I have a 14 week old Great Dane. He currently goes on 2 short walks a day (morning and night) for about 10 minutes. At first he was very nervous of traffic etc. and would at some points sit down and refuse to walk, after alot of coaxing and more time outside he's now almost the opposite.

Leaving the house is fine, he'll usually walk quite well, and he's not really fussed, but as soon as he knows he's getting near home he pulls like crazy. He goes to training sessions, and his trainer has said to get his attention with a food treat, recall, sit then carry on walking, but when he starts pulling he's not interested in anything else apart from getting where he wants to go, I can hold his favourite treats infront of his nose and he won't even look at it. I've tried just stopping, and he'll stop, but as soon as we start off again he's straight back pulling, he won't do anything else.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas which might improve it while he's still young and (sort of) small?

Training classes will be very helpful to you. Have a look at the APDT website for trainers near you. Good luck!

Do you think hes pulling because of excitement or nerves?  I would approach and train differently for each reaction.

Thank you, but there isn't anything local to us on that link, and he does already goes to training classes. He picks everything up well there, it's just when he knows he's going home, or wants to particularly get somewhere, he doesn't want to respond to anything else. His trainer also suggested a quick tug towards me, but he still just continues. It's not unbearable pulling/choking himself, but as he's going to be such a big dog, he could easily drag me along if he wanted to, so I want to rectify it now.

I think it may be both, there's usually traffic going past in the mornings and he's still a little wary of buses/lorries/very loud traffic, and is fine with cars now. But, even when the road is totally dead as soon as we get onto the road to the house he really strains to get there.

> his trainer has said to get his attention with a food treat, recall, sit then carry on walking

I can't see how that teaches pup not to pull, BUT, it's great that your trainer uses reward-based training :) It's also great that you are lead-training allready :)

Personally,  I swear by the 'tree' method.
Walk and as soon as the dog pulls, stand still, as soon as the lead becomes slack, reward with a treat (I also give a verbal of 'walking', so that can be used as a verbal reminder later) and carry on walking. REPEAT AS NEEDED.Granted, at first we never got any distance vey fast, but with a pup that is going to grow so big, lead-manners are VERY imortant.

Timing is really important, so is consistancy, you can't carry on walking while pup is pulling one time and stop the next time or pup only gets confused.

This method has been fantastic for Buster (English Mastiff). Having a giant breed like you, I know how important it feels to get on top of the lead-walking as soon as possible, as before long pup is going to be massive!

Buster LOVES to pull, however, unless there is a very exciting distration (dog withing slobbering distance!), he is brilliant on the lead. I am soooooo proud of being able to walk such a huge dog on a SLACK lead. WOW, I couldn't do that with my last dog (lab-cross). It's all down to consistancy.
Buster now can pull on command (great for a helping hand up slippery hills!) and will, 99.9% of the time, self-correct - if he feels the lead tighten, he'll slow down untill it's slack. All done by starting with the 'tree method'.

Another method is to turn in the opposite direction (it's a tad more invlolved than that), but I found that Buster would just sit down, not bothering to follow me, (he was wary of traffic & generally being outside to start with), so I soon dropped that method as it left us both feeling completely frustrated - not a good basis for training atall.

Oh, final thought!! If pup is more interested in a toy than a food treat, a reward of playing with that toy will be much more enticing/rewarding than food :)

> His trainer also suggested a quick tug towards me

Noooooo!!! Before long, your cute, gangly pup will be big & strong enough to tug you back in a flash!! Teach him how you want him to behave, enforce that with rewards and he'll WANT to do what you want him to :)

> But, even when the road is totally dead as soon as we get onto the road to the house he really strains to get there.

This could be for several reasons, it's too hard to tell without seeing him. He could be especially excited when going past the traffic as you have usually encouraged him with treats & verbal coaching, so you have, in effect taught him to be excited by traffic (I made the same mistake when getting Buster used to meeting strangers - I made it exciting so he thinks stranger= excitement ), or he could be in a rush to get past, or it could be something completely different!

