This is exactly what I am dealing with in my 8 month old golden. Thanks for clarifying the expectations of this age group as I felt like I was failing with his wiggles and distraction compared to other dogs I meet that are older.
My dog is 9 months, he's a carolina dog and it doesn't help I live in the city but whenever I walk my dog he is just everywhere. Walking my dog is not fun at all, just need to continue training rinse and repeat.
I just took on a rescue, might be 8 or 9 months. From this I think he's 8! No previous leash training that I can see, he had no clue. Now after two days short sessions he at least looks at me when I stop, but if I say 'good boy' he sits for a treat! Expects it every time. Head down sniffing Sooo much, don't his own thing. I'm really encouraged with this video that we will get somewhere in a few weeks. Gosh is hard on the arms though as he's quite strong, a lab mix.
Thank you for confirming loose leash training for 3 to 4 month olds. This was actually the reason why I searched. My puppy is currently 3 months and pulls and I wondered when I should start training.
So glad I watched this. I realised I may have been pushing my 5 month old too much. She can do loose leash but she breaks out of it much like the puppy in your video and sniffs A LOT. She will practically walk with her nose against the ground in front of me. I didn’t really think about what’s it like in her mind and instead expected what an adult dog could accomplish. I guess I was over worried that if I let her continue the behaviours it would be harder to correct later. I will keep reinforcing like you did and instead be less strict.
My new Golden puppy comes home from the breeder next week. For the past couple months I've immersed myself in training videos and am amused at all the different methods. In my opinion yours is the best and seems the most effective and will be my guide. Thanks for helping me better understand dogs and how we owners can mold them into the best companions they can be. For their sake as well as for us parents.
I'd like to add that, for young puppies, tons of play with owner can be foundational. Certain games contain the core of all later obedience so it's all fun and intentional at the same time. Larry Krohn has great puppy-play videos; I'm a fan of Joel Beckman for training, and of Larry too. My rescue is horribly reactive and it has taken me on intense internet searches for answers...
Very timely for me….I pick up my new re-homed 8 month old Golden Retriever tomorrow. I’ve had three retrievers over 30 year; two from a pup and my last that I re-homed at one year (she died aged 13 at Christmas). All have walked well……eventually!! So I’m looking forward to using your methods with a new dog, I’m pretty sure I will be able to do better this time round. You’ve helped me understand how a dogs brain works. Absolutely the BEST dog trainer on RU-vid BIG THANK YOU 🦮👍🏼
Thanks for making this video. Been watching your loose leash walking videos and been applying to my puppy. But now I know to go easier on my 5 month husky.
This works - brilliant video! I've been watching all your leash reactivity videos and I'm so happy I came across this one for puppies. Our Aussie is 8-1/2 months old and now I get it. Patience is key, and it's ok to use gentle leash corrections. She responded amazingly well! The "leave it" command is great. I didn't know how to get her to stop smelling, licking and trying to eat everything. Yesterday she ate a big apple leaf before I could stop her, lol! Today I repeatedly used "leave it" with a slight leash correction and by the end of our session she began correcting herself. Thanks for these great videos. My only suggestion would be to mention in your leash reactivity videos that you should watch THIS video first if you have a puppy - (and under what age?). 😄 🐶
Thank you!!! I was expecting too much from my 7-month-old and it really helped when u explained the behaviors by the month like that! Your method works wonderfully with my 9-yr-old dog!! 🐾❤️
Thanks for this video! This makes me feel better about how my 8 month old is and makes me realize he’s actually really good and on track. I thought I was being too slack but looks like I’m doing exactly what he can handle.
"Enough of the wiggly-worm-ness." I've got a 7 month old golden who cannot go on walks still due to "wiggly-worm-ness," overexcitement, and distractibilty. Treats can make him crazy, too. Thanks for advice on how to address this age and temperament!!
