Hi Could really do with some help on pulling for my parents. Their dog Lottie (in picture) is 2 in December and they've had her 6mths. She's fantastic in the house a really lovely dog but minute she's out of the house she's a different dog. They've tried all sorts clicker training, harness, gentle leader etc. My son who also lives with them can handle her but my mum can't (dad in wheelchair) and really disappointed they can't take her out. My mum was taking her out late at night when no dogs out (that's when she pulls most) but she got pulled over and bruised all her legs so now not going. They paid a trainer who came out for 2hrs, one good tip I think was to make her calm before going which helps a bit but only real other thing was to get them to buy a slip lead which is basically a more humane version of a choker chain. Do trainers still recommend this type of lead? To me this doesn't seem very good and should be more train by reward. Does anyone have any tips? My mum would like to take her or even walk alongside my dads scooter. It seems her first owner never taught her lead walking only drove her to field and let her run around. She just wants to get to other dogs to play. Thanks
Firstly, step away from the slip lead. It is exactly the same as a choke chain (not even "more humane") and should never be used on a dog that pulls. It sounds like the trainer was probably rather outdated. Even the advice of calming her down before going out; that's all well and good, but dogs' arousal levels can rocket in a split second, so it's not going to do much good practically. So, you're back to training and management. Training will work if you're consistent about it, but takes time, especially to proof with distractions (such as other dogs). This should be continued and you'll get there in the end. However, in the meantime, she does need to be taken out, so management is key so she doesn't do any damage to your parents or herself. There are plenty of head collars and harnesses on the market that are designed to prevent your dog pulling, and without aversives (that is, by mechanically making it impossible to pull, rather than punishing the dog when it does pull). They generally shouldn't be used for any considerable length of time, because you run the risk of changing the way the dog walks, which can cause joint issues, but for the short term, while you continue to train her to walk nicely, I think they would benefit from something. I haven't used any myself, so can't recommend one, but hopefully other members will be along who might help you out. The Halti is obviously a popular one, but many dogs find them horribly punishing to wear.
Oh good for you - you have excellent instincts! A rope slip lead is nothing more than a rope choke chain. I don't know about you, but if I were being choked by a rope rather than a chain I'm not at all sure it would hurt less. It would still be excruciatingly painful - rope or chain. I am not a fan of head collars or front fastening harnesses or the like, but they have their places. I do worry about them on a very excitable dog, though. Still, if you could get a good trainer to help your parents accustom a dog to them, then the circumstances you describe are such the use might be justified. I wouldn't give up on a trainer. Just try to pick one that is really positive - this is easier said than done, I think though. I meet lots of people who talk the talk but when it comes to a pulling dog, stick a slip lead on it (which doesn't even help, it just causes the dog a lot of pain and everyone is still in an awful place). I have seen someone train a dog to walk alongside a mobility cart. It worked surprisingly well. I don't recommend you do it without professional help, and I'm sure this person had help. Anyway, this chap took the dog on a back fastening harness out in the park very early, and had a lead attached to the mobility cart thing. When the dog was beside the cart, it got treats, when it moved ahead, the person stopped the cart. It worked amazingly well, but the dog was quite calm whenever I saw it. And as I say, I think they had professional help in doing it (it wouldn't surprise me if they had trained quite a bit before they hit the park). But, I'm super impressed by this dog and owner now, that dog trots round the park on a loose lead attached to the mobility cart, better than my dog does! To the extent on days I'm feeling tired, and yet want to get my dog some power walk miles in, I've seriously thought about getting a cart! Particularly when they give me a cheery wave while overtaking us! So it can be done!
Hi - thanks. I didn't think slip leads were a good thing to be using I was surprised they suggested that. They have tried a harness and a gentle leader, the harness made no difference and the gentle leader didn't fit properly but I thought it worked better but that was abandoned. My son is taking her daily but other family can't for now so hope she learns. They've been trying all sorts of different methods and sticking to same thing for weeks at a time but so far she's not much better. She's better when dogs come in that she's stopped barking and just pulls even more but she's still pulling just as much. My son is strong but he's getting blisters from holding back the lead.
The Happy At Heel Harness is not a bad one to try, but it needs to be started in a controlled space rather than straight out on a walk from A to B.. I have had some success with that, but not used it for a while. We are a year and a bit down the line & Coco will still pull (lunge) for something exciting. He's fairly good if there's nothing to lunge at, I achieved that by stopping EVERY time there is lead tension - I have added "back" which brings him back to position (I still have to stop, but a lot less now).
