves other dogs,but on this harness is much easier to control,and I am walking him with my miniature poodle too who walks very nicely. He is my third standard and they were all a bit pulley when young,but they do usually with training and age start walking better. My lovely Harley who I lost in March at 10 by the time he got to about 2 didn't pull at all, and the last few years of his life I could hold his lead with my little finger so I had been really spoiled and having a young energetic dog again was hard!


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

I walk my girls everyday. I think the more you do it the easier it becomes. I don't have any problems. When I got my 2nd St. Poodle she was 2 and had no leash manners, she was very dog aggressive as well, it took about 2 months for her to become a joy on the leash.

I can take my girls to the park and walk my older dog without a leash at all, the younger one I can hold with my pinky finger if I want to.


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## Deanna (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks for all the replies! I don't know how to quote multiple people in one post, so here goes:

@Theo'sMom, oh.. Sadly that reply makes me a bit sad. When I get a dog of my own in a few year's time, I plan on many long walks. Having stress for 2 hours each day for 10-15 years when walking the dog is not something I'd enjoy. 
Because of that I am willing to train long and hard, but would expect some results eventually, so walks can be fun for both me and the future poodle. Sure she can sniff or look at other dogs, but no jumping forward to dragging me over the street.

@Indiana, strong prey drive, does that mean they can't walk off leash? 
I am definately willing to train a lot and be consistent! 

@Swink, it's good to hear you're making progress with Noah! My rottie learned to stop pulling very quickly, exactly through the way you just explained. But when sniffing something interesting or seeing another dog, she just forgets I exist  

@Outwest, thanks for the explanation! I understand now.
Starting when young is what I'm planning.

@Mikey's Mom, I've seen the Iditarod video multiple times! Haha, I love it. So amazing what they accomplished. But I meant to say 60lbs trying to pull you over, or 100lbs leaping forward must make SOME difference, right?
That your obedience instructor can do amazing things so fast can also have to do with the fact your instructor isn't around 24/7. So that naturally gives more attention.

@Carrie-e, hahah your bin-story made me laugh! So what you're saying is that they get better as they grow older? That's comforting to read after all the stories I've read here. If it requires 2 years of training, that's fine, as long as there is improvement.

@Carley's mom, you trained your second poodle within two months? Wow! That's an amazing quick time to learn. So you experienced no problems at all? How did you teach them to not pull to other dogs ? Or did that come natural?

Thanks everyone! It's good to read some first-hand experiences. Most websites say poodles learn extremely quick so leashtraining should be no problem. Good to take those rosetinted goggles off.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

My girl would pull if I hadn't spent a lot of time teaching her not to. She rarely reacts to something by lunging or jerking any more, but even now, if my attention wanders, she's soon out at the end of the lease, tugging, so she can sniff every interesting smell she comes across. 

Training is essential, and not just to make the walk more pleasant for the human on the leash. I saw my orthopedic surgeon last week and mentioned that I had gotten a big dog, so I'd have to get out and walk, and he looked rather concerned. He said he sees lots of injuries in women who walk big dogs and get jerked to the ground, pulled over a bank, that sort of thing. Of course, he probably wasn't thinking of a 50 pound poodle, more likely something the size of your Rottie. :biggrin1:


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

Both of my Standards were easy to walk. They walked next to me and the leash was always loose. I did walk them around the neighborhood off leash even though they both had a strong prey drive. To counter that I also worked to make sure they had an even stronger recall. So even if they took off after a squirrel or something I could say "Heel" or "Stay" or "Hup". Really anything to interrupt their thought about the chase. They never got more than a couple of steps away from my side then there was a big reward for staying with me.

Rick


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## Theo'sMom (Mar 23, 2011)

Deanna,
I didn't mean to make you sad! I just didn't want you to underestimate the training some standard poodles need. We walk daily with our two for at least an hour and hike for hours many weekends and vacations. We've just had to work at finding the right leash(for Chloe and several of her friends, a gentle leader) and work at consistent training. My Theo, who walks fine with a harness, still reacts to other dogs, but he gets better and better with training. As my neighbors say "he's an excitable boy." He's still very fun to walk and hike with.
My Chloe uses a gentle leader now and does great. She used a gentle walker for a while, but I didn't like the way it made her walk and my trainer said she has seen it injure shoulders over the long run.


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## mvhplank (Dec 5, 2012)

I followed Dr. Sophia Yin's protocol in _Perfect Puppy in 7 Days_. When you get started training leash walking, don't expect to actually GO anywhere. If you have a destination in mind, just leave the dog at home. Everyone will be happier.

Basically, the dog starts out your side. Give a treat. Take a step or two. When the dog gets in front, just stop. Don't do anything except wait. If the pup doesn't come back to heel by himself, gently guide him back (or lure him with a treat) to place and give him a treat. Repeat. Start out with short sessions and don't even expect to get to the end of the block.

