LEAD TRAINING YOUR WESTIE

THE VERY FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DECIDE IS:

WHO WILL BE THE TRAINER AND WHO WILL BE THE TRAINEE?

To be successful in training, you will need to obtain and maintain Alpha status. One of you, hopefully, you, and not your puppy/dog, need to be in control at all times. Every one of the families that own one of our Westies have heard me say that fact many times. Even though you may find it difficult to take a dictator type control over you puppy's life, if you do, your four legged friend will surely love you all the more for it.

You see, in the world of the canine "Pack", there can not be but ONE LEADER! More than one trying to lead only causes confusion and disorder. We can even see this effect in our human world. We all need rules and someone to enforce them or we would have total chaos (although, I worry we are headed in that direction). This surely plays a large part in the life of your little friend who possibly is laying at your feet as you read this. He is placing his life and well-being in your hands and it is your responsibility to be the strong leader of his/her pack. When you prove you are worthy of his trust and exhibit solid, consistant leadership, you have created an environment of security and piece of mind for your Westie or any other dog for that matter.

To establish your role as ALPHA, you will need to be in control of just about every phase of his life. You will control:  When, where, what and how often he eats; when and where he sleeps; what areas of the house (if that is
a concern) he is able to roam freely; when he will take nice long walks with you; how long he stays out in his enclosed yard; when he get to go for rides in the car or pick-up (Westies love to go for rides); how much he vocalizes (barks -- this CAN be controlled with training); what toys he can play with and chew on and which items (your shoes, clothes, furniture, ect.) are off limits; and I'm sure you can think of other situations that will need some control. If, this much of my writing has caused your thinking wheels to begin turning, then my effort has not been wasted. You MUST be that STRONG LEADER! I can't emphasize that fact enough! He/she will love much more as his "Leader" than as his "Subject", no matter how difficult you feel it will be to preform.

Please, keep in mind, with every advance your puppy makes in his acceptance of your leadership and direction, he NEEDS your cheerful acknowledgement such as: Good boy/girl, the rubbing of body and ears and a SMALL (1/4" thick x 1/2" x 1/2") treat. The treat will really aid in reinforcing the "well done". Treats are ONLY for good accomplishments and then in SMALL quanties. They should never be given-out just for the heck of it. Many folks make their puppy/dog fat and unhealthy by giving to many treats to often.

NOTE:    The best treats are several you can make at home for pennies on the dollar. I'll be writing a page  on these soon, hopefully.

All commands must be given with a voice denoting authority. This does not mean you should sound harsh, but the sound of your voice must have the sound of "pay attention".

Now children, ladies and men with soft-spoken voices, your just going to have to "muster-up" a voice that makes that statement if you intend all this effort to pay off. You can't talk "sweetly" until AFTER you receive the desired response. Then, even I (Rodger), talk "sweet talk" that you wouldn't believe. I call it "baby talk" and when I'm showing love to one of our dogs, it spills out "like a bucket of water flooding the floor". "Baby Talk". It works great as part of any reward for accomplishments.

Now that we have the basic thoughts in motion, we'll move on to actual situations that will help you and your puppy/dog become a "well oiled" working machine.

1.   LEAD TRAINING

To begin lead training, with a young puppy that has never experienced a lead before, you will need to be well in control of your "motherly" emotions. That is to say, this stage will probably be the most taxing on your " I don't want to hurt him" thought waves. Actually, what you are about to read and preform, won't hurt your little one. He will just do his best to make you think "YOU ARE KILLING HIM". He'll probably jump, squeal, flip over and over, stand-fast and even gag some but keep going, be persistent, ignore ALL his shenanigans and when he finds it is better to accept the restraint of the lead than to fight it, he WILL settle-down and your training can move forward. Remember, a regular collar fitted so you can comfortably slip two fingers (side by side) between it and the puppy's neck is a proper fit and will never strangle him/her. When the collar pressure on the throat area of the neck bothers the pup to the point of being very uncomfortable, you will notice he will turn around and pull against the collar so the pressure is on the back of the neck. The back side (especially a Westie's) is strong muscle and bone, and can resist all the pulling the pup can do. It is virtually impossible for the pup to be injured with the collar pulling in this position unless you are severely jerking on the lead or his weight is constantly pulling (like hanging) for5 or more minutes. You may need to be tugging to the point that even causes the pup to tumble around for a split second but this will always be a PULL NOT A JERK! "PULL" is steady pressure. "JERK" is a forceful SNAP of the lead (the lead line passing from very slack to very tight causing the pup to literally be snapped out of place). NOW, THAT, WOULD BE CRUEL AND TOTALLY IMPROPER.

