# Teaching a dog to pull?



## arcouillard (Mar 6, 2014)

So I want to get into a sport or two with my dog. He's over a year now, so we've been starting to go on some short skate joring adventures (a couple miles at most). He does ok; definitely listens well, and does keep up as long as it's cool enough outside. He doesn't do all that much pulling though. I try to keep the leash taught, but he goes from side to side and sometimes drops back to heel. I give him lots of praise and encouragement when the leash is taught, but he doesn't seem to get it. I want to try kick sledding this winter, but I know that won't work if he can't keep the leash taught. Does it just depend on the dog? He'll always pull if I have someone bike out in front of me-he loves to chase! (Also looking into lure coursing)! Any tips appreciated!


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

There are a couple of things you can try.

First, the side to side movement should slowly go away over time. Squash did that like CRAZY when we were first starting, and he will still do it somewhat if I am running just him without Maisy, but the more pulling and running becomes its own reward the more focused on forward movement they tend to get. 

Work crazy hard on "leave it/on by." It's often trailside stuff they are distracted by, so if you can keep their focus moving forward it will help a lot. If he will do a targeted nose touch you can use a targeting stick that you can hold out in front of him and mark/reward for going out to touch it. That gives you an opportunity to reward for getting out in front and forward movement.

Dogs can learn context with different pieces of equipment. So work on getting out in front in whatever harness you will be using for sledding/joring so he can build those associations. And work on a "line out" command - that is, get out to the end of the line. It's easiest to start this when you're stationary, IMO. Starting out, I clipped my dogs to the trunk latch and walked out in front of them to initially teach it. 

If you have access to a dog who is already doing sledding/joring to help you train your dog, it's a godsend. Check sleddogcentral.com and search for Facebook mushing groups to see if there are mentors or even a club in your area, a lot of experienced mushers are super helpful to novices and willing to help with training. I also love the book "Ski Spot Run" for good guidance on teaching the basic commands you'll need for a small one/two dog team, it's geared toward skijorers but one dog in front of a kicksled will be so similar that I think it will work well for you.


----------



## arcouillard (Mar 6, 2014)

Thanks! That was really helpful. I'll keep working with him on rollerblades...he does get distracted easily, tries to sniff everything. I know he's still young and he will hopefully learn with time.  does it help to have someone bike ahead of us for him to follow, or then will he rely on that?

On an unrelated note, I work at Now Boarding and I played with your dogs the other day! Fed them this morning too!  what a small world!!


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

arcouillard said:


> Thanks! That was really helpful. I'll keep working with him on rollerblades...he does get distracted easily, tries to sniff everything. I know he's still young and he will hopefully learn with time.  does it help to have someone bike ahead of us for him to follow, or then will he rely on that?


It can help to get them started, but you do have to be careful that the only time they will pull is when they have something to follow. So use it judiciously. 



> On an unrelated note, I work at Now Boarding and I played with your dogs the other day! Fed them this morning too!  what a small world!!


Ha! They're all in a post-vacation coma right now.


----------