To get him used to traffic, let him sit and watch the traffic at a place he isn't worried or excited (and of course, with you feeding him treats :) ), should help him make a CALM, positive association with traffic.

Thank you, I'll try the tree method in the morning! I'll also try spending more calm time around traffic and see if that improves his reactions. I just find it a little frustrating how hard it is to distract him once he gets head-strong, even when toys/treats are involved. It probably doesn't help that it's quite snowy and windy the past few days, which isn't making him want to stay out any longer than he has to.

> I just find it a little frustrating how hard it is to distract him once he gets head-strong

Don't try to distract him. Don't say anything untill he stops pulling. That way, it's much easier for him to make the distinction.

Just imagine...... you are silent, he's pulling.....you're standing still..... he stops pulling (eventually!) and at that instant you say "YAY!!!! GOOOOD BOY!!!!!" and give him a treat :)

Don't be frustrated, be calm. Also don't worry how silly you may look standing still like a plank! When pup is a fully grown Great Dane and passers by whisper to each other "wow, look at the size of that dog!! I wish my dog walked so nicely on a lead" - you'll be soooo glad you put all the hard work in early on :)

> It probably doesn't help that it's quite snowy and windy the past few days, which isn't making him want to stay out any longer than he has to.

Oh yes, plenty of extra fun & smells in the wind & snow :)

Great post by mastifflover, lots of very good advice.

Does he usually get fed after his walk?
In that case, maybe he's pulling not from anxiety,
but because he wants to get home to his grub.
My lot always get their "good night bisquits" after
their last walk at night.
Nothing will stop them on their way home, not even a cat will be of interest..... ;-)

Very helpful, thank you!

Not usually, he gets fed 8/12/4/8 roughly, and I try to avoid walking him an hour each side of meals. His trainer asked us to cut his meals down to 3 a day to get him more 'foody' for training sessions, but I've brought him back to 4 as for some reason he started getting a little constipated on 3 and it wasnt having the desired effect.

> I have a 14 week old Great Dane. He currently goes on 2 short walks a day (morning and night) for about 10 minutes.

At this age going out is more about introducing them to new things than exercise.  The difficulty with doing this near home is that you tread the same patch every day and going home will always be your pups focus on the way back.

Is it possible for you to drive somewhere different?  This way you can practise the 'good' walking without having to tackle the pulling too much yet.  It's all so much easier if your boy never learns to pull in the first place.

Dont forget you can practise lead walking in the garden too and round the house.  This has two advantages: one) it desensitises him to the 'lead = walk/excitement' mentality AND two) as you aren't going anywhere in particular he learns to walk to heel without too many other distractions.

Somewhere online is a good list of things to introduce your pup to, if you haven't already seen it do try and have a look for it.  Pups don't need much formal exercise but a trip to a car park, school, farm etc can pay dividends.  Let your lad just have a mosey about and he might soon feel much more relaxed about being out and willing to be tempted by treats.  Good luck :)

It does sound to me like he is nervous if he pulls to get HOME rather than to go out, and if he isn't taking food then -classic signs of nervousness.  I had this with two pups of mine. What eventually got them to stop pulling towards home was that we picked somewhere much nicer to walk, far less busy, with plenty of free running, so they really ENJOYED the walk. Now they don't want to go home instead. :)

Completely agree with Mastifflover, exactly how I train.  They have given a clear explanation on how to use the technique so I have nothing to add other than be prepared to stand still for as long as it takes, remember you decide when and where you go, not him.  Also do you know anyone with a soft laid back dog that can walk with you to act as reassurance and guide to your pup?  Size is irrelivant, its their character that is important.  You can get the best trainer in the world and they wouldn't be able to teach a dog how to behave as fast as a well mannered dog can.  I do alot of early training with an older dog present, and then when confidence is there take the older dog away to get focus fully on me.
It is fantastic that you already have a trainer, and that they train with reward based training!  But they may not be used to owning a giant breed, please dont cut his meals down.  Follow the diet sheet I hope the breeder provided, the quality, quantity and frequency of feeding for danes in their early months is key to their healthy development. 
Enjoy your Dane, I envy you so much!  It was my family breed, theres just something about them.  Unfortunately my current circumstances dont allow me to have a dane so I have had to downsize somewhat!