The first step is to pick an open area in an enclosed yard to work, put on the collar, attach the lead and move in front of the puppy. If he follows, fine but soon he will notice he is not free to go anywhere he wants and this is where the "bucking, jumping, flipping, squealing, even sounding as though you are killing him commences. Try to laugh at his antics and not think about his un-called for reactions. For this session, all you will want to do is hold on to the lead and let him do his thing, whatever that may be. Move with him as he moves about but do not attempt to "lead" him. If he goes into an area you don't want him to be, pick him up and carry him to an approved area. If he dosen't fight the restraint of the lead for a while, attempt to lead him just a little until he again acts-up. You need him to keep testing the lead for about 8-10 minutes. DO NOT PUSH THIS ALLOTED TIME.  8-10 minutes is enough "stress time" for a little one. Do this exercise twice per day until he becomes considerably more comfortable with it.

The next step is to urge him to come with you (on the lead) as you move about. Again you will see much of the same resistance that occured in the beginning. He is saying "why are you pulling me? I don't want this thing pulling on me!" Well, you will pull some on the lead, while verbally asking him to come with you, relax the pressure for a short moment and repeat the action and request. Continue this for 8-10 minutes in a session twice per day. Be aware, there will be strong resistance but you must keep going. There will be many times you will actually NEED to sort-of "drag the pup" 10 inches to a foot. This helps him to understand that he must go where the lead (actually you) directs him. Now, you don't want to be dragging your pup all over the place. What I mentioned above means now and then and for very short duration (1-2 seconds). If you don't make the movement of the lead superior to his wishes he will feel HE is in control of that lead and will never respect it or the one operating it. Remember, your dealing with that ALPHA thing.  Are you beginning to see how the ALPHA position constantly comes into play?

Keep working with this part of the training, in the fashion outlined above, until your pup shows no resistance to it and will follow you without balking.

Now that your puppy has discovered the lead is not going to kill him and he no longer fights it, the next step will be to begin working on the "SIT" command. We will return for more on general lead training later.

2.   SIT

This is surely the most important command of all. It's importance comes from the fact that every other command should have this one as a prerequisite. If your puppy/dog (none are too old to learn, as some think, it's just more difficult) needs to start at the beginning due to the lack of training, you'll need some of those treats, a quit place WITH NO DISTRACTIONS and about a half hour of your time twice per day for a while.

With a collar on you dog, lead attached and in your hand, have him stand facing you. When you have his attention (puppiesand even some older dogs have a very short attention span), give the command to "sit". Don't forget to use the "voice". While saying the command, raise the lead so as to gently but quickly lift the dog's head hopefully, bringing his eyes to meet yours (you are above him a foot or so). At the same time, use the other hand to gently push downward on his posterior until he is in a sitting position. He probably won't have any idea of what you want from him, but at this point that's fine. Now, if you happened to have obtained you puppy from La Terra Dios Ranch, he will have already had a considerable amount of sit, lead and potty training before he came to you. We start all this a around 5 to 6 weeks of age. Back to the training. Remove your hand as soon as you feel he is sitting properly. He may immediately rise but you will treat that split-second "sit" as if it were the best in the world and lavish praise all over him "like butter on bread". In addition to all this loving, offer ONE of those treats and a considerable amount of "baby talk". Within 90 seconds of the first "sit", repeat the process from start to finish. Now, repeat it again and again every 60-90 seconds 5-6 times.  DO NOT extend the lessons beyond 8-10 minutes. Puppies/dogs can lose their want to please if pushed to the point where they start thinking "I'm tired of this. Let's do something else".  Now is the time to stop the lessons and play with your dog. Just have fun for a while. Always attempt to end a session on a POSITIVE note.

This lesson should be repeated twice per day, every day, 5-6 times each session. Close repetition is needed to      concrete the response. Repeat this as many days (in the above pattern) as needed until all you have to do is say
"sit" and give a slight"up-tug" on the lead and down goes his butt in a fine "sit" you will be proud of. As he/she becomes quite proficient preforming this command, slowly start withdrawing the treats and increase the "love talk" and head rubbing. He won't like the loss of the treats very much at first but, be constant and soon, with enough loving, he'll be fine. Trust me, he will. Don't give in.

The "sit" command needs to precede every other command that you will ask your puppy/dog to preform through-out his/her life.

JUST A NOTE:   Young puppies, even though they may have "pottied" just prior to their lesson, will almost surely need to "potty" again as soon as the lesson is completed. Puppies under 6 months old need to potty about every half hour to 45 min. Between 6 months and one year, about every hour to hour and a half. After a year about every 2-3 hours. Some do better, some do don't.

     CONGRATULATIONS!         YOU HAVE JUST ACQUIRED

                              "ALPHA STATUS"

3.    WALKING ON A LEAD

While walking on a lead, he should ALWAYS walk on the same side of you. Normally, this is the left side. For competition events it is always the left side. The reason you will want to train him to ALWAYS walk on one side is that he will learn your movements and nearly, if not actually, be able to anticipate you moves. This is a very important feature, especially as we grow older. A dog that is all over the place may trip us and possibly cause grave injury. With work (I have done this for a pair of very dear friends of ours) a puppy can be taught NEVER to cross in front or behind when walking with a person and for two years now this training has held firm and with her owner's slight reminder now and then, this practice should remain for the dog's entire life. I wanted to make sure these older friends would never be injured or caught-up in the short or extending type lead.

