leash training/ going for walks

[celesterosemary]

Hello all,

Ive recently adopted my family's french mastiff. Hes about a year and a half old. He lived at a house with a fenced in backyard and was never taken on walks because he would slink along the ground and pull on the leash too much and would sit and refuse to move. Now hes living in a place where he has to be on a leash when he goes outside. Naturally this causes problems. He quickly moves right up against the house and refuses to move, if you try to pull him too hard he freaks out and tries to slip out of his leash and gets aggressive, barking and jerking, etc.

How do I get him to not be so scared of being outside on the leash?

He needs to be taken on walks since our place is much smaller than the home he lived in and there's no backyard with a fence here. But Hewont even pretend to try to go on a walk. More slinking along the ground and refusal to move.

Im desperate for advice, he cant just not go on walks/ not go to the bathroom on a leash

 

[musicdeb]

How long have you had him? It takes a rehomed dog to fully trust their new owners about 8-12 months and they require tons of patience.

Sounds like he's had no leash training, have him wear the leash around the house until he gets used to it. In the time being, show him the leash is a good thing because he can go outside. Was he chained outside at the last home?

Bring a lot of motivational rewards with you on your walks. Slowly bring him out of the door with the leash on. As he progresses out of the door with no issues, reward him. Drop treats on the ground to get him to follow you. Try to avoid pulling the leash so to avoid the issues.

As he follows you and getting the treats you've dropped, praise him. When he starts to freak out, stop and bring him to a sit (he does know sit, right?). Once he is calm continue the exercise.

Your walks are going to take more time than usual until he's ok with the leash.

When he pottys, praise him and reward him. Does he know the word, potty, meaning this is the time you need to go potty? Normally takes a dog about 15-25 minutes to go poop. He will want to mark every blade of grass once he becomes comfortable with the leash.

Has he had basic training? Doe she know sit, stay, come, leave it, calm and look? If not, teach those commands.

An untrained dog is a dog that will cause you many headaches.

Is he the only dog in the family? Has he had a vet check? Does he eat normally, drink water normally, potty normally and play normally?

Can you post a pic of him?

Hope that helps!

 

[MayasMom]

We got Maya almost a month ago and had the same issues. We were told she was 6 months old. She was exposed to absolutely nothing but a sun room and her litter mates until getting her so she was terrified of everything when we got her. With a ton of patience and praise without coddling her fear, she now walks well on loose leash, has been relaxing more and more with each walk and even let me know she wasn't ready to go home this morning- she had pee'd but not pooped yet. I thought she wasn't ready but when we got to the steps to our home she stopped and turned around. She usually cannot wait to go back in. We walked back to her potty spot and she pooped. What worked great for us was using a gentle lead to correct the pulling, putting on the breaks and cowering while walking and crate training her. In less than a week since crating she has really improved with her training. I am also exposing her to some of her fears where we just sit and people watch or car watch etc. She is figuring out that it is all OK. Hot dogs really help with praising her for her good behavior and walking well.

 

[celesterosemary]

Thank you for the quick replies!

there's teddy, it's only his second day at our place, so I'm probably jumping the gun asking for advice but I just want to know as much as I can to make it easier on both of us.

Teddy wasn't the only dog at his old home, he had a boxer friend, and he has been to the vet, been neutered, (those were the only times he had to go on a leash and get into the car, which might explain why he's so scared of the leash and car) he knows sit, I don't think they taught him anything else, I'll have to work on that with him. I plan to take him to some sort of obedience class this summer, but only after he is socialized with other dogs and humans. right now he's scared of other dogs and humans.

Day 1 we had quite the time taking him outside, he didn't know what to do and wasn't fond of his gentle leader.

Day 2 we attempted to go on a walk, but this time brought the other dog in the home( a 2 year old burmese mountain dog mix) with us. it was much more successful and he was actually sniffing and not acting like a tiger being wrangled by a zookeeper, but still no potty

so as of right now our biggest problem is he's not pottying on our walks and he can't stand the gentle leader, he won't walk with it on.

 

[Hector]

Have you tried a harness?

 

[celesterosemary]

I haven't, but my boyfriend has suggested that we get a body harness so I think we might go get one today and try that out. I'm not sure how he will like having that on his body, when we put the gentle leader on him he just puts his nose onto the ground and tries to paw it off and won't go anywhere

 

[Hector]

I haven't, but my boyfriend has suggested that we get a body harness so I think we might go get one today and try that out. I'm not sure how he will like having that on his body, when we put the gentle leader on him he just puts his nose onto the ground and tries to paw it off and won't go anywhere

A body harness is much less aversive than a gentle leader. It sounds like the collar+leash and gentle leader are aversions to your dog. You just need to condition him to like it. Have you tried connecting a leash onto his collar and letting him drag that around the house?

