I don't think giving him more leash is helping. If it were me, I'd shorten that leash so he understands he is on a leash, not on a long line.

Also, 4 months is still very young. I know it's hard (I also have a young Aussie), but you should try to remember that he is still a baby. Can you make a clear distinction between "explore the world and sniff" time and walking politely on a leash time? Because it seems you may be giving mixed messages by allowing him to explore, but then expecting him to walk beside you. Maybe try a cue for "now it's ok to stop and sniff" and a cue for leash walking politely like "heel" or "walk on"?

 

With my puppies I separated heeling training from loose leash training. The more I think about it, the more I think these are really separate concepts. I agree with others that 4 months is really young. He's got a lot going on in his brain, and at this point he's not going to be all that clear on the concept of either walking at heel or walking on a loose leash.

I did their initial heeling training off leash. The idea here was to make heeling a fun and rewarding game, not something enforced with the leash. I started by introducing the puppy to clicker training. Kikopup has a good video on how to start clicker training.

Once the puppy understood what the clicker meant, I just walked around my yard. I didn't call him. I didn't penalize him for paying attention to puppy interests. I let him decide of his own accord what he wanted to do. The puppy wanted to play, and I was moving, so pretty soon he started following me. By chance he wandered into correct heel position. At that point I clicked and handed him a treat. Then I started walking again. Same as before, he bumbled around after me and eventually wandered into heel position. Again, I clicked and gave him a treat. After a few more times he realized that he got treats for staying by my left side. He then glued himself into position. At that point I made the game harder for him. I walked close to lawn furniture, so he had to adjust his position. I made sudden turns. I changed my speed. Every time he found his way back to proper heel position I clicked and gave him a treat. He thought this was a fantastic game: chasing me while getting fed treats.

A second game that I played was hand luring. Again, Kikopup has a good video on teaching hand luring. I taught it a different way, by folding a treat against my palm and clicking for a nose boop. However you choose to teach it, the important thing is to get the puppy following your hand. In my opinion hand luring is one of the most important skills you can teach a puppy; it's foundational for a lot of other work.

Once my pup was good with hand luring I used the hand lure to teach the commands Front and Close In. Front means to come straight up in front of me, nose pointed at my knees. Close in means to come to my side in heel position. (I'm standing still, which is why I use another command than Heel.) Once he understood these commands, we played hand luring games. I would move my hand down to the floor, up onto a chair, Front, Close In, etc. His job was to move himself to where he could Touch my hand.

So, once you have these off leash heeling and hand luring games established, you have something you can do on walks to get your pup into heel position (or anything else.) However, no young dog wants to walk at heel more than a few dozen feet or more than half a minute. Keep things fun and don't push him past his attention span. Play a heeling or hand target game, then let him go back to sniffing. Half a block later play another hand target game. Mix it up.

Now, finally, we are at loose leash walking. Like you, I taught it using the stand like a tree method. However, I did not use treats to lure the dog back to my side. I think it's possible to set up a cycle of hitting the end of the leash, returning for a treat, hitting the end of the leash again, returning for another treat, and so on. That's not what you want. When a puppy is pulling, it's usually because he wants to go check something out. Therefore, you can use access to the interesting thing as the reward instead of a treat.

When the puppy starts pulling, stop dead as you have been doing. Note where his head is pointing. Then just stand there until the pup looks back at you, "Hey human, why aren't we walking." Usually the puppy gives you just a little bit of slack when they look back over their shoulder at you. As soon as you feel this change in leash tension reward the puppy by taking a step towards whatever he was looking at. The puppy will probably start pulling again. That's normal and expected. Stop dead and wait for him to give you a bit of slack. Again, take a step towards whatever he was looking at when you feel the leash tension change. In this slow and interrupted way you will eventually reach the pee tree or whatever he was leading you towards. Let him sniff to his heart's content.

After a few of these stop-start-stop-start situations the puppy will realize that you stop after taking a single step. Instead of rushing off he will move hesitantly, because he expects you to stop immediately. The leash will remain slack because he's moving slowly. Now you can reward him by continuing to walk forward. He won't initially understand why sometimes you stop and sometimes you keep walking. Eventually though, as long as you are consistent, he will realize that you will keep walking as long as he isn't pulling. He will walk at your pace, with the occasional glance to check on your progress. Make sure to reward him by following him to whatever he wants to sniff and waiting until he is done with his investigation. It takes a lot of practice and consistency before a puppy concedes that pulling really isn't a successful way to get what he wants. Some distractions, like a smelly fire hydrant, are relatively easily mastered. Others, like squirrels and rabbits, are much more tempting. It could be a year or more before he develops the impulse control to resist them.

My senior dog has learned two different ways to ask me to change direction. Sometimes he gives a single sharp tap on the end of the leash and then glances over at me. (Yes, my dog leash pops me.) Once he is assured of my attention he looks where he wants to go, glances back to make sure I'm following, and sets off in the new direction. The other way (when I'm being a good human that doesn't need a leash pop) is that he will slow down and start walking parallel to me but not in heel position. He stares at me until he is sure he has my attention and walks slower and slower. I then ask him, "Do you want to go this way?" and make a 90 degree turn. If I have guessed correctly he sets off again at a normal speed. Otherwise I need to try a different direction. Sometimes we turn around completely and backtrack, so he can sniff something he missed when we passed it the first time. Again, these opportunities to sniff are his reward for asking politely instead of just dragging me to what he wants to investigate. I always want him to feel that not pulling gets him to where he wants to go.

