Hi everyone! I have a 5 month old little girl and she is doing so well with training! We just have 2 main problem areas. She pulls on the leash when she walks. I know this is a husky thing but I've also seen it be trained and would love some tips on how we can better with this!

Also, jumping on people. We have tried so many different methods. Right now she does very well with me and my boyfriend. When we come home she will jump once and we turn our back to her. Then she will come around to our front and sit down and wag and we give her love. But other people she just jumps and jumps. I ask others to help me with her training when they come over but its so chaotic with her jumping and saying "hello" (she's got lots to say) training kind of gets lost in the mess. Does anyone have any tips on how we can fix this? When we walk her kids and strangers always come up to pet her and i just want to be at ease and not have her jump on them

Thank you all so much for any help!

Kimberly...the pulling I do recommend the front clip harness, like the gentle leader easy walk harness, it is awkward at first because when your pup goes ahead of you it will instantly turn them around, but it does work.

The jumping, having a solid sit and stay does wonders, until then have her leashed when in the house, standard one, not the harness. or get a drag leash, have it on her, and as soon as she starts to jump step on the leash, or only allow enough slack where she can not jump, the process of the jump wit no slack will end up being the correction.

Hope that helps and Aria is lovely.

Renee, Thank you so much!! I haven't tried leaving her leashed and just stepping on it. That sounds like a good idea!

As for the gentle leader, would this be a permanent replacement for her harness now? Or is this just a training tool that will eventually lead to her being able to walk without it?

I appreciate the help!

No problem, happy to help....some dogs you can switch over to a standard harness, and some you wont. I believe, imo, that a strong foundation on the training and walks, you would be able to go back to the standard harness when she matures some, say at a year or so.

I appreciate it!! Thank you so much!!!

I was having tbe same problem. Thanks!

TommyTango, I bought the harness she recommended and holy cow!!! My puppy is walking wonderfully with it on and is beginning to walk better on just a normal collar and leash. We take her for short tiny walks on just a collar and leash and just make her sit if she pulls. The training is breezing by!! Carry treats

Kimberly and Tommy...glad I could help. I don't know why, because it is not like me at all, haha, but I didn't elaborate on a few key things to work on, that will help with jumping and eventual use with a standard leash if a harness is not what you always will want to use.....the stepping on leash is a great help for sure, but you can add an additional item to your training, that is the place command. So once she greets whomever, (btw, the stepping on the leash thing needs to include a command like "off" meaning don't jump, and have a firm sit and stay, teach shake as her greeting, this will eventually lead into not having to use the leash), now it's time for "place" command. Pick a spot where you want her to be and teach place after her greet, she should eventually need to have a lay down and stay in her place, or if for a short duration a sit and stay until released. Eventually "Aria place" should do it. make sure as you said lots of treats, or the eventual no treats and good girl, pat on head or side. I use hand signs as well, not necessary if you can figure out 2 different commands for lay down and one for sit in her place. For my puppy it has been "Sofie place" and she sits and stays, if I say "Sofie place" and point down to the ground it means lay down and stay.

With transitioning to a standard leash, once she is successfully walks loose leash on the no pull, your idea on sitting when she pulls can be used with the standard leash. It will require short distances, if she pulls sit, if she gets excited turn towards a different direction and then sit, so she is no longer distracted. This is a form of teaching focus on you. You can teach "watch me" when ever she looks up to you when you use that command praise or treat. Eventually she will have a good focus on you and the walks will be a pleasant experience.

Lastly, prior to all walks use threshold manners, she must sit and wait until you tell her she can go out, this will calm her down rather than amp her up pre walk. This is to be used at the door before going in as well.

Take this in bits and pieces, work on small things and work your way up. A calm dog is a dog everyone wants to meet. My 8 month old is not perfect on this as well, so have patience. Be consistent, do it the same way every time. Always praise, gradually work the good girl pat on the back vs treats, never use no. If you have to be negative use uh uh and show what you are asking, and then praise. Using positive training builds a wonderful relationship of trust and respect, you'll have a wonderful bond when she reaches about a year old. Teaching these things now, creates the dog you want her to be, a calm, loving, happy dog. My older girl makes me smile when we go places, she automatically will sit for strangers to pet her, I don't need to say a thing, she loves the attention and knows if she is calm she will get the attention. Good luck and give updates!!