 

[MayasMom]

Maya does the same thing with her gentle leader. It takes them time to adjust to the feel of it but she has gotten better with each walk. Give it time. It has worked wonders at getting her to calm down and observe her surroundings, see that people and cars and plastic bags floating past wont hurt her. Out of curiosity I put her regular lead on and she immediately went back to pulling and refusing to walk nicely so we are still a work in progress. You can try using a high value treat when putting the gentle lead on to make it a positive thing also. Doing that had gotten Maya from trying to avoid it to sitting nicely to put it on and removed the stress for both of us. As I relaxed knowing she wont pull she has relaxed more also

 

[musicdeb]

Thank you for the quick replies!
View attachment 40638
there's teddy, it's only his second day at our place, so I'm probably jumping the gun asking for advice but I just want to know as much as I can to make it easier on both of us.

Teddy wasn't the only dog at his old home, he had a boxer friend, and he has been to the vet, been neutered, (those were the only times he had to go on a leash and get into the car, which might explain why he's so scared of the leash and car) he knows sit, I don't think they taught him anything else, I'll have to work on that with him. I plan to take him to some sort of obedience class this summer, but only after he is socialized with other dogs and humans. right now he's scared of other dogs and humans.

Day 1 we had quite the time taking him outside, he didn't know what to do and wasn't fond of his gentle leader.

Day 2 we attempted to go on a walk, but this time brought the other dog in the home( a 2 year old burmese mountain dog mix) with us. it was much more successful and he was actually sniffing and not acting like a tiger being wrangled by a zookeeper, but still no potty

so as of right now our biggest problem is he's not pottying on our walks and he can't stand the gentle leader, he won't walk with it on.

Give him time, he's stressed with the change in environment.

Where is he pottying? Great idea taking your other dog on walks. This will help the two of them bond and should help Teddy to relax.

OB training can be done by you to teach look, come, stay, lay down, leave it, etc. Training is a great bonding tool.

Have you tried placing the leash and collar on him while he's in the house to get used to the feel of the collar and leash? Be aware that a harness can encourage pulling.

Keep us posted on his progress.

 

[celesterosemary]

I think the body harness is a good idea but not if it makes him pull, right now he doesn't pull at all. he's walking so nicely right now that I don't want to put the leader on him until he's more adjusted. I'm not sure if we will even need the leader, he's seen multiple dogs and people outside on his walks and he just sits there with his ears perked up and stares, no aggressive behavior, which is what I was afraid of.

He isn't very interested in dog treats so I'm not sure how to go about teaching him basic commands when I have nothing to reward him with. I'm not sure if he's uninterested in treats because he's still trying to get used to the environment or because he doesn't like them. He ate some sausage yesterday as a reward treat but that was it. I think he's still too stressed to eat. this is only his second full day here though so he might just need a little bit more time to get adjusted

He's finally realized that on our walks is when he goes potty, which is a monumental step.He pooped inside the first day and peed for so long the second day when we went outside that I think he must've been holding it the whole previous day. But he went poop for the first time on our walk today, I gave him positive reinforcement. So I think he knows now that he is supposed to go potty outside on our walks

 

[Hector]

Give him a week to settle down before really working with him. He sounds like the leash really stresses him out, but he is making progress. Try cooked chicken meat or string cheese or lunch meat. Work with him at home so you start some engagement work with him so he starts to respond to you and so you know what works and what doesn't at home. Use a mark and reward system. Say "yes" or "perfect" or whatever word as your marker word and use it every time he does something you like and reward that.

I don't like the fact he sits with his ears up and stares. What is his mouth doing? Is it closed or open and panting? Those are usually the first signs before turning reactive. You wait awhile and see. Once he gets more comfortable in his own skin and environment, he will react. You need to start work soon and do not allow him to sit and stare. Pull him away and redirect his attention onto you.

A harness will not make him pull just because he is in a harness, BUT if you don't teach him loose leash walking skills then he will pull you to the ground.

EDIT

and there are different types of harnesses for different applications

 

[musicdeb]

Agree with Hector, do not allow him to sit and stare with ears up. Re-direct his attention when he does this.

Great news that he is now pottying outside!

While training find a high-value treat that motivates him. With Titan it's boiled chicken breast or turkey bacon, he will do anything for those 2 things. If he's not food motivated, does he have a favorite toy?

 

[celesterosemary]

When teddy stops and stares at people I always redirect his attention and make him walk away, his mouth stays closed. He seems more curious than anything, when he's been aggressive in the past his ears usually flatten and he crouches down and growls. He never growls or grumbles at people, but he does insist on stopping what he's doing to watch them. Should I do more, or be more concerned about this? Like I said, I do redirect his attention every time.

I'll add chunks of meat, or today I added the broth from the steak I slow cooked into his food bowl, and he ate all his food. I don't want to make that a habit but I do want him to eat.

 

[musicdeb]

Just keep re-directing him when he goes into "zero in" mode. Maybe teach him "leave it" which to Titan means leave it alone or ignore it.

Bit of advice, once you start adding toppers to his food, you'll probably have to do it forever.