Good evening everyone, Apologies for long post... I have got a 5 month old male labrador, already super strong & he certainly knows how to use it! I have been training my boy on the lead since he was 8 weeks old when i took him home and he was doing so great until a couple of weeks ago when he suddenly changed. I can put his harness and lead on while he sits perfectly still and happy, we get to the end of the driveway and again all still perfect with him right by my side. Then all of a sudden he starts pulling, i have tried all sorts to stop him and nothing seems to be working.. i really am clutching at straws to try and sort this before he gets any bigger! (He had been mistaken for a fully grown lab already) Any help greatly appreciated!! Thank you!
Yes, I know the feeling - my older dog is a seriously strong dog. He is 30kg and not an gram of fat on him, and when he puts his mind to it (which thankfully he doesn't often these days) he can pull me over, and I'm not at all a feeble person. He was awful on his lead as a teenager. You've just got to train. So, when you get to the end of the drive, when he pulls, you just stand still. That's it. Just stand still. And wait. When he stops pulling, lunging around like a mad thing, or whatever it is that he does, and returns his attention to you give him a marker (a click from a clicker, or a 'good' said in a distinctive way), and ask him to come back to your side. (If you haven't trained and heavily rewarded a position at your side, you need to get on with that in your garden - you should be able to say 'heel' in your garden and he stops what he is doing and comes to your side). Then, reward him for being at your side, and take one step. If he lunges, pulls, etc. then stop. And wait. And repeat. Do this for 5 or 10 minutes, and you might (or you might not) get 10m or 20m down the street. At the end of that time, go back home. Have a cup of tea, play with your dog, make sure he has something enjoyable to do. A bit later, try again.... Rinse and repeat. For days or even weeks - for as long as it takes. In the meantime, it is great if you can drive your dog to off lead exercise areas, or if you have a big garden or access to a field etc. it makes it easier if your dog can have a good run off lead.
I have rather successfully employed a technique called "fish-hooking". Relax, it's not nearly as awful as it sounds haha. So you walk to the end of the drive, and when he lunges or pulls or whatever, leaves your side, stop and take three steps back and bring him back in a fish hook like movement to your side. Click and treat. He will soon realise he's not going anywhere if he leaves your side. It could mean 10 minutes of nothing but that at the drive, and then going back inside and walk time is over. But trust me, it works. My boy, Arnie, is 30kg and a strong little lad at 9 months. I've also worked with his lead manners from 8weeks. This technique worked for me, and I still do it even now at times when he gets so excited he loses his mind. It settles him and reminds him of his manners. Getting it perfect takes a little practise, but then you should be fine.
Axel has always been terrible with walking on lead, he's always pulling. If he wants to go somewhere I'm basically going with him..he's 9 months old and 40kg. I have tried the halti which yes works amazing but it's really important to get them to behave properly without it, I think anyways. I couldn't walk Axel from the car to the gate to the dog park, or to the doggy daycare door with out literally being dragged across the parking lot. But once I started holding him closer and going to a dead stop everytime he pulled until he stopped and gave slack, then slowly I got improvement. This took a few weeks sadly(maybe more).. but I'm finally coming out the other side now! Been a week now where he hasn't ripped my arm out of its socket. He gets a bit excited at times but as soon as I stop it's like a lightbulb goes off and he sits and waits. Just need to have a lot of patience and realize that your first handful or more of walks while practicing this may take a really long time to get around your neighbourhood. Just walking from my car to the gates at the dog park would take 5 minutes, and I was only 15 feet away!! But it is so worth it in the end.
