Hello I’m new my frenchie is 6months old and have been walking to heel training for over 3 months once or twice a day with chicken/cheese/ liver cake/dried sprats and cocktail sausages varied and sometimes he does this so well other times he doesn’t seam interested no matter what high value treat I’m using, if he sees a person he pulls terribly and if sees another dog all he’ll breaks lose and he barks like mad. Any ideas where I’m going wrong would be greatly appreciated.
Heel walking
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Rusty’s Owner
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Welcome!
I also have a Frenchie who used to act similar when passing other dogs(not always but most of the time barks and we think it’s because he was trying to be protective maybe but we were not 100% sure if that’s the reason or not). He doesn’t do this much anymore.
When I train him, I do it before he has a meal so he is hungry and more focused on the treats I have. I use freeze dried beef liver treats which are his favourite(he is very picky) .
I also use a “look” command that I taught all my dogs when they were pups, so when I say “look” he looks up at me and I give a treat. That is how I improved his behaviour on walks when I seen a dog or person that he was looking at ready to bark, I said “look” and he did and I praised him and said good boy with a treat.
It’s easy to teach the look command if you have a treat and are at home while teaching that command. I recommend doing it when he is hungry so he is more focused on treats.
For example a way to do it is ;
Have a treat and ask him to come to you and say look and wait for him to look up at you, then start doing this with your hands to your sides with the treats in them which he knows are in your hands and say look and when he looks up(not looking at the treats, only looks up at you) give a treat and praise him. Practice until he knows exactly what you want and then try it on walks when there is no distractions once he does good with that then try doing that when he sees a person or dog.
Keep us updated!
I also have a Frenchie who used to act similar when passing other dogs(not always but most of the time barks and we think it’s because he was trying to be protective maybe but we were not 100% sure if that’s the reason or not). He doesn’t do this much anymore.
When I train him, I do it before he has a meal so he is hungry and more focused on the treats I have. I use freeze dried beef liver treats which are his favourite(he is very picky) .
I also use a “look” command that I taught all my dogs when they were pups, so when I say “look” he looks up at me and I give a treat. That is how I improved his behaviour on walks when I seen a dog or person that he was looking at ready to bark, I said “look” and he did and I praised him and said good boy with a treat.
It’s easy to teach the look command if you have a treat and are at home while teaching that command. I recommend doing it when he is hungry so he is more focused on treats.
For example a way to do it is ;
Have a treat and ask him to come to you and say look and wait for him to look up at you, then start doing this with your hands to your sides with the treats in them which he knows are in your hands and say look and when he looks up(not looking at the treats, only looks up at you) give a treat and praise him. Practice until he knows exactly what you want and then try it on walks when there is no distractions once he does good with that then try doing that when he sees a person or dog.
Keep us updated!
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Thank you for your advice, when I walk him I walk him on the left with treats in my hand above him I’ll say ‘heel’ and he knows he has to walk next to me and get a treat when he’s doing well he can be so focused and continually look at me, when we practice in the garden he’s great and never takes his eyes off me but sometimes like he’s not bothered by what I say or treat I have will just pull, I might try find the treats you use see if that helps and will definitely try walking him before feeding him
Rusty’s Owner
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If you find that the single ingredient beef liver treats are his favourite I also recommend using them only for training so he doesn’t get tired of them. I know it can be so difficult to train the stubborn pups sometimes lol.
I always take my Frenchie everywhere pretty much if we go out and if someone wants to pet him or approach him I always ask them to give him a treat otherwise he will just bark at them, if they give him a treat he doesn’t bark and he is fine with them giving him pets. He gets very unsure of people and other dogs easy though so I find that helps if they can give him a treat.
If he likes bacon, you can try using that for treats as well, Rusty my frenchie goes crazy for beef liver and bacon too but it’s usually beef liver I have with me.
Keep us updated!
I always take my Frenchie everywhere pretty much if we go out and if someone wants to pet him or approach him I always ask them to give him a treat otherwise he will just bark at them, if they give him a treat he doesn’t bark and he is fine with them giving him pets. He gets very unsure of people and other dogs easy though so I find that helps if they can give him a treat.
If he likes bacon, you can try using that for treats as well, Rusty my frenchie goes crazy for beef liver and bacon too but it’s usually beef liver I have with me.
Keep us updated!
Rusty’s Owner
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Im sorry that it didn’t do much but that’s the only suggestions I have that have worked for me. Hopefully things get better soon with his behaviour on walks !
