After reading one of the posts, I decided to finally admit that our Huskies have absolutley no manners! Leash, house, nada.....Let me clarify and say that on their own, all are good Huskies and walk pretty well, and are well-behaved in the house. However, when all are together, it gets insane! It seems to be our boy, Nanuk, who gets things started 90% of the time. The girls can be playing together just fine, or just chilling out on the floor, and Nanuk will come up and start nibbling on one of them, nosing them. ESPECIALLY when one of them is laying on the couch next to me or Tommy. Nanuk can be next to me, and if Isis climbs up next to Tommy, Nanuk decides HE wants to be next to Tommy, and will just bug the Hell out of her until she gets down. Never any animosity, just acting like a 10-year-old kid. (An "I'm not touching you" kind of thing)
As for all three walking together...NOT! They scrap, tug, get tangled and we get frustrated and just stop trying. We end up taking them on their own.
Again, on their own, all are pretty well-behaved. They sit, lie down and walk very well. It is just when all together that things go horribly wrong! I know it has to be what we are doing (or not doing). Any advice will be helpful. And please, be kind. I have chastised and humbled myself here, and admitting we have done something wrong is the first step, right?

First off you haven't done anything wrong so stop beating yourself up, you just need to get started on the training before you say it's impossible. Icon and Ecko walk great together but all of their respective leash habits were established on their own. It helps a lot to just have a general "calm down" command. It will be hard to begin with but you will be so proud of them:) I would start maybe by reinforcing calm behavior MAJORLY! Then make sure your verbal command you attach to that behavior is super easy to understand, mine is just calm:) but it may take a while. Just to be thorough I would research more techniques but that has worked fine for me. I hope that helps, and keep your chin up you have to start somewhere!

Sometimes, I feel like the stressed Mom we've all seen at the store, Baby crying, kids running all over the store, with some old bat giving her the evil eye with the look that says "control your brats!!"
Part of me never wants them to lose their absolute zaniness, as it can bring such great joy, while the other part of me wants to scream! The biggest problem is that when they see the leash, they absolutely FREAK! I have tried the part where if they act up, you just take the leash off and don't go. I have tried not letting them see the leash, and boy, that worked well. NOT! I have tried walking one way, & when they tug, turning in a totally different direction. We have tried everything ever suggested.
Nanuk actually came with free training classes when we adopted him. We were told to bring him early and let him run in the dogpark, so he would be calmer. The trainer (who trains German Shepards for the local ploice dept.) WOULD NOT believe that he'd been there for an hour, running around. She stopped and told us to let him run & we'd try again after. So, more running for Nook-Nook. Then we tried again, with the same result. He would not listen, the chicken she had for reinforcement, he wouldn't take, even tho we hadn't fed him, as she also requested. I think he has a canine form of ADHD, seriously!

Just be consistent, do not just try for a few days, what they are doing is fun for them and it may take a while for you to convince them that doing what you want is more fun. It is not impossible, it may be very hard but you just need to stick to it. It takes a dog 3 to 4 weeks to develop a habit and that with consistent compliance... So just a few things to keep in mind. Try calming yourself down too. Of mom is stressed out they pick up on that and it is just as horrible for them as it is you.

So when you walk them and try to do all 3 how are you holding them? does Tommy take 2 and you hold 1 or the other way around? Jack was a bad puller and like I said we are on a pinch collar with him and Sierra does not pull as bad as he does, but she still pulls. when my husband and I walk our 2 we each hold one, when I walk them myself I have one in each hand and get good and untwisting myself when one stops and the other goes and a leash ends up behind me. what about getting one of the Y leash things that keep them closer to each other and then they will not tangle up the leashes, maybe do the 2 girls on it? it did not work for us as Jack had to pee on everything but Sierra hardly pees so it might work for the girls. and as far as eddy goes he is just special and has some way of dealing with his pack that I don't think many could do. I know he might have something's to add though. and do not give up and it is never too late to try. we are here to help you out

Ok, question: When we go to get them leashed up, if they go beserk, do we just put the leashes away? Then do we come back in a few minutes and try again? Do we start small, as in get them leashed up, calmed down (if possible) then start out on a short walk? What is proper procedure?

