How can I entertain my dog on a leash at home before training?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Jogging with her would be a good option. Other things you could consider include letting her run around at the dog park, playing fetch, having her spend time at a doggy day care with other dogs of a similar age. This will also improve with time as she is really young now. This will get better with time though those activities can help in the meantime. Good luck!

If your dogs are not off-leashed trained then I recommend not taking them off the leashes. You can hire a trainer to see if they can train your dogs to become off leash trained. They would be the best ones to help you. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Great question. I recommend taking them out to potty first thing. Then feed them when you eat breakfast. Let them rest at least a half hour to digest their food then take them for a walk. My dogs have access to a fenced yard all day but they love their morning and evening walks to check out what going on in the neighborhood. Let them rest when you get home. As far as training goes general obedience training helps with manners, makes them easier to walk and better companions. Taking a group obedience class is fun and you would get to work one on one. When you work on sit, down, stay, and heel at home you will make more progress working with one dog at a time with the other one not in the training area. They can play outside and inside during the day. Then I recommend another walk late afternoon or early evening. I’d feed them dinner before you eat and keep them inside and calm while digesting their food. Enjoying time with them inside during the evening is good, then one last trip outside to potty before bed. Dogs and people both love a daily routine so adjust this to fit in with your personal schedule and activities. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your dogs.

When going to the dog park, I recommend that as soon as she starts to pull, immediately turn around and go away from the dog park for at least 10 steps, then you can turn back and try again. When she starts to pull, once again turn around and take 10 steps away. Give positive reinforcement with treats when she walks by your side where she is supposed to. The goal is to teach her she will get to the park faster if she doesn't pull. Blowing leaves are often a big trigger, and dogs want to chase them. This can be harder to directly train for because the wind is unpredictable. One thing you can do is give Sie a command to look at you. This can be "look", or "Sie", or another word you choose. She should look at you, and not at the treat. She only gets the treat when she looks at you. But if she can learn to stop what she is doing and look at you and away from whatever she finds interesting, this can help with many issues. Then on windy days, you can ask her to sit as the leaves blow by, and stay focused on you. Any training issue requires time and dedication to fix. Be patient and consistent, and over time it should improve. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I understand your concern. If you are able to walk him at least 4 times a day then he should be ok. You could consider taking him to the dog park as well and just letting him run as that would also help tremendously. That honestly should be enough for exercise and he could be happy at a smaller apartment as long as he continues to be exercised like that. Good luck and have a great day! I think he will be ok.

I agree with you that spending the majority of the time caged is not a good way for your seven dogs to live. If you are too busy to walk or play with them and they are spending most of their time cages the best thing (and most fair thing for the dogs) is to try to find them a different home. Seven dogs are a lot to care for so if you found good homes for some of them, then you'd have more quality time to spend with the others. There may be rescue groups in your area that can help you find a good home for your dogs where they can get the attention they deserve. Until you are able to re-home them I recommend trying to take them out and play with them as much as possible. Good luck and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It sounds like you have been doing some one on one training and small groups, and that has been going well. If that is the case, I suppose I would try adding one dog at a time, and not moving to more dogs until the behavior is controlled. If 2 or 3 is going well, then add a 4th, and change who that 4th dog is. Perhaps you will find that there is one particular dog that is the instigator, and you can work more one on one with that dog. Make sure you are telling them what TO do (i.e. sit, lay down, stay, etc.) instead of what NOT to do. Give them a job, and reward them for doing that job. Have patience, and keep working at it! I hope that helps.