# How much focus on walks? How to get there?



## Kaylee (Jun 11, 2011)

I'm working on paying attention right now on walks with my puppy. What might be good for just loose leash walking? My parents say that he should be looking at me the whole time. That seems a little excessive. For formal heeling of course it's right, but I don't think I need that for walks. I want him to be well behaved, but I'm usually happy when he looks at me every few seconds without fixating on the ground or a person or something. Should that be my goal or will it encourage him to look at other stuff too much? 

Now, technique. When he looks up at me I click and treat or praise and treat, or click and release him to sniff for a minute. When he isn't paying attention I stop and say his name. If he doesn't respond to that, I pick him up and say his name. If he doesn't respond to that I take him back inside.

Is there a better way to do this? Should I wait to try and take him for long walks until he's near perfect? If not, what should I do differently in that situation? I like walking, and the sooner I can give him the extra exercise the better.


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## Quossum (Mar 18, 2011)

My puppy is only 16 weeks old and has "near-perfect" loose-leash walking. I got this in two ways:

First, with my Future-Agility-Dog regime, Sugarfoot has received tons of reinforcement just for being in the RZ, or "Reinforcement Zone"--that is, heel position on either side of me. Whenever he happens to be there, lots of praise and treats. So he quickly became predisposed to be in roughly that position.

Second, when out on walks, we religiously used the "Be a tree" method. On walks around the neighborhood, I don't mind if Sugar is glued to my side or slightly ahead of me, but the leash must be loose. If he gets far enough ahead of me that the leash tightens, I stop, i.e., become a tree. Eventually Sugar learned that the only way for the walk to continue was for him to loosen the leash by coming back towards me. As soon as *his actions* caused the leash to loosen, I walked. The key is that you cannot pull the dog back and have them learn anything; they must decide for themselves to come towards you and create the loose leash themselves.

Since Sugar is also a bit "barn-sour" and really wants to pull when we get close to the house, for that portion of the walk I might not only stop, but walk backwards until he gets closer to me and loosens the leash.

This meant that some early walks lasted much longer than they should have, because I had to be be a tree several times and wait for the puppy's good decision. But it is incredibly worth it; you just have to have the patience. I still have to become a tree a lot in really distracting environments, but we're getting there!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

--Q


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## mom24doggies (Mar 28, 2011)

I think your goal of having him "check in" every now and then sounds good. I take walks so that the dog can have a chance to check out his area, sniff new things, etc. Of course, I expect him to listen when I tell him to do something, and I expect him to walk nicely on his leash, but I don't necessarily want him completely focused on me the whole time. I save that for when we're training.  

I can't really comment on your technique..the clicking and treating\praising for his attention sounds good. I've never had a problem getting my dog's attention, they seem to naturally just do it. If they do slip up and not respond when I say their name or whatever, I usually jingle their collar...you know, move the leash so the tags clink together...and then repeat their name. Works for me!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

If mine are on leash, I expect them to keep the leash loose, and worked hard to teach them that as puppies. I did some "make like a tree", but also lots of treats, changes of direction, changes of pace - and taught them to walk with me off leash before introducing the lead. I certainly don't want them to keep their attention riveted on me when we are walking - respond if I speak to them yes, but the walk is often for their benefit, and sniffing, stopping, meeting and greeting are important parts of keeping their minds happy and healthy. I don't much care where they are, as long as the leash is loose, they are safe, and they are not tripping me up. I think even obedience competitors know that the tight heel position, with eyes glued on the human, is very hard work for the dog, and can only be maintained for a short time.

Off leash I am happy if they check in on me every minute or two, and don't get too far away. We do practice recalls, waits and check ins, but they like to know where I am, so it is rarely a problem.


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## Arcticfox (Dec 12, 2011)

I keep my puppy in a modified heel position while we walk - beside me on my left. I don't mind if she lags behind a bit or is ahead a couple steps. She gets sniffing breaks ever 10 min or so when we come across a particularly nice bush or patch of grass, and I have her sit, then tell her to go sniff. We are also practicing things like not lunging after joggers that pass by us  If I see one coming, I take her to the side onto a driveway or someone's yard and have her sit stay while I click/treat every few seconds and ask for a "watch me" if we're feeling focused that day. I live in a pretty busy neighborhood, plenty of traffic and pedestrians, so I didn't want her to have the full range of the 6 foot leash on regular walks. Plus if she's allowed to sniff around, she doesn't care at all about keeping the leash loose when she catches an interesting scent. Oh, and I don't ask her to watch me all the time while we walk, just occasionally to practice the "watch me" command while waiting for a light to change or something.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

For me, it depends on context. If we are trying to get somewhere, I'll put him on a formal 'heel', where I expect eye contact every three strides or so. I don't ask for constant eye contact, as that's hard for a short dog, to be constantly craning his neck up.

For exercise/elimination walks on leash, I only ask for a loose leash, i.e. no tension. Training that is easy. I used the 'be a tree' method combined with lots of rewards when he self-corrected.

For off lead, I reward for checking in, and I also practice random recalls.

IMO, expecting constant eye contact from a puppy is asking a bit much. 

Asking the dog to respond to an attention-getter is something else. I would expect that in a puppy, and reward heavily for attention. It can be as simple as saying the dog's name, then tossing a treat when the dog looks up. That's a great skill to build now!


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## Kaylee (Jun 11, 2011)

Thank you! I'm going to think about all this.

I'm glad to see that you all agree on the eye contact thing. When I ask for a heel off leash and he looks at me for the whole time I can see it takes a lot of effort for him.

Arcticfox- I really your idea of a sit/stay when joggers go by. 

When I take him out for potty breaks I usually just follow him around. Now that I think of it, that's probably messing him up.


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