Desperate for help - 2 year old lab goes BARMY outside following scents. Walks are a NIGHTMARE!

Our black lab, almost 2, pulls UNBELIEVABLY on the lead and bolts after squirrels, rabbits and just about any scent at all, so that taking him for a walk is a nightmare. I'm so upset as I get disparaging comments from other dog walkers all the time, and I really think I have tried everything (training classes, not moving until he stops pulling, etc etc etc ) - NOTHING is working.
He's the most wonderful, affectionate dog in the house, but if only we could solve this problem I'd be SO happy! I've been pulled right over/ had whiplash injuries several times, been grazed on trees etc that he's dragged me into, twisted ankles and almost pulled my arm out of socket trying to hang onto him....I couldn't ever let him off the lead on a walk as he'd be off like a shot and we'd never see him again!
I'd SO appreciate ANY advice!Many thanks!

 

Hello there, and a warm welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear you are having a tough time of it. Where are you based? Are you in the UK?

If your dog gets no off lead exercise outside your own property, he is probably extremely full of energy and a bit frustrated too. So the first thing to do is to try to get him to an enclosed space where he can have some off lead time. Sometimes dog training companies will rent enclosed paddocks, or perhaps a big, empty beach? But asking a young dog to walk nicely on a lead when he never gets to be off it is a big ask.

Stopping moving forward when your dog pulls on the lead (and giving him treats when the lead is loose) works. It really works. If it's not working for you, it's because you are not being consistent enough. You are sometimes letting him move forward when he pulls. You have to go absolutely "cold turkey" on it, and take not one step unless the lead is loose - ever. Ever, ever. If this means you don't get out of the drive for a week, fine. If you are determined, you can win this one....and if it takes you another week to get to the bottom of your street, also fine. Try drive him to a place where he can have some off lead fun in the meantime.

You also need to get his attention on walks when he sees something he wants to get to, and be able to get him to turn his attention to you on cue. An attention noise is great for this. You have to practice and practice it - hundreds of time before you try it outside, and then do it in a quiet place and build it up slowly. It also sounds like some impulse control exercises would help.....

Here are a couple of videos that might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvPaqMZyo8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNAOe1djDyc

Best of luck with it.

 

Thank you so much for your very helpful (and prompt!) reply - I feel so much better now thanks to your advice and reassurance, and will keep on trying!
I'm based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, by the way.
So glad to have found this forum! Thanks again!

 

Chin up, it can be a real struggle with a boisterous, young, strong Labrador - but most of us manage to make progress in the end.

Everyone on the forum is really supportive. You'll find lots of help here.

 

Wonderful!

 

Welcome from me and my enormous yellow boy Pongo - about the same age as your lad (22 months) and the same on lead. It is not so bad for us because we live in the country where he needs to spend very little time on lead, all his walks are off-lead. Of course this means he has never really learned lead manners so he is completely rubbish on the rare occasions he has to be on lead. He is 39kg and Very Strong so I spend most of my time flying like a kite with legs behind him as he powers off towards some sort of interesting smell. So I can't offer any good advice, but I can offer lots of sympathy, and you will find immense amounts of support and advice here.
I'll be watching this thread with interest to see all the answers, in the vague hope I might try some with Pongo!

Rosie

 

Oh and by the way...... just ignore the disparaging comments from other dog walkers. They don't know your boy and they don't know you. They are irrelevant. Just grow a really thick skin and remember how much you love your lovely lab.

 

Hi Sally and welcome to the forum from me and my two, Willow and Shadow. I've used the "stop and don't move a single pace" thing with mine and they are generally very good (apart from Shadow having a brief digression into teenagedom recently, which we seem to be mainly over now).It does take time, though. Lots and lots of time and patience. And absolute consistency. You want to make sure that you don't end up having to get somewhere when you're stuck with a pulling dog, because the time pressure will make you allow him to pull just so you get where you need to be. So it will be a case of practicing just on your driveway, then on your road, first. Walk up and down it until he can do it with no problems. Reward him for being at your side. If you use a clicker, mark the correct position. Make being with you a really good place to be, with lots of tasty treats.

