Example: My dog, part schnauzer, also goes after squirrels and birds. I attribute half of that to just pure doggy behavior and half to the fact that schnauzers were originally bred to be ratters.

I had to combine a Prong collar and positive rewards (treats) in order to get her to ignore these animals – it took weeks before i could walk her by them with no problems.

(The Prong self corrected because she lunged, then i would give her a treat when she settled and sat by my feet. I also use clicker training to enforce her to look to me when she gets excited – she sees a bird or squirrel and looks up, she gets a treat. She doesn’t, she gets the little pinch until she settles on her own and looks at me.)

What behaviors does your dog do on walks that simply make you frustrated: Pulling, Weaving, Chasing, Barking? What have you tried to correct these behaviors – stopping and not moving until pulling is done, turning in the other direction, ignoring the stimulus, leash corrections, corrections followed by reward for good behavior, rewarding just the good behavior?

First, I would spend about 10 minutes on your first session, just clicking the clicker, and immediately giving a treat. Do nothing else. It will make your dog realize that the clicker is a good thing, and it is always followed by a treat.

Bring a handful of really good treats outside with you (like cut up hot dog or a training roll). With the dog at your side, take a step to the left, right, or backwards-just not front. When your dog naturally follows you, click and treat. Do this several times, stepping up to three of four steps in any given direction but forwards. Click and treat when the dog follows.

Now, start moving forward. When your dog pulls, stop dead in your tracks and wait for him to come back to you or turn around to look at you. Click and treat that. The thing with pulling is it is a self reinforcing behavior, since he gets where he wants to faster. By you stopping, you are taking that reinforcement from him.

I would also work on a watch me command. Hold the treat in front of your face and when he makes eye contact, click and treat. Work on this over and over again, adding distractions and also length of the watch before you click and treat him. At random times during the walk, ask for a “watch me” and click and treat when he does. It will shift his focus onto you and not the squirrels or whatever else.

On the other side, if he sees a squirrel and doesn’t pull, immediately click and treat. You are basically using the clicker to teach him what you want him to do, rather than correcting what you don’t want.

It worked miracles for us!