My fiance and I began teaching Cooter to pull small objects in a plastic sled and gradually added weight to the point that he can pull a person in the sled, and has even pulled my fiance on his snowboard. That being said, he still won't 'go' on his own without you jogging beside him. He's getting so strong now that you can't keep up, but he won't go if you're not within close proximity, and he will occasionally stop and try and bite the line if you get too far ahead of him when he does decide to slow down or is getting tired..

How do we get him to 'go' on his own without needing someone jogging with him for encouragement? He turns off command and stops off command, but getting him started is proving difficult ..

Thanks

Good Post! We have the same issue!

I wonder if it would help to have somebody stand a few feet away with a treat (if they're food-driven) and with you in the sled. Then, have the person give the command for the dog to move towards them, and as soon as they start moving, say "Go" and give praise?

I've never tried anything like this before, so I'm only just speculating.

To be honest I've never had this problem with any of my dogs, but everyone of my team members has a built in strong working drive. Without working drive there isn't a whole lot of training that you can do to change that unfortunately...if you have the availability to bike with him to try to get him to better understand the expectation without a buddy runner that may help.

This is often Appa's problem. If you can find other dogs in your area that will pull, try to get yours in harness with them. He'll learn from them. With another dog Appa will pull with all his might, if he's solo he just looks back at us confused.

My wife and I often start up by him then slow down to get right behind him. Praise like crazy. Then slowly back off more. Praise. Repeat. We can get him going that way.

rileyflorence wrote:

start up by him then slow down to get right behind him. Praise like crazy. Then slowly back off more. Praise. Repeat. We can get him going that way.

This is what I started doing and it more or less works .. thanks!!