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Leash walking help

Foxrider714

Notable member
So when I get hoke from work I play with Bruce and Brooke in the yard to get the energy out and then I will take one at a time for there walks.. Brooke is great stays right with me I have an E collar on and a leash just in case but never need to use any she just follows me.. Bruce is good always looking at me but I just don’t trust him so I still use the prong cause if he sees a squirrel or sometimes if another dog barks at him I wanna make my corrections.. but my problem with him is he likes to constantly scout the area and zigzag a lot until he gets towards the end of the walk when he gets a little more tired and I will keep going cause he is doing good but how can I stop the zigzagging and get him to stop scout in the area so much..
 
Let him know when it's okay to investigate on your terms but for actual heel training keep treats or a high value item on you so they focus on you and not the other things. Bruce should learn leash manners first and if he wants to zig on way, you zag the other way so he knows that he can't investigate every single thing he sees. Trust me, Phoeble is always looking for something along the way in our yard to put in her mouth so she is easily distracted.
 
I feel like he is just looking for something cause he knows heel and when in heel is fine but I don’t need him to heel the whole walk so I free him here and there but when he is free it’s like all he does is just wanna go back and forth lol
 
My first Dobe did figure 8s on walks. It's just a Doberman thing. Of course you choose what you want to accept. I do agree, though, that dogs need time to just be dogs on walks. Seems to me this scouting, as you call it, is him being a good watchdog, and maybe also being Doberobsessive.
 
I don't know how to make a "little bit" free walk. It's either free or heel. If the free sniff walk is pulling you, I'd correct for pulling but not for being free to sniff, if that makes sense. I would take some time, and the correction should be for dragging you around, not for being free to sniff.
 
I teach “fuss”, full attention at my side looking at me.
Next is “with me“ Walking next to me on my left side, no sniffing the ground but can look around. This is my transport position when walking thru the tracking field before the track starts.
Last is “Let’s Go”. This is for walks In The neighborhood on a flexy lead, the dog can sniff and explore in front and on either side of me but is not allowed to pull. My dogs always wear a prong except during competition. Some also wear an ecollar. People always ask about getting to the point that they don’t need to wear these collars. My answer is never, they will always wear them but I may not need to use them.
 
^^^ great answer, I have wondered about commands to help the dog know what is allowed & expected of them.
 
Ragnar knows:
Heel: By my left side
Close: Can meander around but not further than 6ft
If I give “free”- that allows him to do whatever he wants to do. I have to be careful of this.... for instance- look down at the 7th post Proofing the recall

If in a susceptible environment of distractions or temptations- he always has a prong and ECollar. I think he could do it but I don’t absolutely know it. And plus, asshat knows when the ECollar is not on him and more apt to push the boundaries. Maybe one day but it’s so hard to read him- black eyes, no tail, no expression. All it takes is one time from a “Doberman” for Karen to have the upper hand on me and that’s NOT going to happen.
 
I'm personally a huge proponent of crystal clear commands and expectations and signals. I don't even let my Dobe stand or walk by me left side unless he's on a heel. I know I'm a bit obsessive myself here, but boy especially with Oji, I need to do as much as I can.

So, on our walks, he is free to be an idiot 98% of the time, but when I give the command to heel he'd better snap to. By the way, this is a fun way to blow a mind or two.

That said, I have been able to also train the "Go slow" command in my Dobes thus far. They usually cannot achieve it until they are a bit older – maybe 3 - 4 years old. "Go slow" means they can walk however they want (except at my left side) but they must not create any tension – even slight – on the lead. This is an absolute lifesaver when walking down hills with poor traction. We use it a ton on hikes. It is really best achieved with an e-collar on (remember it took a lot of time and training first), otherwise I am issuing numerous nagging reminders which are training-killers.
 
This was a question we had for the longest time when we first got Kaiser. We used to mix structured walks and sniffing, but then learned that the walk is either for us, or it's for the dog. The neighborhood walks where he gets to sniff and mark, that's his own time to just do his own doggy thing. During this time, we do let him weave although it's easy to see why it's annoying - too bad dogs can't walk themselves lol.

Some great suggestions above! You can see from the variety of commands and actions that even walking a Doberman isn't simple :wacky:
 
Thank you all for your input.. I guess it’s not just me that feels this way.. I always put the prong and E collar on for my walks and he is good with my commands so when we walk in heel he stays at my left and is fixed on me and when I free him and let him just walk and be a dog it’s just annoying when he goes left right left right and like I said turning his head like is he looking for danger or somthing..he doesn’t go marking anything or doesn’t go sniffing the ground really would just like him to walk in a line lol guess I’ll just keep working at it he might just be happy we going for our walk cause then after it’s play time in the yard
 

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