Totally loving all your many videos on loose leash training. My dog is 11 months and out of control in certain situations till I used your method. Makes total sense I’m sure I did this with my last dog he had total recall could walk him anywhere and take him camping without a leash but he passed away at 12 and it’s been a while since I had a puppy all this positive training is good for basic puppy stuff but when you have a big smart wilful Swiss Shepard puppy and getting towards sixty it’s difficult, we are on the same page now and he is much calmer both of us are enjoying our daily walks now. Thank you so much.
This is great! I agree that the treats isn't the way the world works! My 8 month old kelpie is amazing with treats at home but out in the real world it's a complete different story! I've been training her like this lately and it's great! Glad to know with time she will get better! I've subscribed.. keep it up legend! From Australia 🤙
Am watching these videos again and again for help. Almost 3yr old English springer. Recall and off leash is great, on leash a nightmare. I gave up when young cos was so bad I hated walking her. When off she never runs off, always checks in with me and recall is perfect. Made walks enjoyable. Now I have a puppy and soon will need to walk 2 dogs so I need to get ES sorted. 😩
This guy saved me so much headacke. Im glad people like this still exist. Its similar in psychotherapy. Im trying to become one. I see people seeing therapists that do exactly like all these trainners. They just list generic bs that doesnt work.
One of the biggest reasons why I respect & follow your training methodology is because you don’t focus on treats to be the main motivator for pups/dogs that are learning. They don’t need it! And let’s be honest, it really adds up cost-wise/carrying them around all the time can be obnoxious.
Thank you, I've just found your videos recently but they make so much sense. I've got a foster dog at the mo who I think I need to approach like this as he's extremely hyped up constantly
I watched so many of your videos, I started with my Akita around 2-3 months and he was great. Only pulled when I sat him down for being resource aggressive or trying to get into things while we’re walking. He’s 4 months now and he seems so disciplined when I walk him. So seeing this video now makes me think I started too early.
Love your intensity towards all of this. You've helped me in the past week to take a step back with my pup, and honestly focus on some common sense corrections that I wasn't doing before. At the beginning, I wasn't listening to my own instinct often enough. I tend to connect very easily with all dogs though, so that approach of listening to your gut may not be wise for everyone.
I am currently training my 5 and a half months year old she is doing well I go she knows so many tricks already she is still young so I don’t expect perfection from her yet but she knows the trick. She is also learning not pulling on a leash.
She knows sit shake spin down roll over and is currently knows paws up and give a hug still working on those other two. She is learning not to jump on people and not to pull when walking. She is a fast learner for being only 5 and a half months old
Aaah my pup is 7 months and she’s already doing so well with this method! But this gives me a peace of mind to be a bit more lenient and not having her perfect. :))
Thanks, Joel. I've been worrying that my corrections with our 5-mth-old Dobie weren't landing, but with a little care and softly applying your method, he's beginning to note changes in direction, paying more attention occasionally, etc. He's still somewhere between inquisitive, aloof and fearful, with occasional overconfidence! We see the dog he's going to be and we love him for it. Would be interested in your methods for training to be less fearful walking alongside traffic. It's our boy's kryptonite at the moment. Keep doing what you do: good job.
You nailed it, sadly even my clients or otherwise, their ego's cannot accept the truth you or I provide. You cannot reward simply for everything the dog must have experience, exercise & encouragement of good behavior once the tasks are completed and then the reward is a cooperation on the leash of what is expected. If you ask me, there is an overuse of eye contact for Kona at home without direction, which leads to alot of looking around-ness and issues stem from that.
I started using your method (a little too strictly I think) at 5 months and it's made a world of difference. I'm backing off a little at the moment to help him build more confidence, strengthen our bond, and to let him explore. He's almost 6 months so my rule is as long as he isn't stopping completely while we walk, is on my left, and doesn't pull its okay. Does this seem like a good approach?
Man. Wish I had seen this earlier. Just got a rescue pup from the humane society about one month ago. He is roughly 5 months old. Very smart and eager to please dog but I have been a major stickler on walks, with many many corrections. But yeah. He hasn’t really seemed to connect the dots or generalize past a day. I will try to be more gentle going forward. He just is constantly smelling and aware of all sounds and I am in an urban city environment. Walks are difficult. Would you say just let them smell and pull, but reinforce for attention and/or loose leash?
