Dog Training

So last week I rescued a 4 year old blue heeler/Irish wolf hound mix from a local shelter. He's a big guy (80lb) and has a lot of training to do. Luckily he is house trained, but that's about it. I'm looking for any tips on training him to be a good dog off leash while I'm out bouldering.

He's great on leash, and today was incredible off leash...but that's because he was around other dogs and climbers. If I'm just out bouldering by myself, he won't listen to me. Does anybody have any tips on training? Before I adopted "Sam", I only had a 15lb Boston Terrier...and she was easy to train. This guy has a thick skull, but is incredibly smart and amazingly affectionate (to humans and other dogs).

For example: when on the leash he listens to a lot of commands (come, sit, stay, heel, leave it, etc.), but the second he is off leash it's like he does not know anything.

Any tips would be awesome!!

It sounds like you know what you need to do, and keep in mind even though he is 4, everything is so new and exciting to him he is acting like a puppy again. The novelty of the situation should dull and he will probably mellow out off leash. Fenced in yard, ball fields, things like that I use to practice staying close, so I don't have to run through the woods to find them. Good luck.

Oh yeah, I also have had good luck bringing a blanket from home, familiar smell, kind of set up "his spot" close by.

Ya get a blanket, I have a collspsabowl that only goes climbing/ adventuring. It's important our dogs have their spot at crags/boulders( so we can avoid being the subject of crag dog bashing forums).It sounds like you need to use breed specific training. I adopted an 8 year old English setter this winter and I've managed to teach her new tricks and commands( she's a dream crag dog).

Keeping in mind your dogs breed you should give Sam a task that can keep him busy while at the crag. Any luck with kong balls with peanut butter and a treat? I use natural rawhide bones to keep my dog busy, and i carry just a regular plastic whistle for emergency commands, she's a bird dog by instinct. Lastly, make sure you use the same tone of voice every time you say a command and if you want your dog to come when you call it make sure you are standing still!!! Please clean up after Sam and bring extra bags on trail to pick up poo that ain't yours, dog ownership and climbing conservation seemingly go hand in hand.

What's so hard about leashing your dog anyway? Its not like you're 5 pitches up something, you're bouldering.

FWIW, I've been bitten 3 times. Two of those times were by Heelers. I can't count the number of nips and lunges from heelers toward me. If I'm walking my pup, the only dog I force her to avoid is heelers. We tried but just too many of them were aggresive.

It's the breed. They are a pretty smart working breed. Cow herding is their pleasure. Put yourself in their place, they want to run large herds of animals far bigger than themselves. Of course the only way to do that is with some aggression. It'll probably get content with chillin at the crags but you also will have to exercise the hell out of it. Probably more than you care to. Those skinny boulderer legs are going away and you're going to get trail running legs.

If it's good on a leash (mine is not), by all means, keep the leash on. That is a blessing.

I can see how being bitten by one you would like him to be on a leash. Right now he is still learning his name, so stays on the leash but is constantly choking himself.

Unlike a pure heeler, he is more wolf hound and very sweet and does not bite, bark or growl. Most people climbing here keep their dogs off leash so they can play with the other dogs.

I am taking him to an obedience school as well after he starts understanding his name.

You can cut down on the choking by putting a harness on, instead of clipping into the collar, until you get him trained to be off leash. I've got a heeler/boarder collie that never bites or nips and the only time I leash him is when I'm downtown or have to for whatever reason. We did the harness for a couple years when he was a pup and it helped a lot.

Nicelegs, I feel for you and agree completely with what you're saying. I had two of these dogs that are litter mates. The Girl was bad about the nipping to the point where I left her at home all the time, I tried training and couldn't get it out of her. Fortunately for me the Ex took her in the divorce and I got the good dog. I think the problem is the owner, if your Heeler has ever nipped or bitten it should never be off leash because it "will" do it again. But I know plenty of really good Heelers that don't. I understand when people are cautious around my dog because of his breed, I try to respect that.

Excercise. Obedience. And then, affection.

I rescued my dog from a shelter about 5 years ago. She was 3 at the time. I used a long leash to train her. About 25-30'. She was quickly better off leash than she's ever been on it (probably because on leash she doesn't need to pay attention to me as much).

If you already have good on-leash commands for sitting, healing, laying down, stopping and coming, you are probably ready for a long leash.

I could write you a chapter on long leash training but there are books out there already. The concept is to give an even toned command before the dog hits the end of the leash (which they will for a while). When they do as you are asking, reward them. When they don't, hitting the end of the leash is the negative consequence. There are those who say only to use positive re-enforcement, but that doesn't always yield results. It's very dog dependent.

The other thing I did when I let her off leash in open areas was to wait until she ran out and away from me too far. When she did, I would hide. I could still see her, but she didn't know where I was. It taught her to always be aware of where I was and not stray too far. If she started going the wrong direction, I would appear and call her, and of course she'd enthusiastically come back and was praised. When she found me on her own she also got praise. This way she learned that coming back was a good thing.

As has been suggested, having a familiar blanket at the crag is a very good way to make your dog feel comfortable in a strange place. Bonding with him will also help him to want to stick around and will definitely help with this type of training.

D.Buffum wrote: If I go climbing and expect both climber and belayer to be off the ground (multipitch), I leave my dog at home. If we're just cragging but there are only two of us, my dog is leashed so that the belayer does not need to be distracted by the dog. The only time my dog is off leash at the crag is if (1) there's a third person on the ground ready to deal with her if need be, or (2) bouldering. I love my dog and she's a very well behaved dog in general. That said, she's a dog and ultimately cannot be trusted 100% to not get into trouble or bother the neighbors. Somebody needs to be free to deal with her if the climber and belayer are occupied.

Luke W Brigham wrote:Excercise. Obedience. And then, affection.

totally agree and do the same with mine.

Lots of sound advice here. I know there are those who wouldn't ever let their dog out of sight in a forest and I never got that.

Take him out camping to a secluded area. Open the car door, and let him run and run and run. Do that once a week(because why wouldn't you?) and you will have a dog that will be completely obedient if you follow the praise advice.

Thanks for all the awesome advice! Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to reading them, but I've been busy moving from my apartment into a house.

I might be going camping this weekend, so will try the long leash method for a bit at first and see how he does. He's getting better every day, and it's still has not even been two weeks since I rescued him.

This is a great book that I have had great success with.
amazon.com/Training-Best-Do…

Its very much a positive enforcement only method. But I found it well written, easy to use and I found it easy to implement in my life with our dog.

-Jon

I highly recommend seeking out professional advice on training your dog. Use the locator tool for graduates of the national k-9 academy here: nk9dta.com/shop/. All dogs are different, and what works for one won't work for others. My rescued pit bull mix wouldn't even sit when I first got him, and wasn't interested in treats or praise in the least. After a few sessions with a graduate of the national k-9 academy (James Kohout in Grand Junction, CO) I was able to train him very well. A "dog trainer" doesn't train the dog, she trains the person.

I know it sounds like an ad, but I really believe in their methods and I'll tell anyone who listens. If it worked for my blockhead it will work on any dog.

With regard to the drifted sub-topic of multipitch climbing with a dog, tying your dog up and doing a multipitch climb is illegal in Boulder county as far as I know. I can't seem to find a link or specific reference on that now though. Regardless, don't do it. You leave the dog defenseless against snakes and other wildlife. It's a dick move. Don't be a dick.