So, I'm sucking it up and making the most of our training homework. Even though I think it's sort of ridiculous, I'm trying to stay positive and practice, practice, practice. Our walk last night was miserable. We're not to use the retractable leash anymore - he's supposed to walk at a heel the whole time using the 6' leash. My arm is *SORE* today for an hour and fifteen minute near constant pull-back style walk. We were supposed to do 15 repetitions of stop/sit - at my very level best, using treats and praise and pets and all things bubbly to try to get him to sit, he just looked at me with a big bubble over his head saying "I wanna move from this spot to get the hell away from you, crazy lady. No frickin' WAY am I sitting." No enthusiasm, no wags, no smiles, nothing. Stoic, pissed dog. Even trying to physically make him sit, no can do. *I* just wanted to sit in the middle of the sidewalk for a good long cry. I managed to get him to sit a total of 5 times last night and walk at a heel for maybe a mile. I'm calling victory of training round 1 in Nikolai's favor.

Sounds like Ginger when we first adopted her....I think it took me about a month, walking her 3-4x a day until I got her to walk on a loose lead and having her sit at every corner we crossed. Only until then did we get a flexi-leash...

Aww sweetie you'll get there! Just hang in there, I think we've all been where you are now to some degree. It won't be a quick fix and certainly no overnight result but with time, patience and practice you will win the war.

It took a good 3 months for us to get our boy to where we wanted him to be with loose lead walking and having all his behavior issues worked out. It's long and frustrating when you're dealing with it head on (especially in the beginning) but years from now when you look back it will seem like such a short amount of time and you'll appreciate how much it was worth it to stick with the plan.

I know it stinks to high heaven right now though. We're rooting for ya! It WILL get better.

Thank you both so much... I think there's just a lot of other stuff sort of building to this, as I just had a good long cry here in my office. My BFF's parent's dog is being PTS today because she's got a heart condition that can't be treated and I am absolutely sick for my friend and my other set of "parents." *sigh* It's me, not the world... it will get better, today is a new day... I'm good enough, smart enough, and BY GOLLY, PEOPLE LIKE ME!! Hahahaa.

Someone (outside the forum) once told me that it *could* take up to 6 months before an adopted/rescued dog would show it's true personality. And Ingrid (the director of the husky rescue in Colorado) said to me while we were finishing up the adoption paperwork, 'I can't give you instant dog'. And remember my story of how my 'Perfect, sweet Ginger' guards her toys when other dogs want to play with them, and how she tried to claim other dog's bones and will get nasty if the other dog will come near the bone even when it's not hers? Well, all those personality traits didn't come out until month 4-6...

I believe that's how long you've had Nikolai now, correct? Maybe he's now getting really settled in with you and Chris that he's now starting to show personality that you haven't seen in the beginning? (I may be totally off mark here....)

In any case, you'll see with time and patience, he'll come around. Be consistent with Nikolai. And keep it consistent between you and Chris with Nikolai.

I went through the same thing when I first got Reiko. The first night he was here, he took the packaging of fish out of the garbage can, and when I went to take it away from him, he bit me. The little bugger. I just did a lot of dominance exercises with him, he hasn't tried that since.

Good luck with the new trainer! I hope every thing goes smoothly for you.

Also, very sorry to hear about your friends dog.

My arm is sore too!!! I'm trying to get Kody to walk next to me and not pull like a crazy dog! He's still fairly small, but once he gets bigger he MUST not pull. Mya pulls, but she's a bit older now and I can handle her. I'm sure in no time he'll be stronger than her and my hubby had a knee replacement and doesn't have much muscle in his thigh. Long story that I'll get into some other time, but basically Kody needs to not pull him or we'll never go anywhere as a family =( I can handle him I'm 100% sure, but for the hubs I have to do this. Wow...talk about stop, sit, heel...stop, sit heel....ahhhhhhhhh!!! His skinny lil a$$ pulls and is so stubborn!

I feel you girl!

I feel for ya as well....I'm currently working with Willow on this too. Not only am I working on the pulling, but I am working on her excitement when people/dogs are near. She gets crazy when she sees one or the other or both. I feel like I am not getting anywhere with her.

26nikita wrote:

I feel for ya as well....I'm currently working with Willow on this too. Not only am I working on the pulling, but I am working on her excitement when people/dogs are near. She gets crazy when she sees one or the other or both. I feel like I am not getting anywhere with her.

Ah yes, Ginger was very excited around dogs and people when I first got her. She used to pull, dance, go in circles...crazy dog!...it took me about a month to stop that. Now she just walks toward dogs she wants to meet with a just a slight pull.

cmanding wrote:

26nikita wrote:

I feel for ya as well....I'm currently working with Willow on this too. Not only am I working on the pulling, but I am working on her excitement when people/dogs are near. She gets crazy when she sees one or the other or both. I feel like I am not getting anywhere with her.

