# new puppy: tethering & walking



## partial2poodles (Feb 11, 2010)

Every new command takes a minimum of 50 repetitions to learn a behavior. She will adapt to whatever you require of her. You seem reasonable so far....give yourself about 2 weeks of doing what you are doing.


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## Lincoln Love (Mar 9, 2010)

My trainer suggested letting the puppy run free with a harness for the first 4 months for exploration. It wasn't until after 4 months where we started on the obedience with heal etc. I know all trainers are different though.


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## Marian (Oct 20, 2009)

You can buy lightweight nylon cord at a hardware store that you can make whatever length you want. Just attach a clasp like on a leash and presto!


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Lincoln Love said:


> My trainer suggested letting the puppy run free with a harness for the first 4 months for exploration. It wasn't until after 4 months where we started on the obedience with heal etc. I know all trainers are different though.


Yikes!!! I would not wait 4 months to teach a dog good leash manners?


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## Searcher (Aug 7, 2009)

I guess I wasn't clear enough on my questions. Not sure if this explains it any better.

1. If I am tethering how much length should she have? I know she should have to stay close by me but don't know what type of space contraints are needed. 

2. We aren't trying to get her to heel at this point. Just to learn to walk with us keeping the leash loose & not to sniff or eat everything.


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## cbrand (Aug 9, 2009)

Searcher said:


> I guess I wasn't clear enough on my questions. Not sure if this explains it any better.
> 
> 1. If I am tethering how much length should she have? I know she should have to stay close by me but don't know what type of space contraints are needed.
> 
> 2. We aren't trying to get her to heel at this point. Just to learn to walk with us keeping the leash loose & not to sniff or eat everything.


1. Enough space so that puppy can lie down comfortably and so that you do not step on her, but not so much that she can move away and make a puddle. 

2. The puppy stops to stop and eat/sniff because you let it. 

Leash walking in our house is a job. It is not play time. It is not the dog's time. The dog's job, starting the day it is leash broken, is to walk next to me and always keep one eye on anything I might do or want to do. Failure to focus has logical consequences (like I might turn, dog doesn't notice and gets a collar correction because it naturally lagged).

To that end, the puppy should always be on your left side (no crossing in front or behind). You are walking. If the puppy tries to stop, keep going. DON'T LOOK BACK! The slack in the leash will be take up and the puppy will get a pop/pull. When the puppy moves to catch up to you, keep walking but PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE and tell the puppy how smart it is. I like to bend down to offer a treat with my left hand. The puppy will learn really quickly that walking nicely with Mom = good and easy. Stopping = annoying collar correction that is uncomfortable.

BTW... Stanley Coren in his book The Intelligence of Dogs says that Poodles learn new tasks in 1-3 repetitions.


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## Searcher (Aug 7, 2009)

Thank you, that makes it much clearer to me.
We appreciate the help.


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## artsycourtneysue (Jul 21, 2009)

Nicely said Cbrand! Our pup would have never walked well and would have aweful leash manners if we let her roam for the first few weeks... Poodles have a nice way of training YOU if you don't train them from day 1 lol


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