Renee

My husky is 8 months and he still likes to jump on strangers because he loves people. I pull him back and say no jump. He doesn't jump all the time but when he does happen, I correct him right away. As far as the pulling goes, well, that's Huskies!! Mine pulls like crazy sometimes even though he wears a harness. I heard the easy walk harness works wonders. Mine runs off a leash everyday so I haven't invested in one yet. When they start to pull hard, I turn direction and walk the other way. Eventually they get the hint. Also when mine starts really pulling, I pull out a treat, distract him, make him sit and stay calm for a few seconds before continuing. Keep in mind she's only 5 months so going out is very exciting for her!

I'm actually training my puppy now as well in terms of greeting new people/dogs politely. She lunges and jumps a bit, but what makes it worse is when other people disregard your wishes and still coddle her when she's not calm. This is driving me up the wall! How have others handled this? Also @Aria1115 how is your girl doing now with greeting people? How long does it usually take for them to be entirely calm or is it a pretty long process? I'd love to take her to events where there will be a lot of people but I want to make sure she can handle public greetings first.

Alesandra wrote:

but what makes it worse is when other people disregard your wishes and still coddle her when she's not calm. This is driving me up the wall! How have others handled this?

We had/have this issue. It's really annoying especially when people are like its OK, she's so cute! Luckily Gabby is a fairly small dog but I feel like if she was any bigger people would hate us. All I can say to help is if people are coming over to you house, put her on a leash. And do not let anyone touch her until shes calm. Same thing with meeting people on walks. If she refuses to calm down. Tell the people that want to pet her, sorry she is not behaving.

Nya is a year old now, and we're still having trouble with pulling. We've used regular harnesses to no avail, the "tree stump" method, and the stop and turning around method. We've talked about getting into e-collar training, but if this Gentle Leader harness works, that would be awesome. I'm off to go buy one now.

Did you guys use the Easy Walk harness or the Gentle Leader over their mouth? I forgot to ask to clarify.

Annie, I suggested the easy walk.

Thanks! I'll have to wait until I get home tonight to measure her, but I have high hopes!

You're welcome, the people who have used the easy walk said it is awkward at first, because if they pull it turns them around, once the dog is familiar, they no longer pull. So good luck, and give updates, everyone who has tried it found success.

Thanks for the great advice guys, these are two areas that we are working on still ( Kira is 8-9 months now). Sometimes she walks great, others not so much - we do the whole stopping/turning around thing which works to an extent but we will give this Easy walk a go for sure, it looks great.

One issue we do have is her excitement to get to other dogs/humans. She generally does this little crouch thing towards dogs as if she is staying hidden ( even though generally the other dog is about 5 metres away in clear sight haha) and then lunges. She has been socialized throughout a few lots of puppy school and many other dogs at dog parks etc, she is very friendly with them but loves to lunge towards them/try get to them. I can make her sit fine and wait but as soon as I say okay to move or walk any direction she lunges again. I dont mind as much for other dogs (obviously still working on this) but when there are other people walking towards me and shes doing it - it makes her look scary! She is treat oriented normally but it doesn't seem to work in this situation. This behavior is similar at home with guests (again I can make her wait/then the lunge on release). I will take on this advice though and welcome to anymore.

Another thing she does, it seems a really weird one. I walk her every day before work for about 30 minutes and she only ever does this in the morning Iv'e found ( never on afternoons/night time walks). Basically at some point through the walk ( I can't pin point any pattern though) - she just starts jumping up at me/biting her lead/playing tug of war etc. It normally only lasts about  a minute or two then she carries on as per normal - its like she chucks a tantrum. I have tried turning my back and ignoring her ( bu I am worried shes playing 'tug of war' with the lead and I am 'encouraging' this), I have tried firm no and pulling of the lead ( but this doesn't seem to work either plain ignores me/ thinks i am playing)  and I have also tried to carry on walking and ignoring the behavior ( see above ).

