nightmare walk today...

[Mewzard]

Oka is now 6.5months (where did that go?!) and is shaping into a pretty good dog

As a background she walks really well on a lead, 90% of the time doesn't pull except when she sees another dog...she then pulls like mad and gets super excited. I just stop and wait for her to quit bouncing then walk on - thats fine; she's young and it'll come out in the wash (i hope). We have noticed that she is very "alert" when out, sometimes if you touch her side she'll whip her head round like to bite but then realises at the last second that it's me.

Today my OH and i thought it would be good to go for a walk, Us, the kids and Oka. We admittedly haven't walked Oka with the kids too much, it's hard to train loose lead and stop the youngest kid one wandering off or getting her to wait while we sort Oka out. I've probably walked her with them 4 or 5 times.
So we set off myself infront with Oka, kids behind with OH. She's ok, a little pully as she's excited but calms down and walks nice. Then the kids runout in front (thats fine) and there it all goes down hill. Oka pulls and pulls and pulls. I do my usual; stop then Oka works out to go forward i stand next to mum, then we set off again. Except this time it was 'here', by my side 2 steps pull, and repeat, repeat, repeat.
I switch off with OH becuase we came to a steep hill and Oka was yanking my arm so hard. I walk to the kids who were in front and OMG, Oka starts whining and screaming and jumping up at OH. She barked at horses she normally ignores as my daughter went near them.
When she was infront with one of us she wouldn't pull as much but would look behind as if to check we were still following.
Long story short she was a bloody nightmare for the entire walk but the biscuit was taken at the last 600m meters that took me about 45mins to walk and she was whining loudly and i couldn't take a step with the lead loose. Everytime OH and the kids got out of sight she went crazy and i couldn't get her attention.

My reading of the situation is that she isn't totally comfortable being out and then got into a panic that there were more of us out and she can't keep an eye on us all.
What should we do? Walk her with all of us more?

[Kev&Kel]

hello mate, im no expert at this and learning myself, no dout you will get some great advice on this. but the way i see is that oka is in front of your kids, so she thinks she's above them in the pack. secondly when they run off ahead towards the horses oka see's them as a threat and wants to protect your family... i dont understand why she barked at your OH. and as i said better advice will be on hand. as well as advice to cure the problem. good luck.

[Tedsmum]

Sounds very familiar to me.
A big part of the GSD character is to herd and protect the family. This means that they get very excited and anxious when they are not able to get to and monitor all family members.
My dog is just the same. When he is walked by either of us he is very good on the lead, if we go out together we have to make sure we are always together. If my OH crosses the road before me or if I go into a public loo or shop, he screams his head off until we are back together again.
When we are out it is best if I go in front with the dog as he will pull like a train.
I don't know what the answer is really, your pup is very young and excitable so this behaviour is bound to be worse at the moment. I would try to keep her calm before a walk and stay in front until you get to your destination where she can be off lead. You will then see that she probably spends all her time running from one person to another and checking they are all ok.
If my OH and I separate in the field, Ted will run from one to the other and if he gets tired he lies down mid point between us!

She's a baby. You haven't trained her enough yet / properly to know how to behave on the lead with other distractions (children). Too much stimulation for her, she's probably like most GSDs and wanted to be up front, ahead with her pack. They don't like it when the pack's apart as they're a herding breed afterall.

Have you tried turning and going in the opposite direction when she does the pulling?

Train her to walk on a loose lead first with no distractions so she's good with that before going on more stimulating walks with your family, and not too long, so she can handle it.

[Stuart]

I do think that many Shepherds can be like this, they are herding dogs and do like to keep all `their charges` in sight,.. I know that if one of us was to go out of sight on a walk the dogs would react in a simular way, its down to training, and if Oka hasnt experienced this before then I would worry, he simply hasnt experienced it before.

She is still a very young dog, try not to do all the training yourself, go out more often as a family, and as she gets trained he will get better

[Mewzard]

Thanks! I did think that it was probably the herding/protecting and more of us to watch making her anxious. Now my question is; if i let her walk in front with myself or DP, is she being reinforced to think she has to protect us?

She walks really well when it's just one of us (or on the odd occasion we get to do it, the 2 of us) - i can hold the lead between a finger and thumb and the lead is loose...it's not she didn't know how to walk nicely with distractions (doesn't bat an eyelid at buses, prams, people, cars, bikes, horses, tractors etc going past) - it really was the kids. I think more short walks with the kids are in order.

I did the walking backwards thing as a little pup but she never 'got it' she thought it was a game and would get excited. So i used the method that we were taught at pup class. to stand still, lure them back to your side,treat, keep thier attention with a treat and then walk and treat using your 'cue'. Works only though if you can get her attention

Originally Posted by Mewzard

Thanks! I did think that it was probably the herding/protecting and more of us to watch making her anxious. Now my question is; if i let her walk in front with myself or DP, is she being reinforced to think she has to protect us?

She walks really well when it's just one of us (or on the odd occasion we get to do it, the 2 of us) - i can hold the lead between a finger and thumb and the lead is loose...it's not she didn't know how to walk nicely with distractions (doesn't bat an eyelid at buses, prams, people, cars, bikes, horses, tractors etc going past) - it really was the kids. I think more short walks with the kids are in order.

I did the walking backwards thing as a little pup but she never 'got it' she thought it was a game and would get excited. So i used the method that we were taught at pup class. to stand still, lure them back to your side,treat, keep thier attention with a treat and then walk and treat using your 'cue'. Works only though if you can get her attention

I'm no expert but I don't think a dog walking in front of you means it wants to protect you, just that it wants to be ahead? Sheps will often walk to the lead's length, as long as its a loose lead that's fine for me. I'll say Close if I want them nearer to me. If I'm walking mine alone at night they'll stay closer to me; I think that's more for protection. Look at the dog's body language too while walking; ears forward (alert) or to the side (more relaxed). You could try a 180 degree direction change if it pulls, and when the dog's close praise or treat, rather than walking backwards if it thinks its a game.