Ah yes, Ginger was very excited around dogs and people when I first got her. She used to pull, dance, go in circles...crazy dog!...it took me about a month to stop that. Now she just walks toward dogs she wants to meet with a just a slight pull.

What's your secret???? Tonight, She got crazy when a guy and his dog was walking towards us so I stopped walking and made her sit but she kept hopping back up and pretty much ingnored me. I kept making her sit, by physical force cause she certainly wasn't paying attention to me but I could never get her attention away from them onto me. I never had this with Dakota. I always thought he was a gem, but now I am realizing what a rare gem he is.

Well, tonight I used cheese as a treat instead of hot dog and it made ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. Much better. He sat when I told him, he down'd when I told him, and he didn't rip my arm outta my socket. Whew. There is hope.

The score is:
Nikolai 1, Kate 1.

I would suggest you be prepared for cheese to NOT work a time or two. Sled dogs seem to get a kick out confusing the trainer. One step ahead...

26nikita wrote:

cmanding wrote:

26nikita wrote:

I feel for ya as well....I'm currently working with Willow on this too. Not only am I working on the pulling, but I am working on her excitement when people/dogs are near. She gets crazy when she sees one or the other or both. I feel like I am not getting anywhere with her.

Ah yes, Ginger was very excited around dogs and people when I first got her. She used to pull, dance, go in circles...crazy dog!...it took me about a month to stop that. Now she just walks toward dogs she wants to meet with a just a slight pull.

What's your secret???? Tonight, She got crazy when a guy and his dog was walking towards us so I stopped walking and made her sit but she kept hopping back up and pretty much ingnored me. I kept making her sit, by physical force cause she certainly wasn't paying attention to me but I could never get her attention away from them onto me. I never had this with Dakota. I always thought he was a gem, but now I am realizing what a rare gem he is.

Omg, TELL ME ABOUT IT!!! I NEED THE SECRET TOO!!! Not only does Kody jump like a crazy dog, but he cries and whines LOUD!! Sounds like I'm torturing the dog! It's kinda embarrassing actually!

Ditto!!

harrise wrote:

I would suggest you be prepared for cheese to NOT work a time or two. Sled dogs seem to get a kick out confusing the trainer. One step ahead...

Tonight, I have to work, so my hubby is in charge of figuring out a treat and making it work... I think he's leaning toward turkey lunch meat. ;-) Crazy dog. Just frickin' DOOOO what I tell you!!! Bah! Why do they try us so?! WHY?!?!?

26nikita wrote:

I feel for ya as well....I'm currently working with Willow on this too. Not only am I working on the pulling, but I am working on her excitement when people/dogs are near. She gets crazy when she sees one or the other or both. I feel like I am not getting anywhere with her.

Well, for me, if he's really interested in something and pulling, I turn the opposite direction, tell him "This way" and just sort of drag him along, until he walks like a decent dog, then we stop, sit, treat, and take off in the original direction. That seems to refocus his attention on me and where *I* want him to go, not where he's focused on going. On our walk last night, we encountered a skunk and a fox (about 5 minutes apart), and he wanted to go check them out in the WORST way... just circling back and making him sit and down before heading past where they went worked great. It took a little longer, but he wasn't completely bananas, either.

What you did there was based on the Premack Principle; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Premack

In short, the more likely behavior (GET THE FOX/SQUIRREL/RABBIT) can be used to reinforce the less likely behavior (sit and wait instead of lunging). But the trick is having a constant flow of distractions for efficient training. I still have a problem with rabbits because I can't just come up with one over and over for 20 minutes straight.

With the people/other dogs, my opinion is you're waiting too long to work on your desired behavior. You know it's coming, so get the sit before sled head reacts to others. Be observant of the distance when your dog reacts, catch changes in body language before the flip out comes. Then work on decreasing the distance. (This doesn't work very well if the other dog is also reactive to your presence.)

Glad to hear there is at least some progress! I was thinking about you and Nikolai on my walk this morning actually. I am like you and prefer to use a retractable lead with my dogs. However, I only started using the retractable AFTER teaching my boy how to lose lead walk on a 6 ft lead. After he learned to loose lead walk on a 6 footer I switched to a 26 ft retractable and he is an absolute dream to walk on either one. But point is you have to put in the hard work first to reap the rewards later. I say this so you don't think you're doomed to the 6 ft lead for the rest of Nikolai's life, once he's trained to walk on a loose leash you should be able to switch to the retractable again and still have him not pulling. Our boy is living proof that it is possible!