Its not a major pain point but its something I obviously would like to iron out! Anyone seen something similar/have any suggestions?

Like I said, there is no real pattern with where/when - I walk a different path every morning, it seems to be randomly throughout the walk at different times although I am guessing that its when she thinks we are heading home - thats all I can put it down to? As my sister who goes to uni lives with my partner and I she isn't left alone for a work day or anything  - obviously I do leave so I personally am gone for about 8 hours but she has other company ( generally). Its very strange. I also tried walking past my house so she doesn't think we are always going home whenever we head in a certain direction but that's not been any help either.

Very strange!

Sam, as far as the lunging goes inside and outside when meeting people or dogs, use the short leash program, haha, I think I mentioned above, but will relay how it works. Always have a leash on pup in house, so you are consistently doing the same thing in and out. Place her next to you in a sit and stay, and have the person greet her, the person can have a treat so as to encourage a positive experience. If she is the type to continue jumping after a greeting either put her in a place command, see above, or look online type in place command, or crate her, if you use the crate. Outside it is more difficult, but shorten leash so she can not jump nor lunge. Put her in the sit and stay, and have the person greet, or if a dog greet closely, let them sniff, but do not allow enough slack on leash to allow jumping, lunging. If you feel her lunging and jumping is reactive or aggressive, then it is time to either teach the ignore or go back to obedience training so she is reintroduced to other dogs with a proper trainer to assess her reactions. Ignore is to gain focus solely on you, the turn around and walk another direction is a start for this, but in the process you want to teach ignore or watch me, to start, have he sit and stay away from the distraction, and say "watch me" when she looks at you reward her. Eventually, in a sit and stay with a dog or human, say watch me, this puts her focus on you and not her distraction, in order to keep her calm, reward when she does it right, and slowly use verbal rewards and less treats. You can do the down or sit stay, if for example just a person you want to talk to, and she has had her greeting, you will want to ignore her, keep her in the sit/down stay, chat with the person, and after you are done, do a "let's go" and continue on. The basis of all of this is to teach calmness, ignoring her teaches her to remain calm, and that fun things happen when she is calm. Keeping yourself calm, reflects on to her, so if you are nonchalant about things, she will be too. If you get anxious, she will be anxious.

The other issue, since it's first thing in the morning, she has excess energy from sleeping. I would, if you can squeeze it in, have a short play session with her prior to your walk, this gets her slightly tired, and more focused on the walk. If this isn't doable, then bring a tug type toy on your walk, and when she gets amped up, play a quick tug session, then resume the walk, eventually she will level off on her hyperness, she is a puppy still, so she just has tons of energy, that she needs to release, very typical. You can also take her for a walk, and you carry the tugs so she sees it, but when she acts up, give her an uh uh, and once you are back home play a quick tugs game with her as a reward for walking good, use positive praise, "yes" "good girl". Hope that helps you a little more.

Renee- Thanks for taking the time for the response, I appreciate it. We will keep working on the points with short lease. My only 'concern' here is if the dog/human is walking away from us or in other directions /we aren't going to meet - do I just make her sit and wait until they have walked away ? Just so I understand the message I am trying to get across. She will sit fine in this scenario , its when I try carry on moving she then jumps/etc again - she does get over it and carry on but still...

Thanks for the second part - I actually never thought it being her getting over excited/having a bundle of energy - its a great point! I have to say we have been pretty lucky with her in almost all aspects - sometimes I do forget she is still a puppy!

Thanks again!