Thank you! Here's our (not so) litttle one: http://i47.tinypic.com/jqniwg.jpg ! I'm much happier now that he's back on his 4 meals. His trainer mixes around the lessons and some weeks they do group puppy walks around the town, through traffic/streets etc. and she said if there's a puppy which is particularly nervous they will have an older 'buddy' dog to walk with it.

We've just had our morning walk and I've realised that is it more (at least partly) down to nervousness. We live by the sea in the highlands, and our house is on the main road of our village (40mph) it's a regular bus route and there's normally lorries/vans going by in the mornings. He walked well around the rest of the 'block' but as soon as we got onto our road and the traffic went by he was pulling again. I tried the 'tree method' and he just looked worried and walked back over to me after about 20 seconds, so I think I'll save that for the excitement pulling (we get it near the park now he knows what it is).

Over the next week I'm gonna try and drive him to new places for his walks instead. I'm trying to think of a good way to introduce the traffic on our road to him better. I've thought about sitting in my car with him on the street with the window open. Standing/sitting isn't really possible at the minute as it's hailing/snowing every 5 minutes, and the cars will just spray slush at us! I thought I could also stand at the end of the driveway with him while everything goes by too.

> We've just had our morning walk and I've realised that is it more (at least partly) down to nervousness.

> tried the 'tree method' and he just looked worried and walked back over to me after about 20 seconds, so I think I'll save that for the excitement pulling (we get it near the park now he knows what it is).

Well done you for seeing that dealing with fear is different than standard training (ie, ditch the 'tree method' for pulling through fear) :)

> Over the next week I'm gonna try and drive him to new places for his walks instead

That sounds like a good idea :)

> I thought I could also stand at the end of the driveway with him while everything goes by too.

That's perfect, as long as he is relaxed at the end of the driveway, if not you can start closer to your house, or even in your doorway. Praise & treats for all wanted behaviour. If he does get spooked and pull to go back in, don't stop him, it's far less frigthening in the long run if they know they have the safety of retreating. It just means you have got too close to the traffic too quickly, so take your training back a step (ie closer to the house/further from the traffic).

Your pup is soooooooooo cute :-) I want one!

Fantastic advice mastifflover :) I wish I had posted when Mason was a nipper, could have done with that 'tree method' then! It is much harder to get them out of bad habits than instill good behaviour from the start!

and Becky, your pup is absolutely gorgeous! What a handsome boy :)

Bless him!  What a sweetie.
I have to say, you are alot further along in rearing a happy sociable dog than I think you realise.  You've had the ability to see that he is reacting through fear not excitement, and sense to cease using the tree method as it is inappropriate for nervous pulling.  You are assessing the situation by watching whats actually happening, and following through with common sense.  It may not sound like much, but a dose of common sense goes along way with dogs, something I have seen lacking time and time again!
With your boy I would definately find him a traffic wise friend.  Start on quieter roads, and build up to your own.  When he realises that the other dog doesn't react, his reactions will lessen.  Or he will be so engrossed in his new friend he wont even notice the traffic.  Sounds like you have a very good trainer, it wont be long before your boy realises buses aren't really evil.

If you have a large supermarket near you with a good sized car park you could take your pup to watch the traffic from your car. Hopefully most of the traffic in the car park will be going at a fairly slow speed, so less noise and slower movement, and if you pick a corner away from the more popular areas of the car park to begin with he can watch and experience the traffic from a comfortable distance. Once he is used to experiencing the traffic from a distance you can slowly move closer but maintain him within his comfort zone but remember this won't be achieved with one visit.

Supermarket carparks are also great places for him to see people of all "varieties" :-) When my older dog was a pup he was very scared of lorries and buses and I took him to sit with me on a footbridge which crossed a very busy road. He could see all that was going on but from a distance that he was comfortable with and this helped enormously.

