I'm back, and since this is my first dog, I know I'M messing up so please help. My 11 month old doxie walks beautifully along side my power chair at our apartment complex until she sees someone or some dog she knows and then all bets are off and she's pulling and totally ignoring me. This should be an easy one for you experts out there. I have tried stopping telling her no and waiting for her to sit but every time I move the pulling resumes. I have also tried turning in the opposite direction but she only walks backwards until, yes, I cave in. Why do we defer to our neighbors in these instances?

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Originally Posted by clb62

I'm back, and since this is my first dog, I know I'M messing up so please help. My 11 month old doxie walks beautifully along side my power chair at our apartment complex until she sees someone or some dog she knows and then all bets are off and she's pulling and totally ignoring me. This should be an easy one for you experts out there. I have tried stopping telling her no and waiting for her to sit but every time I move the pulling resumes. I have also tried turning in the opposite direction but she only walks backwards until, yes, I cave in. Why do we defer to our neighbors in these instances?

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Have you trained her to walk besides you with verbal commands like "Heel, etc". I would suggest this first then start to introduce 'distractions'. The small clickers (available at pet stores) are also helpful in getting a dogs attention because you can train them to respond to the sound by providing treats or attention as rewards. Works well for my 3 dogs.

The techniques you are using frequently work well. Since they aren't, have you tried a head collar? The leading brands are Promise, Haltie, and Gentle Leader. They have a strap going around the dogs nose looking something like a muzzle. They work by pulling the dogs head around. No other way gives you such great control with so little force.

This will still take some time. Dogs are naturally sociable. You can only train dogs to stay on task around other dogs around other dogs. You might try recruiting people with dogs to practice on. A better solution might be an obedience class.