That "dude" at 8:35 is so relatable. I have a 9 month old right now and his behavior swings between plain awful to behaving like a trained dog in seconds. Just on/off constantly like this video
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I have a 5 month old goldendoodle. She is doing much better on leash and listens to me at home and parks using your techniques but pulls like crazy at puppy school. She just wants to play with the other puppies and ignores my commands there. What do you recommend for collars and techniques for these situations?
Ive rehomed a 3yr old Rottweiler who pulled like a train...tried all the treat based training and she still ignored me completely! Came across your training video and applied it yesterday on a flat collar and for the majority of her walk she was amazing! Still a lot of work to do but she was the most responsive ive ever seen. I had been using a head collar for some control as she lunges after cars and of course cats and squirrels...it would be great to see how i can apply your methods in these situations as i dont feel i could handle her on a flat collar at the moment if these distractions and triggers arose. Thank you so much!
@@m.z.593 thank you for your help😊 The problem i have is that some cars she is totally fine with and once in a while she takes me by surprise and will lunge after a car (going quite slow, not noisy) or a cat will suddenly be round the corner and will take off. She loads up sometimes and i can get the leash check in to break her concentration but sometimes even that doesnt work. I do try getting her to sit with me between her and the car as it passes and if she stays calm shes rewarded. Getting her to look at me or actually to sit on some occassions can be challenging, shes in fight or flight mode, But like i say its hit n miss what cars she reacts to and a busy road really stress's her out! So we are currently working in a quieter area where cars come by every now and then x
One leash-related issue rarely discussed is the young dog or pup that pulls backward, not forward.. A variation of this behaviour is when the dog simply collapses. Big breeds with mass and muscle can be , um, problematic. Would these issues be video-worthy, Mr. Beckman?
Awesome as always. Anyway you can show us how you'd treat a much smaller breed with Leash reactivity. I assume the correction timing are the same but with less force when it comes to a Mini Schnauzer for eg?
Would the stop and pull corrections work on a dog with a harness? We don't use collars currently because we've read that big pullers (which our dog can be) can hurt themselves when we hold them back and they pull.
Advice please! 🥰 My pup is 4mths old now, and working on some leash training. I’d like to teach him to eventually walk good on my left side, but for times he’s allowed to explore, (walking through the woods for example) to have freedom to smell around and do what dogs do. Will this confuse him? Or how to teach him the difference of what’s expected during certain situations, and more freedom during other situations? Would having freedom when he’s on my right side be too confusing for him?
It’s my belief to let puppy’s be puppies and kids be kids. Slowly ramp up the serious training starting at about 6m while not getting too serious till 1yr.
I was able to free-run my lab puppy on our fenced acreage and a dirt road. I started with name/treat 100's of times the first weeks (run off/come back), then ONLY treating on the left side (waiting till she was behind me or turning so she would come into heel position), then repeated "Millie heel" as we walked a few steps, then dragging a leash from her harness heeling longer, then me holding the leash alternaying herl and ok (sniff). What do you think? ru-vid.comyKD4LUZXL_A?feature=share
I do the get out calmly out the door Everytime but if something excites him mid walk I gotta sit on a bench for half an hour before I can get him to behave again Somedays he walks like an angel somedays i think he's possessed
10 months in a few days Jack Russel Aussie shepherd mix It's never too awful to walk him But some days it's just so nice that going back to annoying is well... Annoying
I just adopted a 2yo Australian cattle dog that has been in a pound her whole life. She’s a very difficult dog to train so should I start her from puppy level or the strictness of an adult. (She’s below puppy level of training)
I have a similar situation with my 2 yo Siberian Husky/German Shepherd mix as well. He's been in and out of shelters but no one has taken any time to teach him how to properly walk on a leash. I was wondering the same thing. 🤔
How do you take a 5 month old dog on a walk if you can't correct the pulling? We have a 3 1/2 y.o. Black Lab that is trained. We've recently gotten a English Cream Retriever/Rough Collie mix that's now 5 months old. (both are females) We have an acre of property so we bring the puppy out on a long leash and she and the Lab chase and retrieve tennis balls together and the puppy stays with us when playing. I'm starting leash train her - but - puppy brain kicks in and she's all over the place when trying to walk her. If you can't correct her when she's so young, then aren't you setting the precedent that its OK to constantly pull? Better question is - how do you start to leash train a 4 - 5 month old puppy?
