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Help Me With This Case! Bill & Juba – Brainstorm
Let’s brainstorm together on Loose Leash Walking skills with a weekly feature: Help Me With This Case (HMWTC)
Here’s #1 The client, Bill, is a busy executive, a physically large and able-bodied man. The dog, Juba, is a 2-year old intact female boxer who is high energy, bright and biddable. Her main motivators are tug/play and praise. She’s a very picky eater and eschews, not chews, most treats.
Bill walks Juba infrequently (once a week) on a wide martingale collar and a 6 foot leash. Juba will often bolt unexpectedly, ripping the leash out of Bill’s hands. If Bill does have a good handle on the leash (he now usually wraps it several times around his hand), Juba darts in a circle, wrapping Bill up in the leash.
Bill has committed to 3 LLW private lessons, 45 minutes each.
DROP ONE IDEA for Bill and Juba. And if you see another person has already given your idea, please drop a different one.
There are not any “correct” answers, as long as your idea is dog-friendly and people-friendly – this is a brainstorm – so, post fearlessly!
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15 Replies
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@Catherine : I would get Juba’s favorite motivator, whatever that is (!?!) first and works indoors with her on a leash, playing the Name Game and other ways of asking her for voluntary check-ins…then take her outside on either a long line or hands-free leash, low distraction area. I would encourage the check-ins and reward with that favorite toy or whatever favorite high value treat is.
For Bill, I’d get him used to the free-form walk and long line or hands-free leash with Juba indoors first. I’d coach him to be sing-songy or super happy toned (so hard for some people) to win her attention.
Those are just some beginnings…I’d kerp the walks at only 10-15 minutes to start.
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Nice tip, @Bernerlabreclectus !
I would encourage the check-ins and reward with that favorite toy or whatever favorite high value treat is. – Paula M.
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I like the idea of hands free leash, however if the belt is around Bill’s waist and the dog jolts off it could do sever damage to Bill’s back. Juba loves tug. Bill could have a rope in his one hand that juba could play with as they walk. Take it away and get Juba to walk close for a few steps then play tug as they walk next to each other. The tug play is reward for staying close and having a loose leash.
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Great idea and focus on Bill’s safety, @Louise
The tug play is reward for staying close and having a loose leash. – Louise H.
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Hi. some suggestions for Bill and Juba on this one. First, before going out for a walk, get the leash on at home, drop it, and get Juba’s tug toy. Play a little tug and release. Tug, let Juba win, then run the opposite direction and when she comes, tug a little again. By doing this, you burn some of the pent up energy, and you are also creating the drive to want to run back to you. Keep the interest for the toy up, only do for about 3x.
Then you take it to the street, and do the same. Would avoid going through busy places initially. The idea is to create that when she comes to you, you will engage her with her favorite toy, and over time, that behavior will build up and get stronger. Note, this takes time and patience :).
When you start going to busier places, do that from a distance first, and slowly work yourself closer to where all the action is.
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Great antecedent arrangements here, @Vincent ! Way to set them up for success in approximations!
When you start going to busier places, do that from a distance first, and slowly work yourself closer to where all the action is. – Vincent H.
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Love your idea!!????❤️
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I would play some fetch or Tail Teaser with the dog before going on the walk. This might help get some of the pent up energy out before trying to walk nicely on leash.Bill could try asking for some behaviors while out on the walk. Ask for a “Sit” or “Down” and give the reward of praise. I would also encourage Bill to keep Juba nice and close to him while walking (shorten up on the 6 foot leash) Then give her opportunities to “Go Sniff” and make the leash longer for her to explore.
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Encourage Bill to keep Juba nice and close to him while walking (shorten up on the 6 foot leash) Then give her opportunities to “Go Sniff” and make the leash longer for her to explore. – Melissa Z.
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Bill may try introducing Juba to nosework before the walk. Have Juba sit, hide some of her favorite treats. At first, keep it simple&very visible. As she finds the exposed treats, drop several from above and say “search”. Once she “finds” all the treats, pull out her tug toy &celebrate! If you’re on a walk and she begins to pull,throw some treats in front of her and say”search”. Again, as she finds the treats, pull out her tug toy and celebrate her new connection to you! As Juba starts to understand the game and finds the treats easily, make the hides in the house less visible. Mentally stimulating Juba will exhaust excess energy and make for a calmer walk. Continue to keep the searches at walk, at various times, and various amounts always keeping her close to you. Once she finishes her treats, she should be looking for you to find what game’s next instead of lunging &creating her own games.
good luck! Hope this helps
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I love this idea of adding in some simple searches, @Lis – but this particular dog isn’t a fan of most treats. She’s a really, really picky eater and hard to keep weight on. She’d rather play than eat. Do you have an idea for them that that doesn’t require treats?
