by BARB J » Thu Oct 16, 2014 11:43 pm
Hi, Linsey,
I couldn't use any collar on my Brit that began to rub him raw, irritated him or gave him any pain, so we switched to a front harness. The pulling decreased a LOT. Specifically, we use the Freedom Harness. If you buy it directly from the website of the owner, rather than through Amazon or a dealer, they will replace or repair it once if chewed. Ours is just about ready to be sent in.
Other than that, it sounds like you are on the right track.
Some of the best advice we were given by our trainer was that walks really aren't that great of exercise for puppies, and to limit it to training sessions. So, until the extra distractions outside of backyard are more easily ignored, don't feel guilty keeping the walks short and close to home. We had to limit ours to just down our own block and back, many times a day. For real exercise that really gets them tired, we played a fast paced game of ball in the house, down a hallway, or on the stairs. Throw a second ball the second he returns with the first. He'll drop the first one at your feet as he chases the second one. (Well, usually!) Of course, there are other ways to tire a Brit, but we were dealing with winter, snow and ice at the time.
Counter surfing is hard because the possibility of instant reward is so fast and immediate! Gus swiped a freshly washed and deboned chicken breast the other day, so I'll pass on what I learned but haven't had total success with. First of all, in general, there should never be a crumb on the counter or he's gotten his reward. Secondly, the way they taught us was putting a treat on the counter and working on 'leave it!' and rewarding him with something even better. We'd walk the dog on a leash and every time he walked past the treat, looked the other way, or did anything even resembling NOT counter surfing he got a BETTER treat than was up on the counter. We started with uninteresting treats on the counter (think dry kibble) and worked up to really hard to resist ones. At no time can the counter treat be given as the reward.
Hope this helps. Gus is still a puller at 15 months, but that's our fault - we've been letting him get away with too much. In fact, just this week we began to address it again. I don't mind a little pulling and he knows it. It's the downright dragging me down the street that's unacceptable, and boy, can he do it if it's allowed! As far as counter surfing, we're careful what's within reach and usually a command of 'leave it' will have him immediately getting 'four on the floor again.' Unless my back is turned and there's a freshly washed boneless chicken breast on the counter close to HIS dinnertime.