In Clicker Gundog, it's suggested that, when your dog goes ahead, you stop and wait for the lead to go slack, click and then feed when the dog comes back to you for the treat. Slowly, change your criteria to only click when the dog comes back to your side. Then, wait for a count of ten before heading off again. This helps prevent a yo-yo effect of the dog getting to the end of the lead, then back to you and then immediately to the end of the lead again etc etc. It's also important that, when you set off, you do it slowly. It's tempting to walk briskly so that your dog is more likely to stay by your side for a few steps, but this is actually counter-productive and tends to encourage the dog to go too quickly and end up at the end of the lead again. When I'm training loose-lead walking, I tend to set off at a snail's pace and it really helps keep the focus more on me than when I set off quickly.

Good luck and help us know how you get on.

 

Hi and welcome from Poppy and me!

I can't echo Julie's comments enough - without letting your boy let off steam somehow, it is going to be very, very difficult to get him to calm down and focus on you and walk nicely on a lead. Look at it from his point of view - he is a young, fit dog, full of energy and in the absolute prime of his life. What he wants to do, more than anything in the world, is to run around, sniff, and chase things. He has learned that the closest he can get to doing that, is by dragging you along behind him on his lead...

So I would agree that your best bet will be to drive him somewhere safe, let him charge around, play a game of fetch with him (refocusing him on tennis balls or similar will help channel his prey drive), and then, when he is tired, start your walking at heel training.

It is hard work ,but with determination you will get there. Good luck - and do keep us informed how you are getting on!

 

Nothing to add to the good above advice, but want to welcome you to the forum.

 

Welcome to the forum

Total Recall ------->

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I can't recommend it enough for all recall issues.

Tatze (2 years old) walks beautifully on a flat collar BUT pulls terribly if she sees a cat so, when walking on streets where there may be cats, we use a front fastening harness. These are not perfect for the dog so I wouldn't recommend them for long walks, but they are great for stopping pulling in the short term.

 

I think that is a good suggestion. If you don't need to use them, it's best not to do so (I really believe the best thing to use for both your dog and your long term training is a back fastening harness), but a front fastening harness could certainly help you get from A to B while you train loose lead walking.

Don't think you put them on and off you go though, you do still have to train your dog to walk properly in them, but they can help. There is an article here that recommends the perfect fit harness (I use something very similar but without the front ring). It's important to use them with a double ended lead if you are using the front ring.

http://www.thelabradorsite.com/top-three-harnesses-for-labrador-retrievers/

 

I think your answer is to let him off the lead! He must have so much pent up energy. Is there nowhere enclosed you could let him off? Not many dogs disappear and never come back. Is there a trainer that can help you with this? Can you get him interested in a tennis ball so that he will stay close? When he is tired he will be easier to train on the lead.

Are you living in the UK? If so, I would get in touch with a gundog trainer who will give you the confidence to let him off the lead.

You can train off lead heel work in the garden, with treats in your right hand, dog to do a few steps at heel, reward, keep doing this until you can get a good run of steps to heel. Then you can introduce the lead again. I do understand, I had a Lab like yours!

 

Thank you so much to everyone who's replied - SO reassuring and helpful. I now feel so much better - was so upset yesterday after a horrible "walk" (drag!) when someone actually stopped their car to tell me what a rubbish dog owner I am and what an awful dog I have who "thinks he's boss". Thanks so much for your comment about people like that, Rosie - just what I needed to hear! At the same time I know that this chap was actually right in that I DO need to "do something about it", and I'm SO grateful for all the suggestions!

 

Hello from me and my two year old bitch Molly.

I think there is something about them being two years old, it is almost as if their noses become hyper sensitive. Certainly Molly was much better at slack lead walking in the past.

She trots along on the lead nicely by my side and I am feeling smug, then she gets a whiff of something (usually dog pee) and she's lunging for it. The dog pee carries huge amounts of chemical messages so it is very difficult for another dog to ignore it. So you are not alone!