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After reading your comment and re-reading this post, I would make these recommendations to Bill. Since Juba has been self-rewarding in her explosive bolts and circles around Bill, I will suggest he uses a shorter leash, approximately 4 feet, to walk Juba. I will also show him a different way to hold the leash (without tension) by wrapping the handle around my thumb, then placing the rest of the leash in the palm of my hand and wrapping my fingers over it. I would emphasize that keeping a loose, relaxed loop (and grip) on the leash will also enable Juba to relax and allow her to be less likely to bolt forward because there will not be a resistance pulling her back.
I would encourage him to be more attentive to the energy he gives off to Juba. Having a tightly wound leash wrapped around his hand will discourage the calm walk he yearns to have with Juba. Being more self-aware and consistent while training Juba at the walk, he will also help her to see Bill’s vision (pardon the pun) for their walk together.
As stated earlier, Juba’s been self-rewarding with pulling on walks so Bill needs to up the ante to help her choose to be by his side. He will most likely find his newly found, great relaxing energy (????) paired with Juba’s favorite tug toy, are a good start to keeping his “people pleasing” dog by his side on walks. If she knows commands when she’s off-leash, I would recommend him slowly adding in and mixing up a few commands to the game to reinforce her looking to him to find out what’s next. Then he can build on that and reward her BIG as she chooses to stay closer to him. Once her excitement for playing the game begins, he can ask for a sit and click on her leash. At first, the other end of the leash should be left on the ground to minimize the tension of adding a leash. While there’s some engaged play with the leash on the ground, Bill can randomly lift the leash off the ground and then immediately drop it and praise Juba for not reacting to being connected with him on the leash. Once this is a learned behavior, he can lengthen the time between picking it up and putting it down, as well as, incorporate a few steps while she wears the leash. As they both grasp the concept of a loose leash walk, Juba will associate attaching a leash with Tug & Bill time instead of pulling and circling Bill on their walks.
With a lot of information thrown his way to try, I would remind Bill to exhale and enjoy training challenges with his dog. Training is ongoing throughout the life of the dog, so let’s commit to enjoy each moment of their lives and learn from them.
(i didn’t realize i rambled this long. sorry for lengthy response)
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@Lis There’s so much good here, I’m not sure what to grab as a quote! Thanks for shaing; never apologize for contributing like this. This is why we are here! I love your force-free approach and think these are good tips for Bill & Juba.
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There are so many good ideas here. I would probably start by talking with Bill about the exercise needs of a 2 year old boxer and see what other exercise Juba is getting to fulfill her needs. We might talk about using a flirt pole or other ways to exercise Juba to meet her physical needs while teaching her loose leash walking. I would talk to him about also incorporating mental enrichment into Juba’s daily life as a way to also help her use some of her excess energy. Since he is so busy, he may want to consider hiring a dog walker to help exercise Juba when he can’t. Since tug is a strong motivator, we can also use that as a reward Working together we can come up with a plan for enrichment and then as folks have said, start in the house practicing without distractions, moving to the backyard, taking a few steps with Juba at his side then stopping to play tug. Practicing figure 8’s in the back yard can also be helpful, with lots of praise, especially when going around the cones and then taking a play break after a few repetitions.
I love the other suggestions for front clip harnesses and long line sniffy walking.
We only have three lessons but I would also suggest that if possible, we figure what the antecedent is for the bolting behavior (squirrels?, noises?, smells,seeing other dogs in the distance?) Once we identify the “trigger” then follow that with a management plan to address the trigger.
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I would also suggest that if possible, we figure what the antecedent is for the bolting behavior (squirrels?, noises?, smells,seeing other dogs in the distance?) Once we identify the “trigger” then follow that with a management plan to address the trigger. – Abbie D.
Brilliant, @Abbie ! Why is she bolting, in the first place? It’s usually to see people. And you are spot-on with your enrichment and exercise ideas as well. This dog needs so much more than she’s getting!
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