# Lead Training/Puppy Frustration!



## lildancngurl (Jan 13, 2013)

Hey Guys!

It's been a while since I've posted, although I'm lurking almost daily (You all are still the most awesome--I brag to my coworkers about this forum.)
My Ginny is 7.5 months now and is the most beautiful girl ever (and hyper!!). 

I would like advice regarding something that she's been giving us problems with for a while now--lead training. She has gotten a LOT better over the months, mind you, but there is one thing that doesn't seem to dwindle. That is her "attacks", I'll call them. She'll be doing so well on our walks for about 15 minutes/half an hour or so and all of the sudden, she'll grab the lead and start growling and barking and snapping at me, like an aggressive dog. It's always directly after my correcting her when she tries to take off running, like she's frustrated. It happens a couple of times during our walks and it scares the people who happen to be around us at the time. 

She gets plenty of outside off leash time in the back yard and she has play dates with her black lab boyfriend pretty often. She'll also get more playtime with other dogs as I'm almost done with training at the dog daycare that I work at, and I'll be bringing her with me as soon as that happens. We will also be getting her agility training in the near future. 

Has anyone experienced this before? Any advice you'd be willing to dish out? I'd VERY MUCH appreciate it as I would love to enjoy our walks, but I'm starting to dread taking her out for them every day.

A couple of things...
ONE: We invested in an easy walker harness and while it's helped with her pulling, her attacks still are plentiful. I've heard good things about the gentle leader--what do you guys think about that? I can get that amazingly cheap at my job if I need.

TWO: We did get her obedience classes for a while, but we pulled her out of them because she doesn't do well in a group setting. She gets too riled up and is too interested in the other dogs. The trainers did nothing about it--just made jokes about what vizslas are known for. We'll look into private sessions as we are able to afford them (They are expensive!!). Until then, we're doing the training ourselves and she's very good at every OTHER aspect of that training--except the lead.

I'm sorry about the length, but thank you so much for any help you can give!


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

We dealt with this quite a bit in the early stages - although it stopped around 6mo. We started taking a spray bottle with us on walks and as soon as we could anticipate the crazy come out, we'd squirt Watson twice and keep on walking. 

It's really up to you what you feel comfortable walking Ginny with. If you plan to eventually walk her using her collar, then I would start training with it asap. We used a harness for a while on walks, and although it made walking a bit easier at the time, it did nothing for loose leash walking with a collar. We've since stopped using a harness and are working hard on a loose leash walk at heel - it exhausts him but I can tell he's slowly getting it.


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## abatt (Jul 10, 2012)

I know exactly what you are talking about. Our Isaac just turned 1 year. He started with his attacks at about 5-6 months. For me it seemed like he had zoomies outside, where he got really excited about something and got this burst of energy and could not do anything about it while on the leash. But he is much better now and is able to control himself. He still has attacks once in a while, but not as intense and can stop quickly.

The thing that worked with Isaac is anticipation. If you know how it starts, you might be able to stop it before it happens. For us it was a gust of wind, getting excited about saying hi to another dog while on a leash, particular spots on our walk (still don't know why those exact spots), and always about 2-3 blocks from home.

For example, we will not let him stop and say hi to other dogs to avoid excitement, practice the heel command with treats and try to have his constant attention. If it gets really bad, practice basic obedience commands to get him focused and calm.

Our biggest mistake in the beginning was to try to hold him down, which made things even worse, we never did it again. Another thing, when he started jumping and biting on the leash, we would hold it really high, which actually encouraged more jumping. Our trainer pointed that out to me. Now, when Isaac starts biting on the leash, we will hold it right at the base and out of the way so that he cannot see it dangling in front of him. The ideal scenario is to make him lay down before or right when it starts, which we could never do. But sit command is now working great for us.

We tried the spray bottle, but it got him more wound up. He hated being sprayed, but would still try to attack the spray bottle.

Don't worry about it, she is a puppy and it does get better with time and training. We had plenty of people crossing the street after seeing him like this. Isaac came a long way from the crazy 5 month old puppy.


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

this, imo, is where the old adage "repetition and consistency" comes in. go for lots of walks on lead and just stop after a whistle toot, no prior warning, toot and stop and refuse to walk on until your dog is sat down and under control. I'd do this maybe 50 times each walk with Ruby and there's no way round it. it's a long slog and you've got to keep it up every walk for weeks and maybe months, no shortcuts. Eventually it should click to your dog exactly who is in control.


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

You hit it on the head when you tied her grabbing onto the leash after getting corrected as frustrated. Your pup is smart and when she doesn't understand/gets scolded she'll redirect and vent her frustration by grabbing onto the leash. I think one thing that may help is to switch mainly to positive reinforcement. Instead of focusing on when she does something wrong, focus on when she does things right. You're already doing it some, but don't put her in situations and ask her to do things where she is destined to fail. 
Obedience training should also really help you out. You have a high energy hunting dog. They need some direction and things to focus on. Training can be done in small increments (5-10 minutes) but should be done frequently. (multiple times a day if you can) Nail down the basic commands and move onto more advanced while still drilling the basics. The more she learns, the better she'll get.

I'd suggest you find a trainer that works for you. To me, a trainer that just jokes about Vizslas not doing well in groups instead of trying to find solutions is not a trainer I'd take my pup to. Several things that your trainer should/could have suggested in a group training setting include things such as giving more distance between dogs, using multiple types of treats to keep her interested during training, having you continue training during parts of the class where the trainer is just talking(to keep her attention on you, not the other dogs in the class), or use a peanut butter filled kong or mostly empty jar to focus your dogs attention while the trainer is talking.


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## lildancngurl (Jan 13, 2013)

Thank you so much for your replies, everyone! I appreciate all the help I can get.

We have been using treats, but perhaps not consistently enough. That will be worked on.


We'll start actively seeking some more training with her. And I'll try all of the suggestions you've mentioned..particularly the water bottle catches my attention as she responds quite well to it. Otherwise, I definitely need patience. I was unsure of whether or not my dog was the ONLY one to do this, it worried me. But you've all made me feel tons better.



Thanks again!


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Lildancngurl, you've had loads of great advice on the lead walking - may I offer advice about classes/group setting. 

We thought this when we started Nelly (7 months) at classes, for a while it could be a total stress (sometimes still can be!) but we persevered and I'm so glad we did, it really pays dividends and socialises her at the same time as stimulating her brain. We have almost mastered the focus on me regardless of distractions which would have been a lot more difficult had it not been for the classes - perfect setting for the training and quite an important aspect of training imo.

Good luck, Ginny is lovely


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## Angie NG (Jun 6, 2012)

Is there anywhere near you that has gundog trainers? The difference we have seen in Bella since she started training with one has been great, she was 1 last month so very much a puppy and is doing fab with weekly training. Would definately recommend a trainer that has worked with a gundog before


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## lildancngurl (Jan 13, 2013)

Nelly, thank you for that. We definitely do need to work on perseverance. Although, these trainers in particular I didn't like..so we're just searching for someone else.

And we do have gundog trainers here, but they cost an arm and a leg to get her trained with them so we are saving up to send her there!


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