My golden is 7 months old he gets frustrated if I pull him too many times and starts biting and grabbing/biting the leash or nipping at my hands how do I stop that?
Hey! I got a 1.5yr and I'm seeing some clear improvements after using your methods. Still a work in progress though. I'm allowing my dog to be on either side of me in 360 degrees, as long as he doesn't hit the end of the leash. Do you think that's a substantial issue? I kinda want to let him smell around a little bit as his walks is his main source of stimulation.
Don’t know if you’ll see this but I have a 4.5 month old puppy that is a big time puller. How should I navigate this? Should I utilize the treat method and reward him when he stays close? Or should I let him pull until he gets to 9 months and then utilize this method?
I'm from India.. Our lab is 1year old... He does 90% good walk with my husband.. But with me, it is very tough.. Being in Indian streets there are many many distractions like cows, goats, cats, number of humans...etc. sometimes he suddenly plunges on someone... What can be done brother? We are continuously watching your videos now.. Should I follow any particular method?
I have a 2 yr old golden that has tracheal issue from pulling on her flat collar and choking ( mostly at daycare and walking when people come up to her)... I can’t pop a collar with her and she now wears a harness that restrains more at legs verse neck. Suggestions? We have an collar but she can’t use at daycare
My 20 week old Lab pup is able to walk heeling with auto sitting when I stop during our street walks. She gets 1-2 corrections at the very beginning when she is most hyper sometimes. She checks back at me frequently. She has been doing this consistently now for a while. It took a lot of time and practice to get her to this point. Should I let her do more free walking or keep with the heeling? She is not even close to 8 months, is there any negative to her learning so quick and young ?? Using your stop and pull is what put her into almost 100% heeling!! I used to pull as I walked and she would ignore it, thanks for the tip!!
Great videos but I never ever see a dog pancake on the ground when you try to walk them. That's what I would love to see. In fact, bring in a client, show us how they walk/pancake and then take over! Now, that would be great to see.
Is there any difference in training if you have a GSD? What do you think of keeping a puppy tied to your leg so you can keep an eye on him? Keeping a puppy in kennel when you can’t keep an eye on him? Without the puppy tied to you?
Do you have any advice for a 9 month old dog who doesn't like the leash and when I put it on he mopes around? I try calling him (which he's decent at coming to me when he's not on a leash) but he won't move. It's been a few weeks we've been trying to adjust him to showing him the leash is good but he doesn't care. He was a shelter dog and never was socialized with people before I got him a couple months ago
Just discovered you and love your videos. Is there anyway you could do one on taking the dog to the vet. My Rottweiler is really a sweetheart. But he’s very scared of the vet and the last visit he tried to bite the vet as he put the ‘vet leash’ on. First he tried to get away, did the lip licking, but the vet keep going in. I personally think the vet could have been less abrupt since he knows my dog is a scaredy cat from the last visit. He came in really fast and quick and didn’t even say ‘hey Zeus or anything’. I know he probably shouldn’t have to and my dog did get corrected straight away but here in France they euthanise a lot of dogs for stuff like this. He was muzzled. After this visit I noticed he now doesn’t like when people he doesn’t know come in for the pat on the head and reacts by jumping up. I watched your video with the bulldog and the collar touching. Do I do that?
I'm new to your channel and I'm curious I have a Lab-Pit-Mastiff that's about 4 month's old and she's big! We've started training and she's doing really good but she pulls really hard on the leash to the point it hurts. So how do I leash train her with her being so young?
