Hello everyone. I haven't been on In a while but I need some advice. Holly is now 4 months and is pulling on the lead something rotten. If were alone and there's no one around she will walk nicely but will stray side to side which makes walking difficult. The issue I have is when she sees people she pulls like crazy she ignores any command from me and acts as if she can't hear me she pulled do much one around my daughter school that she was sick and I cut my hand on her lead from holding on to it so hard. I've tried treats to distract her and to try get her to listen unfortunately food isn't an incentive to stop her from meeting new people she's very people orientated. I used removing her from our company as an incentive to stop biting as being around people is her favourite reward. I'm at a loss. She has a very good recall and strangely will listen to me when off lead even if there's people she will always run to me if I call but hates being on a lead. Any advice??
Re: Pulling on lead One thing I would do is get a lead that is a lot more comfortable for your hand Something made out of thick, soft, rounded stuff will be more comfortable - even a cotton, rope horse lead with a knot tied in the end. It is not good that your hand is getting injured. The goal here is to train her to perform a better set of behaviours that you choose, like sitting and waiting instead of pulling like a cart horse. In terms training a better set of behaviours, the two things in your arsenal are the distance you are from the distraction (people) and the quality of your treat (kibble is generally low, roast chicken is generally high). More distance from the object + higher quality treat = the more power you have to get her attention. Short distance + boring treat = low power. You have to 'out power' the 'pull factor' of those people she wants to say hi to by manipulating the distance and the treat quality....and by using those tools to train a more acceptable behaviour. In terms of training a more acceptable behaviour... What I would do is really, really work hard on getting her to sit and look at you on cue. Make it hugely exciting and rewarding. Make sure she is very well rewarded for sitting - use treats that she loves the best. You will first need to work on this with no distractions around, and gradually add distractions in the form of people who are at a distance. When you see people, get her to sit and wait till they go by. You might need to have 50 metres between you and the people and a bit of chicken squashed against her nose before she will sit quietly. Gradually you can decrease that distance until she can sit on lead while being quite close to people. That might sound like a time consuming and tedious way...it will take time but it works. I would also get her to perform her alternative behaviour (sit and look at you) before getting to say hello to anyone not in the family. No sit, no hello. If she sits, she can say hello, and the good thing is that that will actually massively reinforce the sit. The sit should be the magic key to getting what she wants. I would also work on teaching her to walk at heel for short distances - that means at your left side, close to you, no wandering about. This article here (http://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-stop-your-labrador-pulling-on-the-lead/) explains how to work on nice walking (by your side, not moving around left to right). A pet dog does not have to walk to heel all the time, but it is so useful to have this skill available when you need to move past a distraction. I'm sure others will have lots of ideas also as this is such a common issue and many members have tackled it Don't despair, it's a problem that can be solved.
Re: Pulling on lead Hi. Harley used to pull on lead a lot. To start with I brought a harness with a lead that has a soft grip. To walk to heel (roughly), I would hold her lead in my right hand and let it go infront of my body, and hold a high value treat (she loves cheese) in my left hand. For every 5 steps she walked next to me nicely she would get a treat, after a few days we moved to 10 steps, then up it by 5 steps every few days. We are now at 50 steps for a treat I also have trained sit and look at me like Rachel described. If I spot someone or a dog in the distance, I would get her to sit and treat as they got closer if she stayed sat. Harley is now 6 months and generally walks nicely by my side on lead. Off lead her recall is really good and even off lead she will sit, wait and look at me before she goes and says hello to anyone. I say 'go on then' which allows her to go. Persist and you will get there. Just remember to use high value treats
Re: Pulling on lead I can't add to the excellent advice above, but I might be able to add just one thing on immediate crisis management of this (rather than a long term solution). My boy is very, very, excitable and now very, very strong and also on very restricted exercise - he can get so excited he'll spit out even high value treats. Sometimes I have no choice but to put him in a situation I know he can't cope with - for example this morning we had to walk passed a swimming pool full of dogs and people throwing and fetching balls at the hydro centre. He can't walk nicely passed a distraction like this - he just goes nuts. In these situations, I have him on a thick, padded, back fastening harness with a very, very short lead. The lead is just a handle that doesn't hurt my hand. I can hold him on this with no harm to him or me. It is impossible with a normal lead that I have to wrap round my hand to make sure he can't move forwards, I honestly risk breaking my fingers. I can walk him on his normal collar, but if he also has his harness on, I can clip his short lead on very quickly. If I need to I can comfortably stand still, knowing he is not harming his neck, for 10 minutes until he relaxes and I can give him a treat. They do relax eventually. http://www.dog-harnesses.co.uk/acatalog/Fleece_Dog_Harnesses.html The lead is here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Control-Traffic-Lead-BLACK/dp/B00D144KT4
Re: Pulling on lead Sorry, the padded version of the lead is here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Padded-Hand...ng/dp/B00D145F02/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3 I pasted the wrong link.
Re: Pulling on lead Thank you for your replies. I tried the nicer treats her favourite is cheese or chicken however in a situation between pulling to get to someone new. I think I need to get a harness at the very least to stop her chocking if she attempts to pull. Then next on my list it's a new lead the lead she has is the puppy one she's had since 8 weeks it's a frayed and now covered in blood. :/ I'll start with looking at the walking to heal with treats maybe if she knows treats are readily given when walking it might help with distracting her. Here's hoping anyway
