I have been using a collar and lead for last 3 months. Mason choc lab is nearly 6 months. I let him off lead quite a bit but he does pull. My arm really hurts! I have tried wait command many many times but it's not an enjoyable walk. Would a harness help?
I git a harness early on for Nibbler and he wore it for a while then I got lazy and gave up. But it was so icy last week he was pulling me off my feet so I tried again with the harness - totally calmed him down - walking right at my side - only really pulled in the last wee bit just before we got home. Such an improvement. It might just be worth a try. We just have a quite cheap RAC one out of Halfords - think £6.99 ish but is easy to put on and has nice big metal loops for attaching the lead. Won’t go out without it for on lead walks again.
We got a front fastening harness for Tatze, then taught her not to pull using treats etc. She doesn’t pull at all now (unless she sees a cat!) This is good advice - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/ .
If he is pulling, the harness will not stop it, BUT it will protect his neck and the structures within. If he is a puller por there is a danger of lunging, I would definitely go down the harness route. Coco always wears one. He is a sudden lunger still.
Thank you I will read up on this. I did read through a while ago but he is getting bigger and stronger so thought a harness might be easier on him and me
Front fastening harness will reduce pulling, maybe almost eliminate it. Training is better, but a front fastening harness will help. A rear fastening harness may actually encourage pullling, since it is quite comfortable to pull. Think Sled Dog. I use a rear fastening harness to skijor
Rear-fastening harnesses do not encourage pulling. Allowing your dog to move forwards when he pulls rewards pulling. It is the movement that is rewarding, not the pulling itself, exactly as it is with sled dogs, so if you don't let your dog pull you forwards then a rear-fastening harness will not encourage pulling. Sled harnesses are also markedly different to walking harnesses. If a dog pulls on a sled/caniX harness, then there is almost no loss of traction, because that would be counter-productive. If a dog pulls on a rear-fastening walking harness, there is, simply due to the point of contact being on the body rather than behind the dog. If you watch a dog who is committed to pulling on a walking harness, you'll often see their front feet coming right off the ground. Rear-fastening harnesses don't eliminate pulling - training does that. What they do is save the dog injuring their delicate throats when they do pull. Front-fastening harnesses work by either turning the dog when he pulls, meaning it's impossible to pull forwards, or by tightening and causing discomfort/pain. If you choose a front-fastening harness, I would strongly recommend the former type. Most front-fastening harnesses also have a back loop and you should ensure you use a double-ended lead connected to two points of contact on the dog - the front loop plus either the back loop or a collar. This allows you to only use the "corrective" part of the device when necessary and the rest of the time you will be able to train the dog to walk nicely without relying on it.
Nelly wears a harness when we are walking around the village . She has always pulled for the first few minutes before settling down to a nice pace alongside me . At only 5 kilos , she isn't actually pulling me but I like her back fastening harness to save her throat from damage , it works for us .
Thank you. I seem to be getting different messages and I'm still not sure what to do. A lady this morning said it can encourage them to pull more or become stronger across the chest! So confused. Going to go to pets at home with Mason tomorrow and see what they have
It doesn't. It's oft-repeated misinformation that makes me roll my eyes. Training your dog to walk on a loose leash is a bit boring, sure, but not really rocket science - make it really rewarding to be with you and not at all rewarding to pull. My breeder also said it would make my puppy (a show dog) front-heavy. My breeder is fantastic with a huge amount of experience in raising, showing and working dogs, but when I explained that I was using it to just protect her neck and simply wouldn't let her pull, she relaxed a bit. Here's the crux: if pulling doesn't work, your dog won't pull. If your dog doesn't pull, they won't get front-heavy. Pulling is only rewarding when it gets the dog what they want - closer to where they want to be. If you make it more rewarding to be with you, and if you deny them the access to the thing they want (generally moving forwards) when they try to pull, the pulling will die out. I think most people are happy to work on the "stop when the dog pulls" to a point, then they give up because they're not seeing results (it's dull, I get it!) and they let the dog pull. Meanwhile, they may give the odd treat - or even stream treats - when the dog is walking at heel. But, still, no results. The thing missing out of all of this is making it really rewarding to be with you. Make things your dog loves to do dependent on walking a few paces at heel. Make walking at heel a brilliant game, where you change direction and pace every few steps. Play games that your dog loves right by you. The more you reward your dog for being with you, the more your dog will want to be with you. This really seems, to me, to be the missing link in loose leash walking that people are reluctant to take on board. They want to get from A to B in a straight line and have a dog walking "nicely" for that time. This is desperately boring for your dog, and both physically and mentally hard work to walk at an unnatural pace for any length of time. It can actually be really punishing to your dog to expect them to walk like that, so we need to turn that on its head and really make it AMAZING to be next to you.
Thank you I will persevere. I have been stopping nearly every time and is hard work but it's a kind of training aswell. As soon as I praise him for walking nicely on lead he then pulls
I agree that Training is better, but putting a rear fastening harness on a big dog that isn't trained is a recipe for you doing "Forward Face Plants" Cooper's training is far from perfect, and she is likely to pull when we first start out. She is a big powerful dog, and much easier to start out with a front fastening harness. In order to not reward the dog for pulling you have to be able to stop, and hold him/her, or even go in a different direction. I would have difficulty doing that with Cooper if she wanted to keep going. Actually the easiest is off lead, because her recall is very good, but we aren't allowed to walk off lead in residential areas in town. Our dogs are seldom on lead at our cabin, or out in the woods.
I failed to train my girl not to pull until she was nearly 2 years old. She pulled me everywhere whether on a harness or collar. Because of this we always drive to off lead walks because I couldn't handle the pulling. I ended up using a head collar as I have spinal injuries. I don't advocate the head collar as its not what I would do next time, but felt I had no choice at the time. I went back to basics. I started walking up and down my drive several times a day for a few days giving lots of treats for walking nicely (took a few days) with the head collar, then done the next few days with the harness, then with the collar. I then walked up and down my cul de sac, if she walked nicely for a few steps I either gave her a treat or threw a treat onto the grass for her to sniff out. Again I used the head collar, then the harness, then the collar. We done this for several weeks until we could walk the length of the cul de sac with no pulling. I think you get the idea. It took me a few months to be able to walk to my local shops (10 min walk) with no pulling on a flat collar. I was determined and it paid off. Reflecting on this, I wish I started her lead training much earlier and didn't give in. Even doing it at 6 months would be easier than at 2 years old as its not as ingrained in them I don't think. Personally I don't ask for her to be in a heel position, as long as she's not pulling. I'm happy for her to sniff. Our walks are for her, not me, so I'm happy to bumble along and stop and start for her to sniff. I hope this helps a bit.
Thank you it does make sense. Haven't really worked on heel but like I say when he does look at me or begins to walk nicely for few steps I praise then he smells something and I have to be firm. Once off lead it's a pleasure recall when we are on our own is fairly good but when he spots someone and their dog he runs!
