Morning everyone, I am having problems with Angus pulling at the moment, not sure what to do with him. Angus is 8 months now, he weighed 25 kilos in July and is a really strong dog. I brought him a head collar, only because it was all the local pet shop had to fit him. He really hated it but it didn't stop the pulling. Angus now has a harness which I can put 2 leads on, this has stopped him a bit. Angus doesn't like treats when out on his walks, he just looks and keeps going, even his favourite cheese doesn't interest him. He only has about a 2 minute walk to get to the park and is good once off the lead. Getting near to the park is when he is at his worst and will try to pull me across the road, which luckily doesn't have much traffic, I have tried a different route, but that has t helped. I have arthritis in my shoulders which is also really bad at the moment and not helped with the pulling, it's just me and Angus at home so I don't have anyone else to walk him. Other than this he is a fantastic dog, always calm and well behaved in the house etc. Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me as I really feel like giving up this morning?
Dogs pull because they find it rewarding even if they are half choking. The reason? They get to where they want to be faster. So we need to break the cycle so they learn they only get there by walking nicely on lead and not pulling. So it's right back to the beginning of your loose lead walking training. If he pulls you stop until he comes back into position, if he pulls again turn around and walk the other way so he begins to learn that pulling means he walks away from the prospect of the park not toward it. It really diesn't matter uf yiu spend 30 minutes getting to the park as lobg as he hasn't rewarded himswkf by pulling all the way. If he's not interested in food treats you just haven't found the right one for his walking so try something really smelly that he hasn't had before. Reward him every step when the lead is loose and he's beside you, then two steps then three and so on. It might be worth a booking a 121 lesson with a trainer who can guide you through the techniques so walks become fun for both of you
Hi Kal I agree with what jojo has said regarding the actual walks. I'll just add the following: 1. The harness isn't designed to stop pulling, it's designed to prevent damage to Angus' throat and neck when he does pull. You need to use training to stop, or at least reduce, the pulling. 2. Do you have anywhere, like a back garden, where you can play with Angus for 5-10 minutes before your walks? Burning off a bit of surplus energy first may make the walks a little easier.
I don't have words of wisdom but just wanted to say I empathise with you. I have a puppy of about the same age but she is only 18kg. She doesn't pull on her lead - although she did big time as a smaller puppy. She will occasionally though lunge at something or somebody and that's bad enough. I have horrible arthritis in my hand, knees and left foot so I understand how very difficult this must be for you. Hard as it is, time spent now on loose lead walking will pay dividends for the future. Good luck .
Thank for for replying, I went out and got some tin sardines then took Angus for a short walk and it worked . His focus was back on me, he wasn't walking to heal but just a couple of steps in front which I was happy with, and if he started to pull I just offered more sardines to distract him. So not perfect but 100% better. I think this morning I was just in pain and a bit upset and probably thinking I would never get him back under control. Kal X
Try giving him the sardines when he is not pulling so you are rewarding him for what you want him to do.
Please be very careful when you reward as to what behaviour you are rewarding. Angus could well interpret this as a reward for pulling. He pulled you offered sardines = reward fir pulling. If he pulls, stop. Get him to come back to position and then take a step or two forward. Reward Angus for being in position as long as the lead is loose with no tension. Angus doesn't have to walk to heel, just walk without tension on the lead tension=pulling so you stop.
Also, try walking in an unpredictable pattern. If your dog doesn't assume you're always going to be walking ahead in the same direction they tend to pay a lot more attention to what you are doing, rather than charging onwards. Try walking in a way that spells out your dog's name (or other words) in the grass (in big letters!). That's how 'non straight' you want to be while you're re-training this.
I teach my labs 2-sided heeling, backwards heeling, and auto-stop whenever I stop as puppies during each feeding session. That is 1-minute of highly motivated training, about 60 sessions per month. I think this helps because when we are out walking, if the lab starts to surge ahead I stop, and we backwards heel (with praise), we frequently switch sides, so the lab has to pay attention to me (with praise). I use lots of praise and stay connected with the lab. If the lab makes a mistake and starts to surge ahead, a "ah,ah, ah" reminds him he just made a mistake and backwards heeling helps teach him the response I want is to heel with me and not pull. My dog walks are about 5-km, so they learn what I want pretty quickly via consistent praise for proper heeling. Changing pace also helps keep the lab connected to my movements. So does teaching a silent auto-stop while heeling. I think a strong mental connection with the dog is important. Most labs are eager to please...
Here is my 1-minute feeding routine for my pup...its a good test to see how well the pup understand the concepts of heeling, silent auto-sit when I stop, heeling on both sides, and steady if I lead with the right foot. These are "concept tools" that I can incorporate on our daily dog walks. Sometimes I have both my labs, the old girl heeling on the right side, the youngster heeling on the left side.
Rear end awareness. Lots of dogs don't seem to realise that they have a back end! I'm sure there are many ways to train it but I used the wall in our hallway. Dog sitting at heel, alongside the wall. Use a treat to lure them backwards at heel. Mark (clicker/"yes" etc.) and reward for the tiniest backwards movement. Increase over time, fade out lure and put on cue . The wall is helpful as it keeps them straight. Without the wall you may find that they move their head backwards with you and their bum just pushes out to the side.
I did the same as Emily, but without the wall we go in a backwards arc! You can also train walking backwards while in between your legs, it looks very cute. I lured with the treat above his head and him looking upwards - now without the lure he still looks upwards and it looks quite uncomfortable. If I were to train it again, I'd try with the lure in front of his nose, and see if I could train it with him looking forwards.
I teach heeling backwards at feeding time...pup is conditioned to silently auto-sit when heeling/stopping, then I step backwards a little bit, pup knows the heel position in the past has resulted in my release and his feeding, so he feels "out of place" and heels backwards and I release him to feed the instant he does that. Labs are typically pretty smart about where they are in relation to the owner once they understand the heel position by your side. If may take a minute or 2 in the first training session, but most pups I've owned have not had a problem learning backwards heeling with a little backwards step away from the food bowl. I don't talk, I do this silently until my verbal release the instant pup figures out the problem.