I use a head collar when I go to new places as my girl (aged 3) does pull. It is my fault for not training her properly when she was little. I have spinal injuries so can't risk her pulling me hard. I use a K9 Bridle which goes over the head, but instead of it pulling their head to the side it pushes their head down slightly. With this collar she can't get any power to pull me. I have tried other head collars and harnesses but this is the only one that I found helped. I started using it just to walk her up and down my cul-de-sac. I rewarded her every 2-3 steps that she didn't pull. I done this 2-3 times a day for a few minutes each time. I would drive her for off lead walks to not pollute our progress. After a week I transferred back to the harness (cozy dogs) and replicated the walking up and down. Once she could do this we extended to walk past the pub (just at the end of the street) and to the end of that road with the head collar. Once they was reliable we done it with the harness. It took about 2 months for me to walk her to our local shops and back (10 mins each way) without her pulling on the harness. I hope that helps a bit.
My trainer told us to get a harness with a front attachment. She said not to use the back attachment point because it actually encourages the dog to pull more. When you use the front attachment, it forces the dog to turn towards you and look up at you when he tries to run and pull. Big difference between the two points. He pulls less with the front attachment. He still pulls during walks, but since he is sideways the pull isn't so forceful. Then we stop and wait til he sits before we move again.
Sigh. This isn't true. Why do trainers keep saying this? Don't tell me, the trainer said it was like Huskies pulling a sled. There are so many reasons why it isn't like that at all. Not least because a walking harness is not the same as a sled harness. The problem with this is that it can change the way the dog walks. That sideways pull round puts pressure on the dog to swing it round, and they can end up waking oddly, even when they are not wearing the harness, anticipating being swung round.
Not masses to add to the excellent advice above. We have been training Jessie to walk on a loose lead since her very first walk back in February using positive techniques. She is excellent in some scenarios, rubbish in others,especially in exciting places with other dogs and people. It just takes time. We have a halti which she hates. I haven't massively persevered with as I don't like her rolling around trying to get it off and I'm strong enough to manage her. But I think it could work really well for your Mum. It does stop the jumping and lunging! My advice would be for them to build up the use of it gradually at home first, show the dog it with lots of treats to start and let them sniff. Build up to putting it on for very short periods, again with lots of treats.
Exactly. My two walk just fine in their back-fastening harnesses and it certainly doesn't encourage them to pull. In fact, I'm looking at buying a different type of harness specifically for pulling (for caniX) at the moment, and it's a very different design indeed. I don't see there being any problem in teaching Shadow the difference between his pulling harness and his not-pulling harness.
I got taught a technique called fishhooking (not nearly as bad as it sounds), which worked for Arnie. He was never a huge puller, but he does have his moments. So, it's similar to the "stop when he pulls method", with one difference. If you manage to make two decent steps and then he pulls, you stop and reverse two or three steps, back to where you came from, which makes the dog do a fish hook like round about turn. With a little bit of practise you should be able to bring him back to your side in heel and once he's there, you reward heavily. In the early days I used boiled chicken breast and cheese cubes. Probably best to practise in the back yard first, and believe me your first few walks will be short and slow going, but it worked wonders for us
I strongly suggest your Mum and Lottie take training classes. It's really hard to teach leash manners when so many distractions are around in the great big world. Learning, both of them, what to do in class when the biggest distraction, other dogs, are under control is a good start. THEN going out and proofing. Our class simply went outside and did the same things in class but out in the parking lot at first. It was summer. You do likely have to walk on streets while learning though and there what worked best for us was constantly changing direction. Oban wanted to go, he didn't care where, he just wanted to go and he realized it had to be with me. If I changed BEFORE he pulled he seemed to think we were just going someplace else. Stopping didn't work worth a darn; it does now but when he was a puppy, nope. We even were given a challenge - mark out a mental rectangle on the ground and walk it doing about turns, reverse about turns and kitty corner. Before class we Did go out and burn off some steam first. Pup needed it. I was told to ask for good manners before getting to his off leash spot first but it was impossible. We just got there any old how, went off, then got in the car and went to class.
I was shown how to use the two or three steps back technique too, and it works well with Ted. He walks mostly to heel now, but there is the odd problem with lunging at passers by, or stopping dead and sitting when another dog approaches.
