Lots more socializing today. We don't stay long so as not to overwhelm her (also called "flooding" where some think it's helpful to expose dogs to so much of something that they just get use to it -- not an effective method for most dogs). Just having her around the carts and hustle and bustle in the parking lot is enough.
Working around different distractions (like food) help her to become more responsive to you.
And we go to a variety of places. It's easy to get stuck in a rut but it's important to go to new places. From Winco to New Seasons there are a lot of different sounds, people, animals, etc. to experience in the parking lots.
I thought perhaps I would put in a late garden so we went to the garden shop as well to look for veggie starts. There were great opportunities here. A child asked to greet her and even tried to hand her a ball. Nice distractions and a beautiful greeting. Such a good girl! No veggies for us though. We instead took advantage of the training opportunities.
So she's doing really well with her Gentle Leader on but what happens when she's on her flat collar? She actually does really well on her flat collar. I was pleased that it took a lot to set this picture up because she wanted to stick with me when the leash was on. Still didn't get the effect that I wanted but I'll try to use my words to describe it. Pulling can be a very reinforcing behavior. When someone pulls back on a leash or collar, the dogs natural tendency is to pull forward in opposition. This can really rev a dog up which can be very rewarding for the dog and very frustrating for the person at the other end of the leash. So, she's impulsive and can get distracted, which is normal for her breed, temperament and age. So how do you wean off the head halter?
You can start out in low to moderate distracting environments by putting her head halter on and clipping her leash to her flat collar. It still gives her the impression that she is using the Gentle Leader but you don't have the same control over her head. This is handy too, if you realize you are in an environment where the distractions are too high (you can quickly switch her back to her head halter). You may need to back up some of your training (i.e. reward more frequently, use a higher value treat, get a little farther away from the distraction, etc.) but you should find that you can move through it more quickly than you have in the past (yea for the wonderful foundation you have laid!).
As she gets better, transition to putting the head halter in your pocket so you have it just in case. Keep your leash nice and loose (note the "J" in the leash). Remember that she needs to be the one doing the work. It's her job and she needs to be responsible for her own behavior. If you find that you are having to physically restrain her, back up on your training a bit. Try to avoid the pulling and restraining as that will encourage that pulling behavior. And, if it's a really distracting environment, until she's a bit older with a little more self-control, it's probably best to have her head halter on.
Also remember to keep your leash short enough that it is still loose but she's not able to move ahead and self reward (i.e. sniff things, pick things up, check things out, forge ahead, etc.).
Sia wants you to know it wasn't all work today. She had lots of play time too.
And it was a super good day because Healey actually played with her. Ahhhh...persistence pays off.
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