I used to take the puppy out on a flexi to the park, at which point he'd ignore me and do as he pleased. Don't do that. Once he's staying mostly at your side, you can go farther, but with the same rules. One step past your toes and you stop. Once you've got the the walking thing down, you can practice nice halts, pivots, fronts, and so on. I hope to compete obedience with my boy, so taking him out and about is a big part of his learning to overcome distractions.

Poodles are so smart that I don't understand why anyone would want to keep one just for a pet. They do better if they keep learning all their lives. So find something to teach them, like tricks, if you're not going to do obedience, agility, or rally.


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## Deanna (Dec 4, 2013)

@JudyD, that risk of injury is exactly what I'm experiencing now with my parents' 100lbs rottie. That's why I was hoping poodles are bit more.. Trainable.
Of course rottweilers are an amazing breed to train, but not for me. Hope a poodle will match my personality better, which is the case as far as I can say .

@PoodleRick, woow how did you teach them that?  That's exactly what I myself hope to achieve one day, with my rottie and future poodle. How long did it take to get to that point of loose leash walking? Did you use positive reinforcement?

@Theo'sMom, haha don't worry. It's a good thing to read poodles don't come in perfect packages. Getting some realism in my head there. 
And yet it would look silly to have a dog like this walking by your side, being completely out of control:








Okay, not my favourite showclip. But still. 
Such dogs are the essence of grace in my mind. 

@mvhplank , thank you so much for the help! I've never trained a puppy, so I'll have a lot of reading to do on leashtraining pups before I ever get one. I was hoping on finding a clear description of how to do it best. I'm definetly looking into that book!  
I've watched a 30min video yesterday on all sports / activities poodles can do, and all of them (okay, except the doggydance), look so much fun. It would all depend on which training centres are in the neighbourhood, and what the dog and I find fun, but I'd definately want to do some dogsports.


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## PoodleRick (Mar 18, 2013)

Deanna said:


> @JudyD, that risk of injury is exactly what I'm experiencing now with my parents' 100lbs rottie. That's why I was hoping poodles are bit more.. Trainable.
> Of course rottweilers are an amazing breed to train, but not for me. Hope a poodle will match my personality better, which is the case as far as I can say .
> 
> *@PoodleRick, woow how did you teach them that?  That's exactly what I myself hope to achieve one day, with my rottie and future poodle. How long did it take to get to that point of loose leash walking? Did you use positive reinforcement?*
> ...


Roxy was our first Standard. We had her from 1990 to 2003. Here she is with her best buddy. Who was also named Roxy.


and Beau, here with my wife Isabelle from 2003 to 2013. Clearly I have a thing for curly hair. 










It was actually pretty easy to get them to loose leash walk. Lots of positive reinforcement. I think that's the way to go. I just made being with me better than than pulling. Mostly if they started to pull I would either just stop. Or stop and go a different direction. And when they caught up to me the "treat" was lots of praise. Neither of my guys was particularly food oriented. What they wanted more than anything else was praise from us. I know this makes me sound like I'm really good at this but I think I'm just lucky and had too great Spoos that wanted to please. 

Rick


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## Carley's Mom (Oct 30, 2011)

How I trained Stella. First I walk her everyday at least 1 hour, but most of the time 1hour and 20 mins. I gave treats and had her sit down when another dog was coming. That helped a lot , but she was still pulling some, so I put a pinch collar on her, she stopped pulling, it does not hurt them at all unless they are acting up. I have had her a year and I still take the leash and make sure I am in control when we come up on another dog, if the other dog is aggressive, she will still want to go for it. But if the other dog has leash manners hers are great as well.

P.S. I put the pinch collar on her everyday for about a month.


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## Mikey'sMom (Feb 21, 2012)

If you're worried about injuring yourself while your spoo is young, maybe go for a smaller standard. Some are quite large/muscular, and others are smaller/leaner. The small/lean type may be a better fit for you. Mine is a lean 65lbs and can be quite a handful (and some spoos are much larger), but some are quite a bit smaller than this and still would give you a big dog feel, and be very capable of running, hiking, or any other activity you'd want to do with them.


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## FireStorm (Nov 9, 2013)

My experience has been that most dogs can learn to walk nicely on (or off) leash if you put the effort in. My previous dog was a chow, a breed that certainly isn't known for their trainability. I got him when he was 6mos old, as a rescue. He was very stubborn, had an incredibly high prey drive, and no training whatsoever. Shortly after I got him he actually tore my mom's rotator cuff when he took off after a squirrel while he was on a leash. But, after some work he would reliably heel on or off lead even if there were critters to chase.

I think if you are worried about the trainability of the dog you will eventually own, you would do well to start reading about evaluating puppies' temperaments. When you decide on a breeder, the breeder should be able to help you choose a puppy with the temperament you want as well. We got our standard puppy a few weeks ago, and the breeder was very helpful once we explained our lifestyle and what we were looking for.


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