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I get the whole training separately thing. I was getting frustrated because they CAN walk nicely alone..but put them together and it is absolute mayhem. I just would LIKE to be able to take them all for a walk together. It is a bit more convenient and tiring for all of them to have an hour or 2 hour walk than everyone getting 30 min.
This morning i walked the puppies together on a back road that i knew would have minimal distractions. They did very well. They are not ready to walk together in a high distraction area yet. I took oldest alone but there was a person with a husky walking in front of me and i got dizzy going in circles trying to stop the pulling.
I do find that positive reinforcement type training can feel like you aren't getting anywhere. But then all of a sudden the light goes on and they GET it just when you think they never will. I did discover 2 things that have really helped my dogs:
1. Dogs dont' care what size the treat is..but they can count.
2. Jackpot! if they do exactly what i want..i give them a whole WHACK of treats. When i do that they respond MUCH quicker. For example, the boy puppy would pull and we'd stop, pull and stop, it took 2 jackpots when he was in the correct position for him to figure out..hmm, if i hang back here..i get a ton of treats...so i'll stay here and see what happens..now i dont' have to give as many or as often.
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