What method to choose

I am an experienced dog owner in my early 60s. Last year I fostered some dogs and ended up adopting Fred who is an amstaff x English staffy. I already had three dogs of my own a cavalier King Charles 11, cocker spaniel aged 5 and a Rhodesian ridgeback aged 7. I basically adopted Fred who was then about 10 months because he was so destructive when left and I felt that he'd either end up locked in a yard all day or returned. He has a really nice nature and is very good with people and other dogs of all sizes. He is good with my grandchildren. I have crate trained him and leave him indoors in the same room as my other dogs when no one is home and he willingly goes into the crate and we give him a ball Kong with treats in it. The longest I would be away from him is around 3-4 hours. At night he sleeps on my bedroom floor and the other dogs are downstairs. He isnt destructive if he is in the same room as a human. The idea was with my husband and I having been retired for a couple of years that we would have the time to train him. Before fostering we hadn't any intention of taking in another young dog permanently more in the future giving an older dog a home. Unfortunately a couple of months after we adopted him my husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which is a really nasty one. He has had major operations removing several organs in that area and is now on aggressive chemo. Most of the week he doesn't have the energy to do much. So it is up to me to train Fred and to be able to walk him with my ridgeback and one of my spaniels. At the moment I am drivjing to an oval to exercise them. He is very social there and well liked by other dog owners.
My major problem is he pulls dreadfully on a lead. I've tried normal collar, slip collar( choke chain) which I hate, a sensation front clip harness which I had him fitted for that worked wonders with my ridgeback Enna but it rubs Fred under his arms because of pulling. I recently started attending obedience classes and they don't use treats and do use slip collars. He is so excited there like a dog on a mission. I was told to shout no at him and make him sit which I can get him to do but he is on high alert. Walking around the streets occasionally he doesnt pull but then something happens and he is in his own obsessed world.
I grew up with an English staffy but he wasn't walked or trained just followed my mother around in the pub we lived in. Most of our dogs over the years have tended to be gun dugs, retrievers and spaniels except for my ridgeback. So training a strong now 16 month old male staffy is very new to me. I want him to bond with me, to love me and to be happy out and about with us. We took him out the other afternoon on his own as my husband was feeling a bit better. He is wonderful in the car but he doesn't sleep just looks out of the window the whole time he is very interested in things. We went to beach side setting and the plan was to take him a walk along the promenade. He was terrible head down pulling the whole time I couldn't get him to listen to me. I did shout at him and we abandoned the walk. When we got home he ignored me the rest of the day. So I am back to square one. Don't think the obedience class is a good fit, do I get one to one sessions. What training methods work best with this breed? Any help very gratefully received.
Shelley in Australia.

Hi Shelley,

Good on you for questionning the trainer. First advice - ignore them! That sort of training went out with the arc, or should have. Also ditch the choke collar and go back to the harness. If choke collars do work at all it's because they cause discomfort, which isn't what we want.

Rather than focussing on not pulling, I'd focus on teaching him to want to be with you, starting in the garden or somewhere that is the least interesting possible. There are two good ways and you can combine the two if you want. This is the first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeTBGMYZj5I&index=2&list=PL0C724F6F6A597540

The second is to have a treat in your hand by your thigh and let Fred know you have it, then walk purposefully and he should follow the treat. When he walks nicely, let him have it, then replace it. If he pulls, step back as in the video. Adding the treat method can be helpful in more distracting situations.

It's really important that you respond to each and every time the lead goes tight, as soon as the slack is taken up, so that Fred learns that the result of him getting ahead of you by that much is that you'll turn round.

Staffies are very quick learners as a rule and also incredibly willing to please. By working with him with a positive method you should hopefully get quicker results that the negative conflict method. If you can find a one-to-one trainer who uses positive methods, it might be an idea to make contact to see how you get on but equally it might be worth giving the above a go first, you might find it falls into place quickly with just you and him.

Well done for taking Fred in, by the way. Our staffs are very sensitive souls, as are American bulldogs, and separation anxiety is sadly all too common. It sounds like he's found himself a wonderful home with you.

I hope your husband responds to the treatment. It must be devastating for you both.

nothing i can addcto that, Shelley, other than welcome to the forum!

i really hope your husband responds well to his treatment, and i'm sure everyone here wishes you both all the best.

if you have any problems you'd like to talk about, please just start a thread & we'll help wherever we can, even if it's just moral support!

Thank you to Liz and Gilly for your replies. I will try the method suggested and I've just ordered Victoria Stilwells book from the library. I'll let you know how we go

Hi ya Shelly, welcome to the forum from Flo and me.

As mentioned above, if there is anything we can help with do ask even if it's just to bend an ear.

Hope the advice and book helps and best wishes to you and your husband

I tried the method in the video inside and in the garden and he did it perfectly next step outside I doubt he will be as focussed! Lol

Great start! Just remember to take it slowly. Start with easy environments, so away from other dogs and things that make him lose concentration, then build up as he gets better.

Hi Shelley, that training club doesn't sound great. Where I go, everything is treat based and all about getting the dogs attention on you. I love Victoria Stilwell, I got her book when Daisy was a pup cos I felt way out of my depth and I followed it word for word, it was like my bible. It paid off and I am sure will help you immensely.

I ditched a puppy class when Daisy was a pup as the trainer told us to pull out dogs to the ground and stand on the lead and let them struggle so they couldn't get up to teach them the down command. I nearly cried and never went back, one dog went to bite him. You know in your gut if something feels wrong. x

ClareGilby wrote:
I ditched a puppy class when Daisy was a pup as the trainer told us to pull out dogs to the ground and stand on the lead and let them struggle so they couldn't get up to teach them the down command.  I nearly cried and never went back, one dog went to bite him.  You know in your gut if something feels wrong. x

oh, gosh, that's so old fashioned, isn't it?

I don't think training needs to be treat-based all the time - just as long as it's force-free.