Hey all,
So I have a 3 year old female and an 8 month old male.
Yesterday I decided to start to train the younger one to become used to the bike and how to run alongside my female to eventually pull. Now, this was not a long run or pulling session by any means (I believe he's too young still), but I just wanted to test out the commands and see how they run connected to each other.
Immediately my male, Jago, takes off running like he's made for this (AWESOME!) and my female understands that she needs to start slow to preserve energy. Once she caught up to his energy level and would be right next to him, he would turn and look at her and do a side bump/butt bump to keep her behind him. I initially thought he was playing, until it happened 2-3 more times and I realized he's not excited, he's really NOT letting her be next to him! The lead I had on them wasn't long enough for her to be behind him and so her harness - a pull harness - was pulling up on her stomach because she was being forced to be behind him and have him pull her along. Once I saw this happening, I stopped the training for the day as far as having them connected.

Now, I've never had two dogs tied to each other and out in front. Whenever we walk, I've had 3 dogs tied to each other and they all know to stay behind me, so there's no fight for who's in front, I always win.

So how do I get Jago to let Brooks be beside him without having him butt bump her all the time?

The other issue is "on by" and getting him to not stop at the neighbors house with 3 annoyingly loud yappy dogs... ugh, but I can work on that one

Thanks in advance for your advice!