My puppy sits down and won't walk on a leash and harness. Help!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Kodi. At only eight weeks of age, most puppies have no idea how to walk on a leash. It is a skill that takes time and practice to learn. Her behavior sounds every normal for her age. Ar this age, you can begin teaching her basic commands such as "sit" and "down". Continue to expose her to leash walks, but it will most likely take a month for her to start grasping the concept. Good luck!

A lot of puppies striggle with the concept of walking beside people at first, especially when a lead is introduced. If you have him on a lead this is likely the issue. What I usually find helps is getting him to follow you round a safe environment first such as your garden or home. You can do this on/off lead. Never ever pull him if he isnt walking as you will make him fear the lead. If yiu have a favourite toy or treats you can coax him to walk alongside you and praise him when he does. I would focus on this for a while befire trying to get him out into the world. When he is walking well in the garden try him on the street. He will likely take a bit if a back step so be prepared to work with him again. If he continues to plant his bum when you go outside he is likely scared of all the new things going on. Try not to force him, keep coaxing him and making it look fun outside and he will eventually realise it is ok. A friendly older dog can be a great help in guiding a young pup so you could borroe a family member or friend's dog to try and show him tbat outside is fine. It can be very frustrating with a pup, but persevere and eventually it will just click with him. Good luck!

Patience. To get her used to it, when you can keep an eye on her, hook it to her collar and let her drag it around the house. Every time you out it on her, give her a treat, lots of praise and show her lots of enthusiasm. Practice off leash in a puppy-safe, potty safe area and reward your pup for sitting. Give one treat for sitting and additional treats for remaining seated. Once you have her undivided attention, run the other way to incite a chase. Stop after 5-7 steps, before she catches up. When she gets to you, she sits and gets a reward. Now she has the idea that it’s fun to follow you. Next, repeat the same process with a lightweight leash attached to her flat collar so she gets used to the feel of the leash. Of course, make sure that she can’t get it snagged on anything or you’ll be adding an extra day or two to your training! After you’ve practiced that a couple of times you’re ready to hold the leash. In fact, you can often skip that leash dragging stage. Your pup is already used to following you when you sprint or head the other way. So, you can walk but with quick little steps so it looks like you are sprinting to get her to follow after you. Make sure that you keep the leash in a loose arc the entire time. Alternatively you can go for variation two. Walk to the end of the leash, but without letting the leash tighten. We want to avoid any pressure at first since pressure might scare her. When you get to the end, remain with your body facing forward while looking back at your puppy or face your body slightly sideways so you can see her more easily. Then lure her to you with a treat. Do this 3-6 times in a row or more until you can rapidly walk away and when you stop and lure she readily catches up to you when she sees the treat. Next, repeat the process but don’t show her the treat until after she catches up to you. Once she follows you 3-6 times, she will most likely start to walk with you as you begin to walk away.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Oscar. Young puppies will commonly have trouble adjusting to the leash. Be consistent and use positive reinforcement for him, lots of praise and treats. He will adjust, it will just take time and patience. You can also try different options such as a leash and collar versus a harness. You may consider enrolling him in puppy classes to build confidence so well. I hope this information helps!

This type of behavior can be really frustrating! If you aren't already doing so, try walking Kiba on a harness and leash rather than a collar and leash so you aren't needing to pull on his neck. If he is willing to walk for a treat, try teaching him a "watch me" command so that he learns to keep his eyes on you and will follow your lead. In the beginning, reward him with a small high value (small piece of low-sodium deli meat, chicken, etc.) treat every time he looks at you and walks with you on a leash. Once he starts responding to the commands, stop giving treats every time he listens and begin only rewarding intermittently. Hope this helps!

Training a new puppy can be hard work and I am going through this myself. Start by just leaving the collar on the puppy at first until she gets used to that. Next, attach a leash to the puppy, in the house and let her drag it around the house. Keep an eye on her at all times so she doesn't get snagged at all. Reward her with lots of praise and treats but do not hold the leash yet. Once she drags it around and runs around with it, start picking it up. Follow her around the house, tossing treats so she will get them. Do not pull her and do not try to make her go your way. Next, take this to the backyard and let her drag a leash there. Then start letting her walk around the back yard while you trail behind her holding the leash. LOTS of treats and praise for any forward motion. be patient! Try some squeeze cheese on a big plastic or wooden spoon to get her to move froward if needed. You can also get her used to a harness. For a puppy, or any dog, I recommend an easy on harness that the dog steps into and snaps over the back. For a small puppy, you could also use one that looks like a small vest as well. Use lots of treats and cheese to put the harness on so the puppy is not afraid and thinks the harness is good.

He's a puppy and just being bratty! You are doing well to have him walk on a loose leash most of the time. I would bring treats with you and when he starts this behavior don't pull on the harness just say 'let's go' and lure him forward with the treat. Give him the treat when he stands up and starts walking again. He will improve as he gets older. On your walks you can mix up walking with some 30 second trotting intervals to keep him interested and paying attention to you. You are doing a great job training, ignore this behavior, don't fight with him but give him an alternate behavior to perform instead and reward that. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Paxton.