Our pup drives us bonkers every time we try to take him for a walk: He gets distracted by each and every smell on the ground. It doesn't help that we live in a neighborhood where there is lots of trash strewn around. But it's all obviously SO INTERESTING. He'll try to pick up what he can, like leaves, wrappers, food. And that's when he's not scared by different sounds and smells. There are a lot of strays in the neighborhood, too. (He was once a stray himself.) He sometimes freezes and sometimes will walk right by. All of this means taking him for a walk more like taking him for a pull. We're trying to start him on "heel" but he's often not moving at all. Anyone have any ideas?
Thank you for your post. I just wanted to let you know that each SitStayFetch package purchase comes with one free consultation. According to my records, you have already posted one consult in the Consultations section of this forum, which has since been answered. This basically means that any further posts made by you will unfortunately not be allowed in the Consults section of the forum. You can make as many posts as you like in any of the other part of the forum, the main difference being that your question will be answered by forum moderators and/or other forum members, but not necessarily by the Consults Team here at SitStayFetch. In the meantime, I will ask one of our moderators to have a look at this post and offer some suggestions.
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Firstly, I just wanted to say that I think it's great that you have adopted a stray dog. While they might sometimes require a little more work initially, there is certainly something quite rewarding about giving a dog in need a good home. Congratulations!
In regards to your pup's distracted behavior while out walking, firstly, please ensure that if he is a young puppy (under 8 months) that you are not walking him too much. Because he is still growing, too much walking can actually be bad for his joints and bones growth.
You may want to consider getting your dog a Halti or Gentle Leader collar to wear on your walks. These head collars give you much better control over your dog because they control the direction of the head. Also, you should make sure that you encourage your dog when he is walking well
You should ensure that you are using the Alpha Techniques to show your puppy that he has a confident leader, and hopefully in doing so, he will less scared when seeing other dogs. It's also a good idea to organize lots of play dates for your pup so that he gets to know and like other dogs. Obedience lessons will also help improve his confidence.