 

I'll add - it would probably help you to distinguish between training and going for a walk.

You are getting frustrated because you want it to be an enjoyable walk - but if you train without the expectation of actually getting anywhere, you don't get that disappointment when your 'walk' doesn't work out.

 

Just remember also that it is not a natural behavior for a puppy to walk along in a straight line. At the age your puppy is now I call it the "Zig-Zag" walk. What normally takes about 10 minutes to walk with a trained dog may take up to 30 minutes. On days you feel rushed simply don't go as you will lose patience. My husband never would take the new puppy for walks he always took the older already trained dog. He would say "look how well I trained our dog!!"" lol

 

If I may ask, what would be considered a "high value" treat?
Filet Mignon? Beluga caviar? Truffles? Stocks and bonds? 🙃

 

what would be considered a "high value" treat?

Whatever your dog thinks! I carry some of my dog's normal food for ordinary rewards, but I also carry some commercial dog treats, which are tastier, for occasional use. Or liver cake, which is cheap and easy to make.

Some people use cheese but watch out for the high salt content for tiny kidneys.

 

First off, please post a larger photo of your dog. He/she looks a lot like my recently deceased Smokey. Forgive my ignorance, but where do you take your pup that you need to carry treats? Smokey hated the car, so we stayed home much of the time or went out solo when necessary. "Therapy" dogs are frowned upon here, so you usually only see them at Petsmart or Petco. We wouldn't take Benjie there anyway. There is no way that I would take even my worst enemy to the disgusting dog park down the block.

I LOVE liver; partner hates it, so please post the recipe so I'll have an excuse to make some. Chicken liver? Do the treats freeze well? Are they like Liva Snaps? Never used them.

No cheese? We don't partake very often, but Benjie's older brother, Flash gets it all the time. Flash's mom doesn't take advice very well, but I will mention this to her. Low salt cheese is bleech, but I will suggest it.

Not taking advice in the spirit with which it is rendered is a big problem amongst my other potential Puppy Club members. I am trying to play Switzerland, but the accusations and squabbles are getting to be a bit much to deal with.
So, my next thread is going to be about 🙈🙉🙊. Stay tuned...

 

Is that my dog you want more pictures of?

Regarding treats, I take them everywhere. This morning for example we walked down a country lane, when I recalled my dog he got a piece of normal food for coming back (I always reward a recall, not necessarily with a treat but its always rewarded somehow as it's important to me). He is also regularly rewarded for making eye contact, checking in. He is deaf, so regular check-ins are vital if he is going to be off leash. He might also be rewarded for ignoring a trigger like a screechy child or someone on roller blades, or for standing still when he sees a cyclist on a shared path - all things I have trained.

My liver cake recipe is this -

• A pack of liver (supermarket packs are usually about 500 grams)
• About 250 grams of flour - I use gluten free as some dogs are gluten intolerant
• 1 egg
• A slosh of olive oil or salmon oil for a glossy coat (optional)

Cut the liver into pieces and use a hand blender to blitz it with the egg until it's a sloppy mess. Stir in the oil if using and the flour. It still should be a sloppy mess.

Turn into a parchment lined baking tray measuring about 6"x9". It shold be about an inch deep.

Bake at 170 degrees for about 15 minutes until a knife comes out clean.

When it's cold, cut into kit kat finger sized pieces - half them again for a smaller dog - and freeze them in a freezer bag. They freeze in separate pieces so you can take out one at a time and break into smaller pieces for training.

Dogs love it, it has no sugar, salt or other nasties and lasts for weeks. It also is cheap to make - a recent survey showed some dog treats to be more epensive, ounce for ounce, than fillet steak.

Regarding cheese, my dog gets a little as a special treat, but I'd avoid going it to a puppy with undeveloped tiny kidneys.

Here are some photos of him.

 

I also carry treats everywhere, all the time. Putting a handful of Charlee Bears into my pocket is just part of getting dressed for me. I reward all kinds of things, just as @JoanneF does, especially when we are away from home. But also, each dog gets a piece of kibble or a Charlee Bear every single time they come in from the fenced yard when I call them. Reward every time got started because I was training my puppy, and since he still doesn't have a solid enough recall for me, it is continuing......and then, of course, the elder dog has to get a biscuit too, after all.

Giving little rewards is part of our routine and par t of our day. I mostly use pieces of their kibble, which are very small, or Charlee Bears, which have only one calorie, so I do not need to worry about bad ingredients or over feeding.

Be aware that, while most dogs go nuts for liver treats, it can cause diarrhea in some dogs if too many are given. I have found that any quantity does that to my dogs, so I sadly cannot offer them. Instead, for my dogs a High Value treat is a piece of boiled chicken breast most of the time. Alternately I can use VERY tiny pieces of cheese. And one of my dogs will work for certain veges or a piece of hard boiled egg white or a piece of apple. All in very small quantities. Only when we are performing in Freestyle do I use the commercial dog treats, giving just before we go out on the floor to dance.