Thank you for your videos, they are really informative. If the loose leach method is only fully effective from 9 months should I just let them pull etc when we go on walks while they are younger or maybe not go for walks until they are older?
I had that question too, and I couldn't find an answer to it so to prevent the pulling I socialized my puppy with his environment taking him to the places in the car like instead of walking to the park I'll take him there with the car and then just have his attention for a moment before playing with him and then when he was much more tired practiced like 5 minutes a basic heeling...... and when taking him to other places like not the park I used a long lead so even when walking in front of me he wasn't pulling and from time to time I'll call him to practice recall and again at the end practice a basic heeling for a few minutes.... he's know 8 months and we are heeling inside the house, the backyard and in front of my house this last one being the most difficult level for him to concentrate
thanks for the video. I have an 8 month old Samoyed. In one of your videos, you recommended the easywalk harness which I bought and is pretty good. but in most of your videos for loose leash walking, you use a regular collar. should I use a collar or the easywalk? I notice he pulls a lot less with the easywalk.
What to do with my 4 months shiba ! He is pulling enormously. He wants to run and cahrges and pulls very hard. If i stop walking, he choocks. He bites the line and entangled it around his own body and gets all panicky and grumbles. If i don’t want him to charge to another dog to play, i need to hold the leash and he choocks. Every time, it breaks my hearth. I am scared of walking with him now and i know he loves it. He is super active and only way to calm is is to stop walking but if he pulls, he choocks. Please help! I am using fresh chicken that i cooked mjyself as a treat. I let him sniff and check but the more he sniffs, the more he is getting excited. He loves it. But every time i stop, he continues and choocks. Please help.
I have a Boerboel that walks behind me on the leash. I correct by snapping the leash and calling him. He will catch up and even lead. But go right back to lagging behind. How concerned should I be, with him lagging behind on the walks? He's a big boy, but only 6 months.
I rescued a 6 month dogo atgentino from being out down the farmer way!!, how can I get her used to a leash she is so scared of the city she had no clue about what a leash is and just get scared, how can I fix this, she not aggressive yet but fear leads to that, im.more worried towards others and dogs.
You're commenting on an old video, you won't get much feedback here. She's young enough to get used to city life. Your job is being her safety and comfort, she can't learn while in flight mode. r/dogtraining is a good source for methods.
My rescue is a husky/pit I’ll mix, the shelter says she is 2 years old but she acts just like Kona! Very wiggly, always hyper, extremely stimulate on walks, constantly scanning and pulling..we’ve been making progress steadily but she she is never really “calm” on walks. Is this normal in high energy breeds? How do I teach calmness?
I posted this earlier on another video of his. I have a 10-11 month old Husky/Pit. The pulling and sweeping motion was his signature on walks. Please read: "@Caio oca I taught my dog to walk on a loose leash *in a single day* using Mr. Beckman's method! He is is a Husky/Pit and a puller extroardinaire. Sometimes when he was wearing the prong collar he would lunge so hard I was afraid that he would hurt himself (not my correction- his lunge). In the video where I learned this Beckman said something like "you don't need a prong collar or an Ecollar or a head collar." So I dropped the prong collar as he said and, with a simple flat collar, taught my dog loose leash walking in one session! It is a joy to walk him now whereas before I always wondered which of the restraining devices was bound to fail first. Sometimes I would walk him with two collars (prong and flat) and two leashes just in case. No more! I now use one flat collar and one leash. Period. The corrections with the flat collar, as I understand it, are lateral not vertical. So the pressure applied when you pop the leash is to the sides of the neck. Maybe this person is talking about 'popping' vertically which could damage the windpipe. But Beckman makes it clear in his video how to do it (lightly and laterally). At least that's what I learned from his video. I am telling everyone I know about this brilliant method and I thanked Beckman personally. I was two seconds from purchasing an Ecollar when I discovered this method. I actually plan to take my dog to his place for an further eval when I get a chance."