A WELL TRAINED PUPPY/DOG IS A JOY TO TAKE ON NICE LONG WALKS BUT, YOU MUST TEACH THEM GOOD MANNERS WHICH INCLUDES NOT PULLING ON THE LEAD.

To teach the idea of only walking on one side of you really doesn't take all that much work. Now, if you want to teach (like I did) to never cross in front or behind that's a another matter which we won't go into here.

Your puppy now is respecting the lead very well. He has learned to sit before receiving his/her food, putting on his collar and /or lead and prior to any other command or tricks you may have taught without my help. Our next step will be to teach the "Walk only on one side" lesson.

With collar and lead in place, begin walking your pup down an obvious pathway such as a sidewalk. This walkway needs to be in an area that has little to no distractions . I understand, this may be take some searching on your part to find but, the more distractions, the harder it will be and the longer it will take to teach this lesson. All lessons need to be worked on where there is the least amount of distractions possible. Maybe you have a park that allows dogs and is mostly deserted at a certain time of the day. Don't forget to take plastic bags to pick-up after your pup when he makes a "deposit". Old plastic bread wrappers work great. Put your hand inside it , pick up the "leavings", turn the bag inside out, tie it off and find a trash can. Easy as pie. You don't really need that walkway if one is not available.  You can accomplish this lesson in you back yard.  It just helps to create a set boundry for your pup.

While slowly walking, with your puppy/dog on your left side, he will want to move out ahead of you and at a much later point this will be fine but, for now you will want him to understand the only place he is to walk is directly at you left side, about 12-14" from your left leg. With him being there, you will always know where he is and he will always know where you are. Later on, you will have to allow him to leave that position to sniff, pee and make a deposit but, (do you notice how there is always a "but"?) during training, hopefully he has had the opportunity to "take care of business" before you start the lessons. You will need to keep the lead quite short while working on this exercise. With the pup sitting at you left foot and your left hand hanging at your side, there should be about three to four inches slack in the lead. Use the command "walk" or "forward" to begin motion. As the two of you proceed, the pup will want to move out ahead, off to the side or cross in front or behind you. As soon as you feel and/or see this attempt, quickly use enough force on the lead to return the dog to the proper place at your side and at the same time, we use a sharp sounding "Ha!" to get his attention. Young puppies especially, will have a difficult time not wandering but, with work it will happen. This lesson should last for about 15-20 minutes at least once per day (twice per day is better). If, after working with your pup for several days, you find he is not getting the idea. Return him to your side, after he has veered off, and give the command to "sit". Have him hold that "sit" for about 5-8 seconds before moving forward again. Sometimes this helps to reinforce the "stay by my side" idea. With work and patients, in a short time, you will have a puppy that will make you proud to take for walks and you will feel great when other people notice your beautiful Westie and how well he/she is behaved.

Another part of lead training that you surely want to address is a condition we see daily when we get off this mountain and head into town or such. This condition is the dog "TAKING THE PERSON FOR A WALK". This will ALWAYS make any outing with you canine a hassle. We can't believe how many people are being dragged around by their dogs. Even smaller dogs! This should never be. Someone once stated to Joyce, while on a fund raising dog walk down in Coeur d' Alene, Id. (they were being pulled along by their dog) "Boy, Westies sure seem easy to walk. They don't pull like mine". Joyce replied, "no dog comes this way. You have to train them". How true that is. Yet many, many people don't and therefore can't ever really enjoy a nice walk with their dog. All you need to do, in most cases, to stop the pulling is each time the dog moves out ahead of you and "pulls", you have him stop, sit, and when YOU are ready to move forward again, give the "walk" command. Most dogs will find that if they pull, they will have to stop, sit and wait for a spell before being allowed to move forward again. Sometimes, especially with larger dogs that have never been taught all the procedures we have gone through here, will need considerably more training and some times harsher training to overcome this problem. The best thing is to start at the beginning and startoff properly with the foundation training we have layed-out herein. If you start when a puppy is young and set the proper guidelines, you'll never have the problems you see out there daily.

If you need to convince yourself to "muster-up" your need to be ALPHA and to follow through on training you puppy from the moment you receive him/her, just keep a close eye on all the people being dragged, wrapped up in leads, tripped and a bunch of other disrespectful things that go on out there and hopefully, you'll work with you Westie so YOU CAN BE THAT PROUD PERSON WALKING YOUR DOG AND YOU CAN SAY, " THEY DON'T COME THIS WAY".

We hope this information will be helpful,
Copyright Feb. 2008
by Rodger Morales
La Terra Dios Ranch