I am continuing with the treat training. If she starts to pull towards something I tell her "leave It" and treat her when she does. I am also firing treats at her all the time when we are walking along nicely, eventually she will get the idea that walking nicely on the lead by my side is a good place to be.

Don't be down cast by people who critisise your dog control skills, at least you are trying to do something about it. Look around you, there are plenty of poorly controlled dogs, mostly small. With a largish dog like a Lab it is obvious when it is misbehaving. It is very easy for an owner to ignore pulling from something small like a terrier.

 

Very true! Thank you for your helpful message!

 

Welcome to the forum from me, Hattie 8 years and our rescue Labrador x Pointer Charlie.

Definitely buy Total Recall, you can't go wrong. Buy a front fastening harness, a long training line, an Acme whistle and lots of very high value treats like roast chicken, sausages etc. warm and juicy. If you have access to a paddock or enclosed field that would be ideal for him to burn some energy off so that he will be more focused for training.

Our rescue dog Charlie unfortunately came to us with absolutely ZERO recall (we weren't told ) and he was a nightmare, absconding all over the countryside and I can tell you I was a nervous wreck and had to keep him on lead. I luckily found this forum and all the great people on here helped me no end. Training a dog a recall when he's been used to 'doing his own thing' is a very tough job, but it CAN be done. Charlie spent over 3 years on a harness and long training line whilst we endlessly 100% trained his recall, we had to proof it in different areas etc. but I am happy to say he now has one to whistle and verbal too. He does have Pointer genes so he is never going to be a velcro dog but we manage him just the way his is

I can't stress enough how you have to be 100% committed to this training or it just won't work.

Lead work is another difficult thing to teach if a dog has been allowed to drag you round, but a harness will help you establish your training but you still have to train as though he were on a flat collar and lead. Charlie dragged me through fields, hedges and had me off my feet many times that caused me injuries so I do know how you feel. A large dog versus a very small owner (me) is tough, so I would also recommend this book by Turid Rugaas - My Dog Pulls. What Do I do? It's to the point with some great tips and you can buy it on Amazon or EBay quite inexpensively.

I also have been clicker training Charlie for all 'attention on me' when on and off lead since the beginning of the year, again it's slow progress but it's progress and that's what counts.

If your dog likes to retrieve that is a definate bonus so use it, unfortunately Charlie doesn't so it added to training difficulties.

All is certainly not lost, you CAN do this. Ignore other people who 'think' they know what they are talking about and focus on your dog and when you can walk down the road with him on a loose lead and can recall him you will have the last laugh I had all kinds of people in our village tell me to give Charlie back to the rescue centre as he wasn't worth all the effort we put in. Guess who had the last laugh as Charlie is now better behaved than their dogs

We are all here to listen and help so please ask anything you want and GOOD LUCK!! Helen xx

 

Hi and welcome, pulling on lead is such a common problem regardless of the breed of dog. I've recently read "My dog pulls. What do I do?" by Turid Rugaas. I found it easy to switch to this method with Juno and we practiced indoors and in the garden to begin with before trying it out walking. Previously I had used the stop and wait method (I don't clicker train Juno) but have found this method more effective - but that's just my personal opinion. Whichever method you use the key is consistency each and every day

 

Thank you so much Helen and Rosemary - I'm so much more hopeful now!

 

We're in a similar position with Coco, 17 month old German Shepherd/Labrador rescue. He is a joy in the house, but very, very difficult on walks. He is slowly improving with consistent training (OH isn't consistent, but Coco appears to realise things are different with me and he IS improving). We take him to training which helps, being in the presence of other dogs, in a controlled environment - this is slowly helping when we inevitably meet/see other dogs when we're out.
Our trainer has said NOT to let him off the lead until his recall is solid - but we do, when we meet another co-operative dog/owner, and once he's had a blast he's much easier to handle. This does not happen enough, sadly.
Also - we've JUST bought a Happy at Heel harness - early days, but things are looking up.
And - I would definitely recommend getting hold of Total Recall.