Pulling power

I own a 13-month-old Border Collie who gets on well with other dogs and people. However, I have been at training school since last November and now he constantly pulls towards other dogs.
The problem mainly occurs when the whole class works together. I find it very difficult to control him and it is hard to even get his attention. One of the trainers told me to buy a Halti, which I did. This improved the problem with pulling, but I still find it hard to keep his attention. I have now been told to buy a half-check chain and to check him if he pulls or if he is not listening to me. I have also been told to shout as loud as I can to show him I am in charge. I wanted training to be an enjoyable activity for my dog and me. Do you have any suggestions that could help with this problem?
Miss Fox, Fareham, Hampshire


Wow! Not sure I'd want to be at your training class! Dogs charging into others, owners yanking and pulling and shouting as loud as they can to 'show they are in charge'. Sounds like mayhem - and you are wondering why your dog is having trouble paying attention to you?
The scenario you describe is alas all too common at group training classes, and also a leading reason why so many people give up on them, believing that they and their dog are not getting anywhere, or getting anything really useful or constructive out of them. I am sure many other readers will have some sympathy with your predicament.
Here is basically what goes wrong. The first factor is bad energy. The level of canine/human noise, excitement and stress hormones circling the confines of your average village hall training class is just too much for many dogs to cope with. You may know your dogs are there to learn all sorts of helpful stuff, but they don't. They can just react to what they are experiencing at that moment.
Second, you cannot teach dogs something 'new' while they are in a distracted or stressed state. So in this respect, how much time in your dog's life, and out of the group training environment, have you actually spent teaching him to focus on you on command? Teaching a dog to focus on you, and pay attention to you, on command, is a vital early training exercise in itself. And if you do not teach a dog, from as early an age as possible, to pay attetion to you on command then you are hardly in a position to teach it anything else.
With such an exercise, moreover, you have to begin your training with as few surrounding distractions as possible - ie at home. Then, once your dog has reliably mastered 'watch me' commands there, you gradually up the level of distraction/pressure situations you expose your dog to while he still has to concentrate on you on command. So from hom, say, you will then move on to doing this exercise with your dog in the street, or park, or any walk you are on, regardless of what is going on around you.
It is always crucial to relentlessly teach your dog or puppy to focus on you on command, before exposing it to pressure situations like training classes, rather than expect any dog to first master this exercise in a highly distracting environment.
Collies as a breed have an extremely strong level of natural focus, but where many owners go wrong is in not training this focus primarily on to themselves, when their dogs are young, through use of toys, play and other bonding methods, and letting it escape off instead on to other targets. As an adolescent male, your dog's focus is now clearly getting tuned on to other dogs, which can be quite typical at his age.
All dogs have to be taught how to focus on an owner on command, and through a multitude of different distractions - it is never something they just learn by themselves. You can begin the following training in any dog from aged around six weeks onwards:
- Initially start your focus training at home. Hold a toy or tasty treat in your hand and ask your dog to sit. As it looks at you, even for a second, say the words 'watch me' while it is doing so, then reward it with the treat or toy and praise it well.
- Next, try getting your dog to watch you in the same way for five seconds. Remember not to say the words 'watch me' unless your dog is actually watching you. Then move up to getting your dog to watch you for ten seconds or more.
- If your dog refuses to pay any attention to you, when you are trying to get it to watch you, and keeps wandering off, keep it on a lead initially for all focus training exercises.
- Every time your dog looks away from you, or the toy/treat, say 'whoops!' or 'uh-huh' in a loud voice. Every time it looks back at you, say 'watch me' in a quiet, calm voice and then praise/reward it really well for doing so.
- Next, try getting your dog to watch you or the toy/treat while it lies down and you walk all around it.
- Then try getting your dog to sit or lie down and watch you for ten seconds before any of the following: Just prior to it going for a walk; just prior to it having a meal or treat; just prior to you having a game with it.
- Finally, so the same 'watch me' exercises before letting it off the lead on a walk, then throughout the walk, when other people or dogs are passing by, or before giving it a toy to play with. The more you do this training in a variety of distracting or exciting situations, the more bombproof your dog's concentration on you will become,
In my experience, dogs respond best to the application of quiet and calm authority, and the consistent reinforcement of 'correct' behaviour with appropriate rewards. They do not, by contrast, gain any greater level of respect and responsiveness for an owner as a result of being shouted at louder, or being yanked about by this or that restraining device. Such measures only raise their stress levels and, within an already distracting environment like a training class, simply make dogs more agitated, reactive, aggressive or unable to concentrate.
It may well be that you and your dog, at least for the present, are not best suited to the whole group training experience, and that you would get far more out of some intensive help from a good one-to-one trainer. Such a person could take you right back to basics, in terms of the whole way you relate to your dog, and show you how to better motivate him to focus on you and respond to your commands. As your dog is still so young it would be well worth making this kind of investment in his future.
If you cannot find a suitable one-to-one trainer locally, you could try the following: The UK Registry of Canine Behaviourists 01535 635290, www.ukrcb.org; The Association of Pet Dog Trainers 01285 810811 www.apdt.co.uk.
Carol Price, trainer and behaviourist