We have tried all 3 twice. The first time, I had Mika & Tommy had Nookie & Sisi, one in each hand. The two of them tangled, scrapped and we turned around and went back home. The second time, we put Sisi & Mika together, with me holding them, and it did seem to get better. I have thought about the Y style leash. Might consider it again....

We have avoided the pinch collar, as everyone seems to frown upon them so. I think Nookie & Sisi would both benefit from it. Should we really try that? Input please.....

The collar is something you should read a lot about before committing to. It is my tool of choice, but my objective is to eliminate it within a month or two. When used properly, you will never exert the force on the dog. Many people have aversions to them, the people out there like me don't discuss it much on the internet because of the misconceptions. Praise and reward are still bigger components of the training than the tool being used.

The leash frenzy is easy. Just start bringing the leashes out at random times and leaving them on the floor. It's going to take some time depending on how conditioned they are to freaking out right now. The more you can make the leashes a non-event, the better.

My foundation for everything with these dogs is to get the run out. I've said it before and I will likely say a few hundred more times. You get the run out of the system and everything else gets exponentially easier.

I just did it. Didn't think about one at a time or what if this or that happens. But I also have the advantage of being able to physically stop their combined momentum. Not everyone has that. When two of them would start fighting, I just kept going. Dragging the tussle behind me until the need to keep up made them stop. Sorry I'm not much help, my method was developed out of necessity.

Thanks so much Eddie (You are Eddy, right? I haven't learned everyone's names yet.)
I know the collar is used only as a tool, not a permanant solution. I just have never spoken to anyone who has actually used it before. We have seriously thought that Nanuk would benefit from the pinch collar. Isis I think would only need to wear it a few times, as she is a fast learner and anxious to please. When you say you do not exert the force on the collar, do you mean that you let the dog figure out for his or her self that tugging doesn't feel good, and they learn themselves not to tug?

I have learned too that running them makes life & learning so much easier. We have actually hooked Nookie up to a recumbant bike, with Tommy riding and me leading Nanuk. He loves the run, and pulling the extra weight of Tommy tuckers him out. Mind you when I say run, for me it's the run I am capable of, and Nook is only at a trot!

Very good advice on the leashes. It seems so simple really. And as you have obviously picked up upon, they are indeed conditioned to go into a frenzy upon seeing the leash. Our fault, I know.

When I am asking the "when & how", my thought centers on NOT supporting the inappropriate behavior, but I know they need their exercise. So, I am afraid that by taking them for the walk, even tho they are bonkers, I am encouraging the very behavior I do not want. I have walked Nanuk & Isis together on my own, and you know, thinking on it, I wanted to take them out, Tommy was dawdling, so I just did it. And it seems that it worked, and Tommy & the neighbor could not believe how well it all went! Something for us to consider....I find myself in an awkward position, feeling I am a better "pack leader", yet not wanting Tommy to feel his toes are being stepped on! LOL!

Thanks for all of the advice. I am going to discuss it with Tommy, and I will keep you all posted. All of the advice makes so much sense! I want nothing more that to be able to walk them proudly. I don't want to "control them", just be in control of them. Thanks again!

I will say we have not "worked" on leash training as much as I would like and jack will pull on the prong till he does not like the feel and he backs off I do not pull it back on him. when we do leash time I make them both sit to put the leash on and if they do not sit then they go back on the wall or I wait till they calm down and we put them on, Jack newest trick is to jump on the sofa and lay and put his head up for me to put the collar on him its really cute. I will say that I am also the "pack leader" Ken knows it but will not say it. I have also found with our 2 that the speed you leave the house in gets carried on the whole walk so we try to start off on a slower pace and we have been working on healing at every crosswalk and they cannot move till we say cross and it has been working out well so mixing training into the walk is working for us as well next will be on not pulling as they are getting the idea they are learning on the walks, hell this only took us a year to get at so I say start small and it all works its way up.

Any luck on the leash walking? anything go really wrong yet? any update....

Any New news On The Walking ?

I guess I only have something to say when it's a complaint!
Things are going along nicely! Nanuk is still the one who gives the most tension on the leash, but things are going great!
I actually told a friend about putting the leash at the front of the harness, and now she is able to walk her beagle nicely too!
I did post on this subject in another post, when I was able to walk them all together for the first time. I had forgotten all about this particualr post that I had done!