Huskyluv wrote:

Glad to hear there is at least some progress! I was thinking about you and Nikolai on my walk this morning actually. I am like you and prefer to use a retractable lead with my dogs. However, I only started using the retractable AFTER teaching my boy how to lose lead walk on a 6 ft lead. After he learned to loose lead walk on a 6 footer I switched to a 26 ft retractable and he is an absolute dream to walk on either one. But point is you have to put in the hard work first to reap the rewards later. I say this so you don't think you're doomed to the 6 ft lead for the rest of Nikolai's life, once he's trained to walk on a loose leash you should be able to switch to the retractable again and still have him not pulling. Our boy is living proof that it is possible!

Ditto here! The first month with Ginger was on a 6ft lead. The first month with Ginger walking was difficult....I think it took about 45 minutes to just go a mile.

Now, whether she's on a 6 ft or retractable, she's hardly ever more than 3 ft in front of me. If she ever gets too far in front, a slight tug on her leash will slow her pace down or stop until I catch up.

But remember, it took me 1 month, walking Ginger 3-4x a day for at least 30 minutes each time, EVERY SINGLE DAY, to get her walking on a loose lead....

cmanding wrote:

But remember, it took me 1 month, walking Ginger 3-4x a day for at least 30 minutes each time, EVERY SINGLE DAY, to get her walking on a loose lead....

We went through the exact same! It took months to get ours walking on a loose lead though...seems our boy was a bit more stubborn than Ginger. It was frustrating at times when a simple walk around the block (maybe 1/2 mile) would take a whole hour. I'm so happy I can look back and laugh now.

Huskyluv wrote:

cmanding wrote:

But remember, it took me 1 month, walking Ginger 3-4x a day for at least 30 minutes each time, EVERY SINGLE DAY, to get her walking on a loose lead....

We went through the exact same! It took months to get ours walking on a loose lead though...seems our boy was a bit more stubborn than Ginger. It was frustrating at times when a simple walk around the block (maybe 1/2 mile) would take a whole hour. I'm so happy I can look back and laugh now.

I have to say, Ginger 'picked her fights'...she was so easy teaching her to sit, and lay down and take food and treats until we say 'Take it'...but stubborn out on our walks when we first started out - they're smart like that...but in any case, yes, that first month was trying but now it's pretty easy to get her to do things we want. Even stupid people tricks for the camera...LOL!

I KNOW this is one area i need work in... my thought is if i just walk faster they do not pull as much, or my other thought that Sierra is older and will slow down at some point is not working either....

if i just had the time to work on it.. hubby is gone at night and trying to take them at different times to work on each one will not work either as i know it will take at least 30 min each dog and then thats an hr spent on them with out walking very far. i don't get home from work till 6:30/ 7:30 every night and then there is dinner for me and them and life shit to deal with, i need someone to just come do it for me during the day, oh that would be the life

Wow Jenn, how did you guys decide that huskies were a good fit for your lifestyle?! I almost hate to ask, how much do your dogs get walked as it is? I couldn't handle life that hectic. Even if I did have a job I would only take something part time so I have time to take care of the housework and all the pet related stuff on top of that. Do you have any time for yourself, Jenn?

Huskyluv wrote:

Wow Jenn, how did you guys decide that huskies were a good fit for your lifestyle?! I almost hate to ask, how much do your dogs get walked as it is? I couldn't handle life that hectic. Even if I did have a job I would only take something part time so I have time to take care of the housework and all the pet related stuff on top of that. Do you have any time for yourself, Jenn?

Val,
i am a very busy lady! i am up at 6-630, i do my cardio or to the gym, then the dogs get a 10 min walk, then feed, i get ready then im off to work at either 830 or 11 depending on the day and workout. ken has a new job and his hrs are from 130-11pm. so he is home till 1230, he gives them another 10-30 min walk depending on what he feels like (i can only hope he really is walking them like he says) then he is off. like i said im home from work and we eat then i take them out for another walk for like 30-40 min and its then off to cleaning or paying bills or preping food for the next day. i really only get some time for my self on the weekends between cleaning and food shopping and running around. the two of them keep them selves busy in the house while we are gone im sure and we shower them with love when we are home. i really do think they are the breed for us based on our "weekend" activities. with summer around the corner and longer lit days we will be able to make the dog park on week nights and back to bikejoring as well.

My goodness, just reading about your hectic day makes me tired! lol I have gotten spoiled being a housewife for the past few years, I can tell. My life used to be crazy busy back when I worked, I remember getting up at 4 am every morning to do houeswork, walking the dog, feeding everyone, etc before heading off to work. Come home from work and it's walk the dog, make dinner for everyone, then clean up the house again, and so on. I really do NOT miss working at all!