Thank you all again! I'm going to take him to Tesco to watch the traffic go by, and also at a comfortable distance from the house. For his walk tonight I drove him to a toally different park and we just done some general training practice, and he was much more relaxed. He was just within watching distance of a quieter road and it didn't seem to bother it at all, so I'm going to carry on building up traffic at a comfortable pace for him, and fingers crossed over the we'll notice a big improvement! I'll also look into a 'buddy' dog for him, as I'm sure it'll do him the world of good to have someone to copy a little!

Thanks again to everything, you've been so helpful, it's really appreciated!

I am so happy that i read this matiff lover i am so greatful that you mentioned the tree method, i decided to try this with my 1 and half year old doberman and she has responded really well to it, i tried it the first time tonight and i am so pleased with her it was such an enjoyable walk so thankyou ever so much hopefully she keeps on progressing.
Rachel.

Well done on seeing that your dog was nervous and ditching the training at that particular moment - not everyone can do that, so it's great to read of someone who can.

The tree method is really good normally and is one that I sometimes use, too :)

Also, I agree that you need to basically desensitise your boy to the noises, this is exposing the dog to the "stimulus" (car, lorry etc) at a level he can cope with, and then gradually, as he relaxes, exposing at a slightly nearer position, and so on, always working at the dog's pace. And using food at the same time as the lorries etc appear (really tasty, special smelly food) can help a lot. If the dog is far enough away to start with, he won't, probably refuse the food. He will start to associate the lorries with something really nice, and this in turn alters his previously conditioned emotional reaction.

Lots of luck, and please do give us in update when you can.

Lindsay
x

Thanks again everyone. I've been driving him to somewhere where it's a little quieter and working on our lead skills, the tree method has been working very well and he knows to correct himself (most of the time!). The only time he really pulls now is if he sees another dog running around and wants to play. He's 16 weeks old today so I'm really happy with the progress he's making so far. With regards to traffic, I've been driving somewhere and parking near the road, then sitting and watching it go by with him. Apart from pricked ears ocassionally he seems to be getting alot more comfortable, although he's still a little nervy on our own road if there's lots of large vechiles going by, but he's definately improving!

Hi I have a 19 week old GSD cross Husky and a  Three and a half year old GSD,  Unforntunately when I had my GSD as a pup there were no local classes that started at a sensible time to take him to he has some issues but we are taking him to classes to get over them. 

With our pup he pulls on the lead and I am curious in more detail at what point do you stop and stand like a "tree" when you say when he starts pulling how far in front do you let him go? 
do you stop when he moves in front of you or when he is at the end of the lead?

we are using Gentle leaders on both dogs as recommended by the trainer.  our pup, as soon as we stop all he wants to do is get the gentle leader off. 
my GSD has got better but is still fearful of other dogs,  I am not sure what the best approach is, our trainer has suggested turning him away and getting his attention but he is not food or toy driven.  (until the new pup came along he would never eat his food in one go thankfully now he does) 

I know this is probably brought up time and again but any advice would be helpful.

> With our pup he pulls on the lead and I am curious in more detail at what point do you stop and stand like a "tree" when you say when he starts pulling how far in front do you let him go?

It doesn't matter how far in front of you the dog is, you stop stll the moment you feel tension on the lead. Obviously, the longer the lead you use, the further in front of you the dog will be & vice-versa. It's not about teaching walking to 'heel', just about not pulling whilst on a lead :)

You can also practice this at home, and in the garden.

> our pup, as soon as we stop all he wants to do is get the gentle leader off

did you build up a positive association with the gentle leader before using it on walks? ie, put it on in the house & reward dog (treats/praise/fuss), take it off, repeat several times a day. As dog is more relaxed about wearing it, increase length of time you leave it on for, also can put it on them just before feeding them thier meal and let them wear it while eating (if they are food motivated).
I did this with Buster to get him used to his halti for a week before he wore it on a walk and he's never tried to get his halti off :)