Walking on leash/chewing issues
My husband & I just got our first OES this week! Winnie is 6 months old and a doll except for a couple issues: walking on a leash and chewing. On walks, Winnie will "put on the brakes" as we say and just refuse to walk. No amount of gentle tugging or coercing will get her to move, not even treats. Sometimes this is caused by distraction - our neighborhood is full of squirrels and rabbits. But otherwise it seems to be for no apart reason than just her stubbornness. We will be going to dog obedience, but in the meantime, does anyone have any advice? It's gotten to the point where we have to just carry this 50 lb. fluff ball a block or so until she decides she'll continue on the walk. She also loves to chew on everything: the couch, rug, piano bench legs, shoes. She has toys to chew on as well. She stops as soon as we say "no," but we're wondering how to handle this puppy phase correctly. Thanks for your input! We're so excited to have an OES!! |
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| Barney does this sometimes. He'll get so excited to go on a walk and we'll get out to the end of the driveway and then he just slams on his breaks. Eventually he decides, okay, now I want to walk and it'll be fine. I have NO idea why he does this... |
 Welcome to the forum from Norway!
Good luck with Winnie  |
Welcome to the forum! 
I think it is important to remember she is new to your home, and building a strong bond with her now will help in all training issues later Positive reinforcement is what works best IMO |
| As she bonds with you, she is also testing you. Who will be in control?
Walk her around the house with the leash letting her learn leash means walk and you are in control. No tugging, just a gentle snap of the leash, once. When she comes, praise and fill her with pride. It takes time as she learns this is her home and you are her pack leader. Be patient, but keep working on it. Welcome to the group. |
Hi From Minnesota  and welcome. Yay, another Minnesotan!
About the walking: I would suggest trying the above, and another thing also. When she stops, don't try pulling her, or picking her up. Turn left or right or even in a circle (turning backwards then forward again). Get her to move by whatever persuasion will work - praise, patting your leg, a treat or something. Then really get happy when she moves. Keep repeating this as needed. Then end the exercise with her on a good note - with both of you happy. Repeat this as often you can as seperate training sessions. You may have to hold off on the longer leash walks as a form of exercise for awhile until she gets better and find a different exercise for her for a bit. It is probably some stubborness, with some adjustment to her new home and neighborhood thrown in. You need to be the boss, but "disguise" it in the learning process to help her with this. As for the chewing - keep her with you and in sight, and keep educating her on what are ok, and what's off limits. Always be consistant, otherwise you will confuse her and she will be back to chewing everything. Having a designated spot for her toys may help. Chewie learned real quick where the dog toy basket was, and that this was the place to get something to chew on! We can't wait to hear more - and pictures!! |
| Welcome!!! |
Since you got her at 6 months there could be some deeper issues too. If they walked her away from the house and then she didn't come back, something doggy psychological like that. 
You could have someone drive you a bit away from the house and then walk her back. Then she always knows that walks end with coming home. Then again, maybe it is just obstinate puppy syndrome! There are a ton of articles that talk about the chewing thing and there are some great responses. If I tried to recap them, I wouldn't do them justice. Up by the top of the screen, you'll see a search tool. That should give you a good list of those older topics. Good luck!!! Don't forget to give us updates! |
| Welcome to the forum! We got Harry at six months too and we had some issues to deal with as well since he was older. She is probably not used to being walked and not being in control. Get her into puppy/obedience classes right away and that will help with this right away.
I agree with the designated toy area. That helped us a lot but we still had issues when we were not home so we started crating him. Good luck. Keep us posted and we all love pictures. |
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