You have to reprogram his mind. Your pooch doesn't have a pack mentality that's why he's venturing out by himself leaving you behind. Here's a trick that is 100% effective to get you results. When your dog is all bouncy and pulling just stop. Don't walk. Don't feed him treats. Don't let him sniff the ground. Just stop and be calm until he stops pulling. Give a gentle tug on the leash and say, "no" if he's too excited and starts to sniff, jump or pull. Be boring until he loses his excitement. Now here's the trick.... the moment he's calm ( time is important) start walking again for a few seconds (five seconds)then immediately stop, give him a cue like "go" or "go nuts" and then let him venture. Only let him venture out if he's not pulling while walking for those five seconds. If he continues to pull while walking... stop and be calm all over again. Never let him venture out while you're walking. Never. He should always venture out when the pack stops walking and after you've given a cue for him to venture. Once he gets better increase your walking time before letting him venture. He'll eventually learn that leaving the pack has negative effects and walking with the pack has positive effects.
We've been trying the leash reactivity method (collar) for the past week and my 8 week old Golden Retriever puppy is not responding and trying to smell everything. I do let her smell for a bit and then try to continue walking while giving corrections and "butt pops" when she tugs to go smell. I'm worried she may get desensitized to corrections or is she too young and I'm being too strict?
Oh my goodness. My boy is only 5 months. I am expecting far too much from him at this point. I really need to be more patient. And I will be. I just don't want to be setting him up with bad habits.
Bad day today with 1.5 year reactive male border collie, was all going well, big improvements since using leash corrections, then went to park, played frisbee for 15 mins and the walk home was a nightmare reacting to everyone. Had someone following us no amount of correcting worked he was so focused on the person behind us I literally had to drag him along before things went south. I think maybe it’s the playing frisbee that over stimulated him, what’s your thoughts? Can this escalate reactivity? It’ll be a shame if I have to stop the frisbee game as it’s his thing, he loves it.
I have that with my 2yrold GSD. He sees someone 250km away before they are out of bed lol. What I do is stop get him to sit and let the person go past. Even if he doesn’t sit he isn’t walking til he is walkable if you get my meaning. My thoughts are to Don’t stop the frisbee it’s the best and does release energy.
@@cynthiaegan3219 Yes I do the same thing, make him sit and wait, but I have progressed walking by people as long as I give correction, say no, then feed treats, which I’ve found boiled chicken works the best for me. But without treats he will lunge at the person and no amount of correction will work on its own. Regarding frisbee I will continue with it, it’s just I noticed more reactive behaviour probably because he’s highly stimulated. I’ve come a long way and made lots of progress but lots of work to do and hopefully one day I can walk without the concern of his reactive behaviour. It’s funny if the person comes and says hello to him everything is fine, it’s when they walk straight by or are just hanging around near by on the phone for example when things go wrong.
@@cynthiaegan3219 Yep cats are fun, and the latest for him is chasing squirrels. Oh and if someone decides to start running I need to tighten my grip.😂
@@m.z.593 yes that’s what I need to work on, he’s knows “finished”. I guess it’s all about finding a balance, will look at the link, thank you for the positive reply. He’s improving rapidly and I’m putting the work in everyday, he’s with me all day, I’m a gardener, so he’s my work buddy. Just be nice if he was more calm and relaxed. Patience I guess.
I had to come back to this video, THANK YOU! Your method works on my 3 month old dog, although for 2 minutes or 50 meters. But I keep repeating the method and those 2 minutes of walking are a blessing. Thank you! I was just about to kill thos little spawn of satan, he’s lucky he’s a cute goofball. Thank you man! Thank you!
Wonderfull, Im getting my staffordshire bull terrier puppy in 1week, biggest of the pack. nr 1 not scared of anything and the breeder said he was special personality wise. but definitely a confident little one :) You got any small tips for a headstrong puppy, becouse some are different mentality and personality vise. in advance Thanks alot :)
It is much better to teach the owners how. Dog can act one way with you, then aftr two days with their human family, it all goes out the window. How come we very rarely see you train their people?