This isn't really advice per say, I'm more relating experiences and how they worked themselves out, and I'm only addressing the "weird" thing she does on walks, haha. My boy Kohdi does this, only the jumping and the biting the leash are seperate, he doesn't do it at the same time. My previous boy Malukhai did it too, and that's where I noticed a pattern, with him atleast. With Malukhai, when we would cross a intersection, he would pull on the leash. Like you, I didn't want to encourage it, and anything I did could be sensed by him, to be "I'm playing with him now"...it didn't take long for me to notice though that the majority of the time he did it, he stopped once we got through the intersection. In *my* mind, it was possible he was nervous at the intersection (all the cars and stuff) but I guess it can also be interpreted in many other ways, like for instance, maybe he didn't wanna go that way, lol. In any event, these walks were 5 miles long so he was atleast slightly tired, haha, so I really don't know how much of it has to do with it being pent up energy, although it could be just being wound up which is kinda the same thing. In any event, I did allow it, I did "play back" (giving a few tugs here and there) because I knew by then it wasn't going further and since I don't speak dog, I did feel he was trying to tell me something. As I mentioned, Kohdi does this too...and I've allowed it, played back, and after maybe a minute, he stops, on his own. Now I know it's not necessarily a good thing I've handled it this way, it also never turned into something bad (by luck? Maybe) but having these huskies all my life, they don't have human minds, meaning they don't think like we do, everything they do, is some sort of communication, and unfortunately, we can't always understand it. One thing I'd like to point out...when someone walks with me, like my mom for example, I let them/her, walk Kohdi ...more than a few times, they have been in front of me and Kohdi has done the stepped up speed thing and trying to get the leash, so I observed it...I noticed as my mom walked him, the leash was loose, and since it always happened going down hill, I was seeing the loose leash, kinda smacking up against him with each step, not hard of course, but maybe it gets irritating! LOLOL so he wants it to stop! and yeah, him grabbing for the leash has in fact stopped it.

Good luck to you in all you mentioned...they are very typical husky "problems".

Thanks Jimmy..

Some great points there as well, now you mention it I have noticed the lead kind of flicking her at times (when shes walking well) - so this also might be factor too, as its almost as if the leads is trying to play with her! I'll take this into account as well ( or at least try monitor and see if this relates ).

Thanks guys.

Sam, I think Jimmy gave you some wonderful insight. As far as the lunging after a dog/human passes, I really think if you can maintain focus, the watch me command may be beneficial. I also think as she matures more she will grow out of it, it's the excitement. Miya, my husky was about her age when she learned not to jump/lunge, and Sofie at 11 months old mysteriously got it 2 weekends ago, lol. They all learn at various speeds, so it's all about practice, and what you expect from your pup when she is a dog. Interestingly enough, I always have suggested focus from pup on you, and when I got frustrated with Sofie I went in search of gsd idea's and learned the watch me command, I had taught Miya watch them, and she uses that as her focus, and Sofie it's watch me, lol. Funny derp heads. I think the watch me command, settles them, maybe not long amounts of time, but it does calm them enough to proceed onto what you want to do next. I did see the training pic you posted and I really think the watch me command will work for you, when she is sitting, point to your eyes and say watch me, when she does treat. I got so excited tonight, because I have been using watch me with Sofie for months, and eh, she will do it, but it is a fleeting moment, I will say she has a gsd body with a husky brain, lmao, tonight she her water bowl was empty, normally she bombards me while I am pouring, tonight I said Sofie watch me(she was already sitting), and she watched me fill it before she went to drink YAY!!!!! For real it's the little things, lol, but for me it was a huge victory!!!! Sorry, rambling, but wanted to share, it truly takes a while for puppies to be adults, hang in there, be consistent, and celebrate when you achieve even the smallest of goals, it will fall into place

Thank you all for some great tips and advice, our Harlow is 4 months old we have been battling the biting, jumping and pulling on lead. She currently tries to jump at people walking past and is taking longer to train than the biting or lead pulling. We keep her on a short lead whilst walking and when she starts to pull we instantly stop. We also reward her when she is walking with a short loose lead. She knows the command "look" and find this is great to help refocus her on us but that's not always consistent!

Peter, welcome to the forum, have patience, and be consistent, it will eventually click for your pup. have you tried a low value treat when she does look? That way you reinforce the command and make it more consistent, if you do, then it's all about patience. Harlow is a lovely pup!

Thanks Renee, I might start using a lower value treat, but it's hard to tell what is considered low value she loves all treats